8:55 a.m. (+1 hour, 45 minutes)

I came around a roundabout, turned right and started up a very steep climb.

(I don’t remember this being on the race map)

Now the triathletes from the younger age groups caught up to me. I was struggling to get to the top of this steep hill and everyone was flying past me.

(You are a swimmer who became a triathlete)

They came from behind and raced past me like I was standing still…but I wasn’t. I was really struggling to keep up with them…and I didn’t want to do this anymore. I just wanted to go home…“I’m not enjoying this and I want to quit.”

(But everyone at home was following you)

So much for quitting and going home. I kept cycling and the incline lessened. Then it got worse.

That 4-5% grade incline now became 7-9%.

(How tough is 9%?)

If you live in Teaneck, it’s biking up DeGraw to Ft. Lee. If you live in Englewood, any of the steeper roads from Starbucks to 9W)

My bike speed plummeted to 4 mph.

In a matter of minutes, I went from enjoying the experience of enjoying the scenery of the French Riviera to being trounced by stronger cyclists and being left behind.

9:00 a.m. (+1 hour, 50 minutes)

With the two groups of cyclists far ahead of me, I was alone again.

(Was that better or worse?)

Better. It would hurt less if I wasn’t getting passed on the bike.

(Remember, these guys got here by winning their age groups)

Thanks, that still hurts.

(How did you get here?)

No one else wanted the spot.

(You worked to get here; you earned your spot)

Well, it doesn’t feel like it right now…

9:05 a.m. (+1 hour, 55 minutes)

I had been on the bike for about 40 minutes and it was almost 2 hours since I had any nutrition other than Gatorade. I needed to take in more nutrition.

(Were you hungry? Did you want to order DoorDash?)

No, that’s the point, I wasn’t hungry yet, but I knew that if I waited for my body to tell me, l would be in trouble. I had predicted 8 hours, 40 minutes to complete this course. I had to remember to fuel every hour. I slurped down my second gel of the day.

(Salted Caramel?)

Yup and sipped my Blue Raspberry Gatorade.

(That’s a lot of sugar)

That’s the point. I needed calories to keep my body going.

(Is “Blue Raspberry” a real flavor?)

I don’t know, but when I was a kid, it was one of the forbidden flavors.

(Forbidden?)

If you grew up keeping kosher in the 1970s, you were beset by tv ads of flavors you couldn’t consume.

(1970s? How old are you?)

Old enough, thank you. I have a fascination with flavors that were not kosher when I was kid, including cheddar, anything grape and blue raspberry. The climb got easier…then it got even harder, so I had to make a judgment call; focus on getting to the top of this God awful climb or grab some nutrition from my back pocket and risk having to stop.

(Why would stopping be so bad?)

At this angle I wasn’t sure if I would stop if I could start again.

9:15 a.m. (+2 hour, 05 minutes)

The road flattened out. I had made it past the first challenge of the ride. My resting heart rate is 43. My heart rate as I crested the last 20 minutes of riding was 180. I wanted to take in calories, but I had to wait for my breathing to calm down. Fortunately, it only took about a minute for my breathing to normalize.

I slurped my gel…

(Consistency of waffle syrup)

…and washing it down with my Blue Raspberry Gatorade just in time to start climbing another hill.

It was going to be a very, long, day…and I was only 10 miles into 112 miles of riding.

David Roher is a USAT certified triathlon and marathon coach. He is a multi-Ironman finisher and veteran special education teacher. He is on Instagram @David Roher140.6.

He can be reached at TriCoachDavid@gmail.com.