Ultraman Day 2

Ultraman Day 2

Ultraman Day 2 is a 171.4 mile bike ride.  We start at Volcano and go around the northern part of the island and end in Hawi.  I usually don’t try to kill myself on this day to leave something for the run.   The weather was great!   It was cold at volcano but I was able to start with just a jacket on.   We have this screaming downhill for the first 30 miles or so.   We then enter a town called Hilo where we are supposed to be stopping at red lights.   I don’t think riding in a pack and trading off is allowed but sometimes you do end up in a group.   It is hard to avoid.   I missed the first group and was riding on my own until close to the bottom where I got ate up by a pack of 4 doing a pace line.  We had a red light and 3 of them ran it….one of them was my competition and two of them were buddies that knew better.   I did however have one girl wait it out with me.  I am a stickler for rules if you can’t tell.   The light was not that long so no real time was lost.  

Hilo is warm again so it was time to shed off the clothing.   I had another chance to do so at a red light so I just took it all off then and was able to chunk it to my crew on the side of the road.   I had no downtime shedding clothing like I have in the years past.  After Hilo was the “red road.” This is a loop that is one of the prettiest parts of the course.   I had my closest competition about 3 feet behind me going into this loop.  I got her off my tail when I told her to turn right when we really went left.   This was honestly an accident…she caught on pretty quick when she saw me turning left.   The red road is rolling hills that usually beat me up pretty good.  I was having a nice time riding them with my shadow behind me.   I sort  of felt like I had a little kid to take care off. Ultraman is a race of sportsmanship so I just decided to help the shadow out when there was a bump so she would not crash into me.   This shadow is an icon in a race that I do.   I really was flattered that she was hanging out with me.

We left the red road and had some turns to take in Hilo.  I have missed some turns before but I did know the route this time.   This is when I get separated with my crew for a while.   My shadow and I road through the town side by side in some parts and I got to pick her brain about a race.   She did not speak much English so that was not going so well.   We left Hilo and now the really hard riding was beginning.   I was in a nice steady pace. I could not tell you how steady since I don’t ride with a speedometer but things were going pretty good.  I did not feel like I was hammering hard but I did not feel like I was struggling a whole bunch either.   My shadow and I began to catch one of my buddies Richard Roll.   As I was passing him I was cheering him on.  I looked down and there was a huge rock.   My shadow was to close behind me to just move around it so I rolled over it.  I was on my aero bars and lost some control but gained it back. I was so happy with my save and was yipping shouts of joy.  This was until you could hear the air spewing out of my tire. I only got to ride about 25 yards on it so I had to pull off and hope my crew would come along soon.  They came along pretty quick so my downtime was not long.  I have a second bike just for the spare wheels.  I was up and rolling in no time and ready to chase down my friends. 

I caught up with them pretty quick. I was at the bottom of a downhill and they were getting close to the top.  My shadow had not passed Richard yet.  She pulled of the course for a second and sat there.  When I got going again and was getting close to my shadow she started riding again.  I went on to pass her and then she was behind me again.   We were beginning to pass Richard again.  As we were passing Richard I made some conversation with him.   He changed the subject and asked me if the shadow had been that close all day.   I just nodded.   He then spoke to my shadow and let her know that she might be a little too close.   He was pretty much telling her what he thought but that did not change the shadows position.   When Richard passed my crew he asked them to do something about it. 

Johnny and Donna  started getting a little flustered and calling the race officials.  I could see Johnny getting all worked up.  He actually hung his head out the window and hollered to my shadow to keep her distance.  His head looked like a turtle.  My crew turned into a two angry people.   We were getting close to the end of the ride and I was starting to get tired.   There are not many race officials but I knew if they came by that a penalty would be givin.   I kept my pace but most of all I did not let this get me down.  I sensed that I was having a good bike ride based on the way I was feeling.  I only hoped my shadow had enough sense not to pass me in the last mile to get the record. I would have been saying something then.  Something did tell me that my shadow had enough respect not to do so. Still I was worried.

Just then a race official drove by.  The shadow dropped back some so that told me she did know better.  it was not long and she was close again.   The race official did pull her over.   As far as I knew she was getting a penalty.  I had a chance to relax so I did ease up a bit. I had a nice downhill into Waimea and got stuck at a light…..i stopped and my shadow caught back up to me.  She smiled at me and told me she admired me.  She also thanked me.   This meant a ton coming from her.   We had a huge steep climb to do after Waimea.   My shadow was with me over the mountain but we had a tail wind to push us up.     It was tough but I have felt worse on this climb.  I don’t use a watch so I was not sure what kind of time I was going to have.    I just had a felling it was going t be good. I did not know how good.

When I came across the finish line it was an 8:39.   This was a new course record.  I think the old one was an 8:55.   My shadow did not pass me in the end so it was all good.  She did not get a penalty either so my crew was still upset about it.  My shadow and I  were close in the overall time but I knew if I kept the shadow in sight on the run that I could still win the ultraman again.   It was a great day but it could not have been done without my crew.   I did  most of my bike rides with Johnny so I give him credit for making me faster.   This record was a real surprise.   The whole race was turning into a huge surprise.  I did not train like I normally do.  The Fire Academy really did take up most of my time.