Geelong and the short of it

Irondog and Ironman getting ready for the race
Way too early this morning we set off across the bay for the Geelong half ironman.  By now we've been through more than a few races, but this one is so far the most memorable.  Phil has been training really hard in preparation for the Melbourne Ironman next month, and so he was excited to see if the training is paying off.  He turned in a personal best swim time of 46 minutes for ~2000 meters and was very happy going into the bike leg.  I watched him start off on the bike, and he made it about 50 meters before he pulled over and had to change a flat tire.  No big deal, a few minutes later he was up and going again.

Maybe and I found a spot where we could watch the athletes finish their first bike lap and start their second.  I figured he would do the bike leg in about three hours, and so an hour and a half in I kept a close eye out for his striking blue spandex getup.  Twenty minutes later he rolls by, sticks up three fingers, and says, "I've had three flats."  Cool.  Didn't realise he was going for that record.  Several more minutes pass by and I see people who were in front of and behind him start their second lap.  I start to wonder what's going on until I see him walking towards me sans bike.  Turns out he got a fourth flat tire just after he passed me and by then was out of spares.  He had to call it a day, which was frustrating because he was doing very good time until then.  O well, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.  At least they gave him the finisher towel and backpack yesterday!

He just pulled his bike out of the car to find that his other tire was also flat.  So that's #5.  Surely some kind of ironman record...
Phil changing his first flat tire
Three fingers - for three flat tires

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