Hawaii Ironman Week: Day 4 "It Blows"

Tuesday morning we drove out past the Kona airport to start our bike ride there, so we wouldn’t have to meander through town. Rob rode for an hour, easy with a few pick ups. Dave and I decided we wanted to go longer, so we headed out to Waikoloa. This is a resort area on the Queen K heading towards Hawi. The Mauna Lani Resort and the Fairmont Orchid Resort are there, with golf courses, restaurant, great shopping, and a gorgeous beach. I stayed there in June when I did the Honu half.

Well, let me tell you, this will probably not be a lovely site for the racers on Saturday. Some call Waikoloa “Waik -o-blow-a” because the wind is so strong there. I witnessed it first hand today. It was crazy windy out there. I couldn’t let go of my bars with one hand or I would lose control of the bike. The wind was so strong sometimes I felt like I was going backwards. Then coming back the other way, I could go about 30 miles an hour, without pedaling. But on race day, coming back won’t be so easy because the winds shift later in the day. I’m sure Rob will watch his power meter and ride a smart race, no matter what the island gods throw at the racers on race day.

On to the second thing that blows.… Rob picked up his race packet today, with a list of all the race participants. I was looking through my age group, and discovered that the girl who won 2nd place at St. Croix, just in front of my 3rd place, who took the last Kona slot in my age group, is not here. She took the slot, and then didn’t sign up for the race. I don’t know the story, but I think if she wasn’t intending on racing that she should have passed on the slot. I know of situations where the next person in line for the slot was notified later that the slot was passed down to them -- I sure wish someone didn’t drop the ball in my case because I would have jumped at the chance to race here again. All I can say is that it blows!!!