Alrighty, after the survival swim of my life for 1.9 km (1.2. miles) in the open water for 55 minutes, I made it to the transition, refuelled and got on my bike. If you haven’t read part 1 of the IronMan 70.3 race, check out this post.

As mentioned in the linked article, it was quite easy to find my bike because the majority of the race participants have already been on the road. But it didn’t bother me at all and I can say that with 100% honesty. I just experienced a life-defining moment when finishing the swim so from now on it was pure joy for me! I pushed my bike to the starting line, jumped on it and off we go to a hilly 90 km (56 miles) bike ride through the gorgeous countryside of Dorset with a total of ~1,000 m (3,300 ft) elevation gain.

Riding on closed roads…

The sun was still out, it was warm, not too windy for most of the part which was absolutely perfect - especially because I was still dripping wet but my trisuit dried quite quickly. It was the very first time for me to ride on closed roads! OMG! What a difference this made! That was when I understood why IronMan races are so expensive. In my opinion, the money was well spent because I got to ride on closed roads, no traffic, no traffic lights, no worries about speeding cars, people walking in front of you or their dog chasing me on the bike (yes, that’s my experience on every training bike ride). The route is clearly marked. It just takes away so much worries and thinking about hindrances.

Support from spectators…

What I also really appreciated and enjoyed was all the people on the side of the road cheering us on! There were parts where you were alone with other riders on the bike course enjoying the stunning views over the countryside and smelling the gras. But every time we cycled through a tiny village, people were still there (remember that I was at the back of the field at that time) and cheered us on, clapping hands and just gave us a smile and wave. That made my smile on my face even bigger :) Some even wore customs such as bananas…yep, they were dressed like a banana in a ballerina tutu equipped with a megaphone to cheer us on. That’s what I call support and commitment ;)

One man though thought it’d be a good idea to cut the trees and bushes in front of his house (directly next to the road) during the race - sure why not…it’s not like he could do that on 364 other days of the year or simply wait another hour until they open the roads again. Anyway, I was passing by with quite some speed when I all of a sudden got hit by something on my left cheek. It really hurt and it felt like it cut me open and started bleeding. Long story short: One of the wooden splints hit me in the face. I had a small cut on my cheek. Luckily it didn’t bleed much or hit me in the eye. So all good.

This is a race and not a supportive environment…

What surprised me was that I started to overtake one cyclist after the other. Especially on the hills! I don’t consider myself as a strong cyclist and I always struggled going uphill but I was so energized from finishing the swim that somehow I just kept on pedalling and overtaking others. While overtaking, I wished them “a good day”, a “well done”, an “enjoy this beautiful day” but I quickly realized that the interaction between participants of an IronMan triathlon race is very different from the interaction of participants of an ultra trail running challenge. At (ultra) trail running events we encourage and support each other. We run a while together and chat. You really make a connection with people. That’s actually exactly how I met one of my very wonderful friends. I met her at my very first ultra but that’s another story which I will tell you soon :). Back on the IronMan 70.3 bike course, no one responded to me or wished me a good day, too. They were really in race mode! I was competition and not another friendly, supportive person who’s doing the same challenge. So I thought, ok you know what: Bring it on then :D

There was one long-ish and steep hill around km 60 that every one was talking about before the race. During the ~4 bike ride, I always tried to pedal smoothly and keep my legs fresh for the run. I didn’t want to go all out on the bike already. So when I arrived at this notorious hill, I pedalled around 2/3 of it up and then I decided to get off the bike and push the last few meters. I could have pedalled it up but I knew that my legs would be destroyed after. You know what the funny thing was? I even overtook people on that hill who were riding it up while I was pushing it up. Then I got back on my bike and continued with my ride. Absolute right decision.

How to approach aid stations without stopping…

There were three aid stations in total on the bike course. I had a very steep learning curve during these 90 km HAHA :D I had two drinking bottles on my bike frame. One bottle filled with water only and the other one with Tailwind powder (caffeinated raspberry and electrolytes). When I approached the first aid station, I was completely and utterly overwhelmed and confused. Lovely, supportive staff were lined up holding out bottles with water, energy bars and bananas. Since I already had two bottles with me, I didn’t know where to place the new one. Keep in mind, I’m cycling with speed here. So I needed to stop super quick and ask them how this works here :) Long story short: This is how you approach an aid station on the bike correctly and efficiently:

Slow down the pace
While cycling, throw one of your own drinking bottles into a big dumpster that is placed at the beginning of the aid station (yes, you’ll never see that bottle again)
Grab a fresh water bottle while cycling and place it quickly into the bottle cage
Keep cycling carefully and grab whatever nutrition you fancy on the fly
Increase your speed again once you passed the end of the aid station

Next challenge: I grabbed a piece of banana but it was only cut into smaller pieces. The banana peel was still intact. So how on earth am I supposed to open the banana especially on this downhill where I hit 50 km/h (30 mph) with strong sidewinds!!????? Remember: I’m not a strong cyclist. This should really have been filmed LoL The only way for me to open and eat the banana was to bite the peel open and smash it against my face (if this explanation makes any sense to you ;) ). Just try it out at home and you’ll see what I mean ;)

Thoughts that kept me going on the bike course…

There were a few things constantly on my mind during this ride. My thoughts were circling around the following…

OMG! I really finished the swim! :D
What a privilege it is to cycle on closed roads through this gorgeous countryside!
My friends are cheering me on from the course and far away. I won’t let them down!
My cheek hurt from smiling so hard all the time! :D I was simply enjoying this experience.
I can’t wait for the RUN!!!! My favourite part of the whole race! I want to ruuuuun! :D
And the two songs from the swim start: Unstoppable by Sia and Let’s Go by NeYo.

Also, while I was pedalling, I always saw the time tracker around my left ankle with the IronMan sign. I was thinking to myself: OMG! I am REALLY doing this! I am really taking part in an IronMan 70.3 and I love it and I am going to finish it! And then it hit me! I promised myself years ago when I finished an IronMan, I’m going to get a tattoo that will remind me of it. And now I knew where and what it should be. The IronMan sign on my left ankle. Half-filled for representing the IronMan 70.3 distance and when I have finished the full IronMan distance in 2024, I will get the other side filled as well :) That’s my way of keeping memories and keeping myself motivated to push myself further and beyond limits. I got this tattoo one week after the race.

Back at transition…

Coming back to the transition area I managed to stop my bike and get off just one centimetre before the line where you’re supposed to get off the bike. There is staff who will wave and shout at you which I was thankful for because I totally didn’t see the line and didn’t know that you have the get off BEFORE the line and not ON the line. Otherwise, you’d be disqualified. But all good, I got off and started “running” on the most wobbly legs I’ve even been on in my life to rack my bike, get into the transition tent, refuel, get on my running race belt, turn around my BiB number so it’s at the front and make my way to the run start. More about this legendary run coming soon in a separate post.

In the meantime, go check out the image gallery of this race.