austria 70.3 episode ten - the bike!

The first part of the ride was along the 'autobahn', flat but a little against the wind (used to that though!) . My left calf had cramped up getting out of the darned wetsuit and i was hoping that would ease off before we hit the first hill! After that stretch of road we were onto the country roads and the scenery got prettier and greener, just so lovely, though i was glad i had seen it from the bus the day before as on the day really you just focus on catching the bum in front of you (some not so pleasant - who thinks White is a good colour for bike shorts???? nooooo!!!). Soon it was time to climb the first hill through the vineyards and since on this hill i was soon down to my lowest gear i thought heck what will i do on the big one, but time to worry about that later! Everyone slowed down and was bunched together but that hardly constituted drafting, we were just in our own zones. I was just trying to get ahead of 'Carletto' who either had a nervous tic or had a wasp in his ear and was bugging me big time shaking his head around, i just had to get past him! Once up and over the hill it was up and down through some tight roads through the villages - those moments that you have flashbacks about post race but don't have time to really 'see' during the ride. After that it was through more green green a bit up and down until we got to the long flat part that took us along the Danube river, how amazing. The uphills and the flat stretches were the parts i found myself overtaking other cyclists (unfortunately not in my age group!!). I felt great riding along the danube stretch, i was fired up from climbing the first hill and my legs felt full of energy and strength. I even found jesus....and overtook him ;-) ! mr Felt was loving whizzing past all the cervelos with their zipp wheels - his favourite pastime. We eventually turned off from the Danube and judging by the stack of chucked water bottles it was time to climb! A long and slow grind in the sun up and up round a bend in the road, then another...Actually i really enjoyed this bit. Again it was a crowd of cyclists bunched up as far as you could see, but everyone silent apart from huffing and puffing and the creak of pedals turning as we just focussed on getting on and getting up there. Right at the top (where it got just that bit steeper) there was an aid station and a bunch of people cheering us on tour de france style which was fab and lifted the draining energy. People were a bit wobbly at the top where they tried to balance new water bottles with bananas and breathing and finding new gears and finding their legs so you had to watch out for unbalanced bikes as you found your own legs and gears over the top and onward. The climbing was not totally done with as there was an awful lot more of up (despite the profile map showing a nice trailing off soon after). But these hills were a lot shorter. Most of the triathletes were very proficient at descending and cornering at speed, skills that i totally lack, but i can't really complain as i was so stoked at myself for being able to actually stay on the bike going downhill! The 14% descent sign struck terror into my soul but it was a bit like jumping off a cliff into an icy pool - i sucked in a sharp terrified lungful of air and mr felt just went for it...i don't think i will ever be great at flying downhill but at least i can now do it :-). It was soon enough back into St Polten and into T2. I thanked the bike gods for no mechanical problems (apart from the chain falling off after an over zealous gear change after a descent and sudden uphill). I was 8 minutes slower on the bike than i wanted but not too bad considering all the uphill bits.