To do well in Ironman Canada

10:47:01. PBed by over 26 minutes, but did not do as well as I wanted. Nice temperature, a little windy. Always great to do an Ironman. Swim was slow for me, Bike was fast, though I had some cramps on my left hamstrings. The run was OK. I had so much left, I should have ran far faster.

I am signed up for two Ironmans for next year.

Near the finish line. Should have run a bit faster, but it was a good time.

Yellow Lake Climb

Since I was going to be in the neighbourhood, I decided to do the IMC bike course in anticipation of the main event in late August. I was staying in Osoyoos. Therefore It made sense to start and finish the course in Osoyoos, as opposed to Pentiction, where the race is based. I did almost all of the course. The two parts I did not do were the Cawston out and back, and McLean Creek Road (missed the turn, kept going on Eastside Road to Okanagan Falls). So I ended up doing 160 KM (100 miles) of the 180 KM course in over 38 C (100F) heat.

Distance 48 KM (30 Miles) First hill is Richter Pass, it is followed by the famous rollers, and then the flat area leading to Keremeos.

Course map of this stage:

http://www.ironmap.com/ironmap/video_osoykere_T1.htm

Here is the town of Osoyoos from 1/4 of the way up Richter’s Pass. Just after this poing I caught up to a triathlete from Penticton. He does the IMC course 3 times a week. A few weeks earlier he was knocked off his bike by a piece of steel that fell off a pick up truck on the descent on the other side of Richter’s Pass. Witnesses saw him flip three times while still clipped to his bike. He managed to crawl out of the side ditch without any major injuries. His carbon bike was a write off, though. The pick up truck driver did not even bother to stop. Why should he? It is not his problem. The BC government owned auto insurance monopoly did pay for his frame. Nobody took down the license plate. But one thing is for sure, whoever he was, he was covered by ICBC.

Distance 47 KM (29.2 miles) It was getting quite hot when I started this stage, after a brief stop at the gas station in Keremeos to refill my water bottles. Most cyclists get their water refills at the famous (among IMC triathletes) Bear fruit stand near the start of Hwy 3A. The big hill on the graph is Yellow Lake, which, it turns out, is higher than Richter’s pass, though not as steep a climb.

Course map of this stage:

http://www.ironmap.com/ironmap/video_kerepent_T1.htm

Yellow Lake, just before the famous IMC climb of the same name. Climbing Yellow Lake in IMC is like climbing in the Tour de France. There are thousands of people lining up the bike course, cheering every cyclist that make their way up the hill. It is also the last climb in IMC. After that it is pretty much all downhill into Pentiction.

Just prior to getting here I was chatting with a cyclist who is a retiree in Penticton. He was riding an old steel Marioni with old Campy components. He rides between 28 and 35 hours a week in the area around Penticton. He was complaining that now that it is so hot he has to carry two water bottles for the whole IMC course ride. By the time I saw him I had already gone through 3 bottles of sports drinks and half a bottle of an energy drink. I was just half the way through the ride.

IMC’s swim area in Lake Okanagan, on the north end of Penticton. The city of Penticton does not believe in trees. It is all black top roads and open skies. They also have lots of pick up trucks, strip malls, and street lights to make sure you take in the heat. They do, however, believe in Ironman. Notice the permanent buoys on the lake that make a 2K loop. Local triathletes may practice their swimming all summer long in the same waters where the race is held.

Distance 64 KM (40 Miles) This was the toughest part of the ride. Mostly flat, but with a strong head on wind, and temperatures reaching 43C (109F) That wind did not make me any cooler. Molten tar from the road would stick to my tires. The smal stones would stick to the tar. Pulled over at an orchard fruit stand between Okanagan Falls and Oliver to get some cold water half the way through this stage. Soon after this stop, I dropped one of my water bottles. A guy in a pick up truck found it and, when he saw me down the road, he handed it back to me. What a nice guy. Later I also got stopped for a while just past Oliver because of road construction.

Link to a map of this stage:

http://www.ironmap.com/ironmap/video_pentosoy_T1.htm