Race Day Footage from the 2007 Ironman Coeur d'Alene Swim Start

Hello everyone,
As evidence of the start of the day I've posted video of the 2007 Ironman Coeur d'Alene swim start. This is REAL footage broadcast on local television in Coeur d'Alene and shot live on the morning of June 24th.

It is in fact not my imagination or my memory messing with me. The water was a little rough. See the video below (and the one below that):



Look at the flag on the beach almost dead center in the frame:

The importance of a little eye contact

I've taken to riding my bike to work. With only a handful of rainy days in the last 12 months why not. Luckily I live in Southern California where the weather is forgiving enough nearly year round and my job is flexible enough dress code wise where this is possible. Unluckily people around me, and I mean on the road, seem to be paying less and less attention to the ROAD!!

I'm not certain what the issue is. Driving is fun. It is the transference of a little change in the angle of your foot/heel, to raw horsepower and speed, or drop in speed depending on what your needs are. Perhaps the problem is that cars are just too big, or that there's too much to look at and be entertained by inside the car. Regardless the power and convenience of this powered conveyance is being taken for granted.

As a rider, and now a riding commuter, I have come to one universal truth. It is this: No matter how well I train myself to ride, nor how RIGHT I am in the right of way, when struck by a quarter to a half ton of aluminum, steel, and plastic, that RIGHT of way doesn't mean anything. Nothing that is but an overall loss in the ability to walk, talk, and possibly breathe. I'm not ok with that. But making sure that that doesn't happen is on me.

I have been freed from my car and the shackles of big petroleum companies for my work week. I have been liberated, one might say. And eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. It's now on me to watch and make sure that I am safe. To that end a little eye contact is important.

What good is eye contact you might ask? A little eye contact can tell you what a driver is going to do, or better yet what they're not seeing, most importantly you. Riding in traffic is made safer by knowing as much about your fellow commuters as you can. Are they even looking at you? Have they noticed that you too are making that left turn? Are they sleeping?

Looking in to a driver's eyes can make them aware of you. At the very least it causes 99% of people a second thought, which still might be two more thoughts than you would have gotten before. It's harder to hit something that has looked in to your soul BWAHHAHAHAHAHA. I jest, but I'm not kidding. Try it sometime. Walk across the street, at an intersection, look at the driver that was looking left at the cross traffic, notice that they don't see you, then find their eyes. What do you see? Is it shock that you were there, disgust that you're holding them up, disappointment that they can no longer run you over innocently (in the "shoot, he saw me, now I HAVE TO stop and wait" tone)?

Tour de Fr... Denver?

Hello out there. I got an email from one of my coaches and it looks like he's out to ride the Tour de France... but in Denver & LA, minus car support and while working.

http://tourdedenver07.blogspot.com/

Quoted from Coach Gareth Thomas:

With the Tour de France just around the corner, i thought I'd share
my latest mad thought with you......

I am going to attempt my very own "Tour de Denver (and LA)" to
coincide with the stages or this years Tour de France. I figured that
perhaps i can do a third of the length of the tour rides on the same
days with similar profiles to the Tour stages. Near my home in
Colorado I have access to some major climbs and time trial courses so
I figured I could find HC style climbs and routes to match what our
Tour heroes will be doing each day. On my work days in Los Angeles I
can ride the computrainer courses in my office. Of course there are a
few considerations...

1. the altitude in colorado starts higher than the finishes of the
hardest stages of the TDF!
2. it is often above 95 degrees most days now
3. i'll have to do most of it "solo"
4. I have to work and travel during it all

i have no idea if this is going to be an "easy" task or impossibly
hard. No one day is longer than 45 miles but there are many days back
to back and the intensity is going to be way hard.

Anyway, I am going to track my progress on a blog - it should throw
out some interesting info along the way. I'll be riding with an SRM
powermeter so I will provide data from each days ride. I'll be
getting somewhat regular massage and chiro along the way. I am going
to do weight and % fat pre and post Tour and also i am going to lab
test with lactate and VO2 pre & post. So if anyone is interested in

1. also following my stage plan
2. following my progress
3. giving me some encouragement
4. joining me on a ride or 2

then please visit my Blog and let me know what your thoughts are....

http://tourdedenver07.blogspot.com

Watch out Lance, here I come!!

Gareth Thomas
--

Should be a kick. Give it a look and shout out some support would you!

Race Report : 2007 Ironman Coeur d'Alene : Bike

This year in Coeur d'Alene marked the first year of an all new bike course. There are a number of reasons that I have heard for this, but they don't really matter to me. The old course took riders out to the Idaho/Washington state line with a fair amount of climbing and had pieces of the ride that in retrospect felt like unnecessary filler. There was a long piece past mile 35/85 (or so) that followed the centenial trail along the highway and caused riders to hit a decent headwind.

The new course took us out of Coeur d'Alene and in to the town of Hayden. This year's course was quite a bit harder. Though in looking at my polar altitude data from last year and comparing it to this year, it seems like there 4300 feet of climbing (30 miles or so) and last years course had 4600 feet of climbing over the same distance. Though there was 300 fewer feet of climbing I'd say that this course was harder, if only in my mind. I'd say that last year had the climbing over a shorter distance forcing riders this year to climb for a longer period of time.

The biggest change was that the course was far prettier than last year. To the uninitiated this might sound petty, but over a seven hour period having great stuff to look at makes the time that much better. The rolling hills were beautiful, and the long line of riders looked like ants climbing over them.

For me I had the opportunity to talk to several people over the ride. (Most of them were passing me). It was by all accounts, despite being difficult perhaps, a great ride. The weather we had was wonderful, mid 60's to low 70's with a small headwind for most of the ride and a longer stronger headwind right near the end of the ride. If they keep the course the way that it was and you intend to ride this race next year, I'd recommend longer sustained climbing as a large part of your training.

End result, last year 7:50~ish, this year 7:20 (and that's with 12 minutes worth of bathroom stops because of the cold weather and hydration planned for a warmer day).