2:30 a.m. (+6 hour, 20 minutes) Mile 58

After passing the injured rider I turned left onto the out & back. This was a straight, mostly flat road that took me past the mile 60 sign. I was now more than halfway through the bike course. This is an emotional moment, Now I start counting down the miles. I saw a photographer ahead & decided to “pose” for the camera.

(And “Wilson”?)

People kept asking & I kept answering…

The out & back section…

(Which you said you “walked”?)

What?

(Tom Friedman pointed out that you said you walked)

My bad. At no time on this course did I get off my bike. What I meant was that on an out & back section you “ride” out, turn around & “ride” back. This point on the course felt like it just went on forever, which is why I hate these extended sections. This was a mostly flat section, with wind.

(In the face?)

Yup, making me feel like I was working 2x as hard to half as fast.

As I was saying…the out & back section was 6.2 miles out & 6.2 miles back to the point of the bike crash I had passed. I was getting so bored that I was losing focus. Perfect time to doven mincha.

(Where did you park the bike?)

I didn’t.

(So…how did you…)

Say the shmona esrai?

(Yeah)

I made sure that I was coasting downward & I pedaled three steps back.

(Wait)

Yes?

(How did you pedal “three steps back”?)

I rotated my feet in reverse.

(Doesn’t that cause your brakes to engage?)

You are thinking of the simple system we had as kids. A “Coaster Brake” is a brake on the hub of the rear wheel; braking is applied by rotating the pedals in reverse until the brake engages. Racing bikes have a “Freewheel Hub” & that allows the pedals to be rotated backwards. The brakes are handles on the handlebars.

(Ok, so that took what, all of 3 minutes?)

Yup. Then I recited as many Tehillim as I could from memory.

(Just how many do you know by heart?)

About 10.

(Why do you know 10 Tehillim by heart?)

My grandfather made me memorize Hallel when he trained me for my bar mitzvah.

(Why did he do that???)

I have no idea, but I also know Birkat Hamazon by heart.

(Your grandfather?)

No, 4 summers in a Jewish sleepaway camp.

3:30 a.m. (+7 hour, 20 minutes) Mile 68

The road sloped downward & the bike began to pick up momentum. It was time to descend.

(But you had 44 miles left to ride)

Yup. I had forgotten that the ride had a “fake” descent, so I just enjoyed the moment, not worrying that I would be paying for it later in a biking currency we call “hills.”

3:40 a.m. (+7 hour, 30 minutes) Mile 74

I was now on the most scenic & dangerous section of the bike course. I was about to ride through a hole in the mountain. The danger here is losing focus & falling off the mountain.

(How long is the ride through the hole?)

Only a few seconds, at 30 mph. The rest of the descent is very steep, hence the “fall off the mountain” thingy.

(But there are guard rails, right?)

Yes, but at these speeds me & the bike would have gone right over them & tumbled down the mountain. The turns are so sharp you have to lean into them as a rider. I went zipping past stationary cameras on the side of the road, but I made sure to smile for them.

3:50 a.m. (+7 hour, 40 minutes) Mile 80

My excitement of riding through a mountain at 30 mph was quelled by the last climb on the course. 30 mph became 6 mph in seconds. I was grinding it out, again, pedaling & shifting my gears. Then I heard that “ping.”

(Which ping is that “ping?”)

It’s the notification from my bike computer that I was now in my easiest gear & there were no more gears to shift to. It was now up to me. I still had 32 miles to go, but first I had 10 minutes to make it to the mandatory cut off at the top of this climb…

(Back at the hotel my wife Janet fired off another worried text to my friend Shlomo Rosenzweig back in Brooklyn)

JANET: “Did u c his last time? It took him 17 minutes…which delays him even more!”

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 [email protected].