I have made so much out of swimming with the sharks
(Yes, we know)
that I did not want to neglect telling you about the bike.
(Land shark…just asking)
This is a triathlon, but it is not an IRONMAN
(The difference being?)
Three events: swimming, biking and running, but a third of the distance of the 140.6 race.
(So you will finish before midnight?)
I hope so. I would like to take my wife sightseeing.
San Francisco is famous for three things.
(Just three?)
Shuddup.
Alcatraz, cable cars, Rice-a-Roni, the Golden Gate Bridge, Metallica and Tony Bennett’s Heart.
(Metallica and Tony Bennett’s Heart?)
Just Tony Bennett’s Heart. Google it.
The hills of San Fransisco are notorious for their steep inclines.
(Don’t you hate hills?)
I hate hills.
(So naturally you chose a race in the hilliest city in America.)
Naturally.
This type of race requires a different approach than an Ironman, with its 112 miles of cycling.
Starting in January, I spent an hour twice a week, on the bike, in the house.
(Your own private hamster wheel?)
Pretty much.
(How can cycling indoors prepare you for climbing the hills of San Francisco?)
Indoor cycling does not allow you to coast along like descending down a hill. A 60 minute workout is 60 minutes of non-stop pedaling. The training is a series of higher and lower levels of resistance. It is that resistance that teaches your body to resist fatigue. In the end that is all this is. Training your body to swim, to bike, to run longer than it ever imagined it could.
(But when do you take the bike outside?)
When the air temp hits 60 degrees.
(But you run in snow and ice)
Biking in cold weather hurts.
If the air temp is 50, the wind chill on the bike is 30. It’s not fun riding in ski gloves. Trust me, I’ve done it. When it gets warm, I am going to bike the hills of 9W overlooking the Palisades. I am looking forward to doing hill repeats on River Road. I will continue to ride inside one to two times a week, right up until two weeks before the race.
(What happens two weeks before the race?)
TriBikeTransport will ship the bike to San Francisco.
By David Roher
