Ironman Continued

Well here we go! as I started lap 2 of the Bike I kept looking behind me hoping and knowing that Nick and Kyle had to be close. I headed out towards Ivin's knowing full well what was ahead of me. The few times that I had done the loop twice had been humbling and I knew I was going to need all the energy I could muster for the run. The Ivin's aid station was nice because I saw Matt Hamlin a longtime friend. He made sure I had some gatorade and was doing okay. Leaving Ivin's I headed out to the highway and started to mentally prepare myself for the climbs that were ahead. Since the first lap I had grouped the ride into 6 parts in my mind and I had completed 3 of the 6 (gunlock hill(2), Ranch Hill (2) Wall (2)) I took it easy out through the Indian Reservation and made it to Gunlock 4/6 without any trouble. My speed however had decreased considerably from the first lap. Just before the town of Gunlock I heard the sound i'd been waiting almost 90 miles to hear. Kyle and Nick had arrived. It was nice to see them and ride with them for a little while. We made a pit stop just out of Gunlock ( First bathroom break of the day for me) after the short stop we rode together for a few more minutes and I could tell I was going to have an important decision to make. Whether or not to keep up with them or just go at my own pace. We got to the Ranch hill  (5/6) and they pulled away and I decided that I couldn't chase them and risk blowing up out of Veyo as I have done numerous times chasing those two. So I kept to my own pace watching them ride off into the sunset (well not quite) Later that night I would regret not pushing it up the last hill and hanging with them... The wall the second round was harder then the first. Lasse was in the same spot right at the top to offer encouragement and advised me to make sure and get some food in me so that I would be ready for the run. The climb out of veyo wasn't as bad as I thought it might have been. I was a little discouraged when I showed up to the aid station that previously had the special needs bike bags to find they were no longer available. I wasn't sure if they would be but i could have gone for a little snack. The rest of the ride into town was uneventful the wind had changed so top speed dropped down to the mid 30's 36 I think I saw. but it was a nice little break all the down hill from Dameron Valley into St. George. I didn't realize how tired I was until I had to turn onto snow canyon parkway for the third time that day only to do a little loop and climb back onto Bluff before the home stretch to T2. As I headed into T2 my watch told me that I had done basically what I thought I would do i was going to be off the bike in just under 8 hours. I had wanted to be out of T2 by 4:30 and was going to make it. Although it wasn't my best time on that course it was right were I thought I would be.