Thursday, September 7, 1 p.m. (54 hours to go)

I wheeled the bike travel case into the hotel hallway to start the assembly.

(Small hotel rooms?)

Yes, European hotel rooms are much smaller than the ones I have stayed in in America.

(Any problems with the bike assembly?)

Thankfully, no. The biggest concern is the potential for damaging the derailer, the external gear shifter, so I was careful to insulate it when we left New Jersey. Now in Nice, France I used my tools to reattach the chain and shifters. There was bike grease on my rubber gloves, but not my clothing, so that was a win. I grabbed the bike seat and lifted the machine’s back wheel off the carpet. I gave the carbon wheel a spin and listened to the springs click against the wheel hub.

(Is that a good thing?)

Yes, it was. When you pedal forward, the levers, called “pawls” catch the grooves in the wheel hub and you move forward. If you pedal backwards or coast, the springs make that clicking sound. No sound would mean that the wheel was not engaged.

(Has that happened before?)

Do you even have to ask?

(OK, so how bad was that the last time you showed up to a race with a disengaged hub?)

Let’s just say that on that trip I would rather have been sightseeing than waiting for a mechanic to rebuild my bike wheel.

September 7, 2 p.m. (53 hours to go)

By early in the afternoon, it was 85 F and sunny. I took the bike out on the Riviera for a test ride. It was time to make sure that all the remaining parts were in working order.

(And if they weren’t working?)

Instead of sightseeing, I would be waiting for a mechanic to rebuild my bike wheel.

(What did your family do while you rode?)

I dragged the 18-year-old with me to shoot a video of me riding the Riviera.

(To let everyone back home know that you were OK?)

Yup … and then I wanted to disconnect for a little while.

The ride from the hotel to the airport was flat. This was good. I would be running this loop four times on Sunday.

It had been a frantic last six weeks getting ready for this trip. Overhauling my training. Finding flights and a hotel that I just rode and lost myself in the sun on my face and the other athletes riding on the French Riviera.

September 7, 3 p.m. (52 hours to go)

After the ride I looked again at my helmet; the one my wife bought me in 2012.

It had a crack in it.

(So, it was unsafe to wear?)

No, it still kept my head from cracking open if I fell down, but the officials here at the world championship might find fault with my helmet and disqualify me.

(They would do that?)

I was not taking chances and as I would learn later, I was right to be worried.

I biked over to the convention center to buy a new one.

(Was it weird for you to be walking around the boutique dressed in race gear?)

Do you believe that I was the only one? I was not the only person in need of support.

(Bike mechanic?)

Like I said, when you ship a bike, you sometimes find that you need to make adjustments when you rebuild your two-wheeled machine.

My issues were much simpler. I wanted to replace my sleek racing helmet with the same style. I have wanted to replace this helmet my wife bought me in 2012 for a while, but didn’t because I didn’t like what the industry had done to the improved version.

(OK, now I’m listening. What did they do?)

The new models are enclosed helmets. Face shields on the front of the helmet.

(Like robots?)

Kinda like robots … or DJ Daft Punk … or the guys operating the laser in the original “Star Wars” movie.

(So why is that bad?)

Because you can’t see my face. Plus, if I wanted to wear an enclosed helmet, I would have joined NASA.

(You talk about NASA and the moon landing all the time. If you could have joined NASA, you would have.)

Guilty.

I kept looking at the options. I didn’t like the new sleek models, but I wanted a new version of my old model.

(So, “Hobson’s choice”?)

No, Hobson’s choice is the illusion of two options, when there is really just one. You can “take it or leave it.”

(Like the band Rush once sang, “If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice”?)

Yes. What I had was two choices. That is a dilemma.

I was less than two and a half days from the race that had been worrying me for weeks and I was unable to choose a new bicycle helmet when I had many good choices.

(You mean options.)

You “choose” from the “options” you have.

(You were really stressed.)

I was subconsciously using this minor issue to distract myself from worrying.

(Compartmentalize much?)

I bought a helmet with the American flag painted on it and biked back to my hotel to prepare for a practice swim.

(Probably a good idea to do that before race day. I mean, what could go wrong?)

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].