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Chronicles of a fish: the days of surf and turf
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Thank you everyone!!! I love the spirit and support!!! Whoop whoop!!! Today was a good day! I got loads of sleep last night (9 solid hours) with some really crazy dreams taking place way back when I was a kid, and revolving around summer league swim meets, and specifically, getting myself there to the meet on time! Too funny. And it makes me smile that I had them - good memories, all the summer swim meets I was involved with were so fantastic.
But today was check-in (I rolled right in
), expo shopping (didn't spend too much, yet spent enough to get a free mini Louisville slugger baseball bat! 
), and then race briefing (in the spitting rain 
). The head cheese at the briefing was pretty vague about the swim, yet he was optimistic. However, a few hours after the briefing I attended, the powers that be declared the river safe enough to swim in...so....<drum roll>....THE SWIM WILL GO ON!!! Thank god!!! Whew. That was just way too much drama. <shakes head>
The rest of my day included eating a very, very yummy lunch at a really cool restaurant called Doc Crow's - Southern Smokehouse and Raw Bar (no, I did NOT partake from the raw bar - I stuck to the very safe smoked chicken and baked potato!), and then going for a bike ride to test things out. I was supposed to do a short swim too, but the only pool here at the hotel is an outdoor one, and it is closed for the season. So...I'm chillin' and relaxin'. This evening I'll start organizing all my bags to take to bag drop off tomorrow.
Friday, October 9th, 2015
Bike
This was supposed to be 60 minutes easy on the bike course, but due to traffic and congestion, the volunteers at the expo strongly suggested going another route. (I could have driven to an outer section of the course, but Louisville is quite urban and the car is in a garage and honestly I didn't feel like hassling with it since it was already going on 2 o'clock at this point.) So....over the Ohio River I went via an uber cool pedestrian/bike bridge that used to be an old railroad bridge. It's lovely. It's nice and wide with light fixtures hanging from above and benches along the sides. And get this - when you get to the center of the bridge, they have classical music piped in for your enjoyment. How cool is that???
The ride did have a little excitement, however. I was nearing the halfway point when I had some sort of industrial truck behind me honking his horn at me (that never helps!), and I was coming up to a railroad crossing with a train slowly making its way down the track (so obviously I was going nowhere)....so, I figured this was a perfect time to turn around and head back. Well, with the annoyingly rude truck driver behind me, I start to make my U-turn. I clip out of my right pedal, then proceed to fall slowly...very s-l-o-w-l-y (or so it seemed) to my left.
Yep, Dory and the Black Cat hit asphalt. :eek: $%^#*&^%!!! The Cat was fine...I sustained a wound to one of my fingers...and the truck driver got quite a show. And do you know, he never asked me if I was okay or needed help? Sheesh!
Other than that little catastrophe, the bike felt much better with the brake pads not rubbing. I think the Cat is ready to be let loose on some Kentucky hills!!
Actual bike: 14+ miles in just over an hour (can't be bothered with looking it up!) 0 -
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re: rear brake
Get yourself along to the bike mechanics on site. Explain to the guys/gals whoever the issues already this week and if need be call your normal bike mechanic and let the two of em talk.
Hopefully it'll be resolved and all will be good.
The very worst case scenario - the very worst - ask them if theres a way to manual open / ensure brakes are released that if you absolutely had to could employ during the race (should it come to that). The course in Louisville is hilly but feathering the front brake (open/close easy, knocking off speed) and putting your bum behind the saddle to move your centre of gravity back and down - would mean you might be slower on the descents ( no joke intended ) but when biking not working against a rubbing back brake.
i.e. Ask them how you can disable the back brake mid race if you HAD to
Hope you get it remedied - it may have been just been Dublin - but it was the first big event where nobody was checking mechanical functioning / safety on bikes when they were being put into transition.0 -
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Last proper update before IronMan blastoff...
Freezing cold here this morning, making the chilly river seem relatively warm and comfy during my brief practice swim at 8am. I may go a bit rogue tomorrow and pull a "zico" as my fairly new goggles fogged on me big-time, potentially forcing my hand to bust out the brand-spanking new pair I brought as a spare. ??? It's either that or douse the other pair with some anti-fog solution I have in my little bag of "hope-I-don't-need-it" tricks. If anyone has a strong opinion either way, voice it now.
Immediately after I hopped out of the river, I scurried over to the bike mechanic at the expo where hubby had been while I was swimming. The expo and mechanic shop officially didn't open until 9, but because hubby was there shortly after 8 (per my instructions to get there early and to be the first one in line), they took pity on him and started working on the Black Cat right away. The diagnosis was sticky, sugary gunk clogging up the brake rollers and causing them to stick. The mechanic said this is a fairly common problem, and was probably from my sports drink. This is not the first time I've been told this, but due to my bike-ignorance, I had no idea sports drink splatter could cause such a debilitating bike "illness". The remedy, the rollers were cleaned and lubed. The mechanic said the cable was fine. He also told me if the brakes happen to stick in the future, to pump them twice and that should release the mechanism. Fingers crossed!!!!!
Okay folks...the rest of the day will be spent putting the finishing touches on my gear bags, organizing for the morning, dropping bike and bags off at transition, eating a smart midday meal, resting, and catching a little bit of Kona on the television. Thanks for all the amazing support, words of wisdom and smiles. I'll see you on the other side. 0 -
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Oh, I definitely wasn't asking for any advice on the brakes. Clearly I needed a mechanic to sort this, so I totally agree with you there, zico. Thanks!
And just a word of caution for anyone who might be following some of my day - the start is a one-at-a-time-jump-off-the-dock start, so, please be aware that when you see a split for me with a number placement of where I stand in the ranks, my ranking could/will deteriorate as others who are faster than me but started after me cross the various timing mats. 0 -
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