Stage 2

The day started well enough.  Coffee and french toast with the kid.  I decided to leave about 15 minutes early.  I headed out and knew that I would be in rush hour traffic, but I wasn't expecting what happened.  Several minutes after taking the above picture and feeling like everything was going smoothly,  I ran into traffic backed up on 191.   I panicked a little bit and followed the line of 5000 other cars all going the same direction. 

Somehow, I made it to the Start/Finish with 15 minutes to spare.  I got changed and warmed up a little bit.  I had woken up with a bit of congestion and was feeling a little groggy. 

We lined up, the gun went off and we rolled out.  It was neutral up the pavement until we turned off on the gravel road.  My heart rate monitor was not working today, so I was worried that I would push too hard.  I would find out later, that I did, and I paid for it. 

Highlights of the day included, riding my bike, being outside, smelling the freshness out in the middle of nowhere. 

Lows were when it got hot around 11 am, 2 hrs into the race and didn't really let up.  I tried to go slow enough to keep my heart rate low, but I don't know if I did or not. 

5 miles from rest stop 3 I was not feeling good and put it in an easy gear to spin.  I got to the rest stop and stripped down to my shorts.  Tyler, Karlos and Van might have been concerned that I was delirious and about to strip all the way, but they didn't say anything.  I ended up hanging out with them for about 30 minutes while I recovered enough to move on.  The next 6 miles included some tough hike a bike sections and  I wasn't looking forward to it.  I managed to not think about it too much and kept going. 

When I finally crossed the finish line, I was relieved.  40 miles- 5hrs.

I yo yoed back and forth with a couple of guys who ended up passing me while I was sitting at the rest stop.  I have no idea where I am now in the standings and that is a good thing.  I figure I can try to beat someone and put myself out of the race by pushing too hard, or I can go my pace and let the cards fall where they fall.  I'm going with the latter.

Stage 3 tomorrow:   40 miles, 9000ft of climbing.
Have a great day.