Lake Tahoe 2013 Ironman Rewind – Eric Belker Going into the race I was prepared for a lot of climbing. My friends that live there had informed me that the 6,400 ft of climbing on the race profile was not showing the Martis Camp climbs, and that the actual climbing was more like 9000’. This proved to be true on race day. The Martis Camp is an exclusive gated community that allowed Ironman in on race day only. Due to the altitude of Lake Tahoe (6,200 above sea level) I decided to get there early. I drove straight through from Montana last Monday and spent the night in the back of Ginger’s car at 8,200 ft on Spooner Pass. On Tuesday I planned on swimming 2 miles in the lake to get used to the temperature and altitude. High winds (30MPH) had the lake looking like and ocean. I jumped in just to show myself and the lake I was not afraid but it was too rough for a swim. I stayed with some wonderful people Jeff & Lisa Bryan in South Lake Tahoe. Wednesday was a different story. I swam 2 miles at Nevada Beach. It was one of the most beautiful swims I have ever done, the mountains in the background, the sun coming up and brilliant blue and crystal clear water of Lake Tahoe was magnificent. Thursday was spent driving. I picked up Ginger in Reno. We drove up the Rose Mountain Highway and went for a run at 8,200 ft. It felt great to open up the lungs and the view was spectacular. I then picked up my race packet in Squaw Valley. Friday we moved into our hotel in Kings Beach. I swam with the Tahoe crew and went for a 20 mile ride out to Tahoe City. Saturday we check in our running gear at T-2 in Squaw Valley. The temperature drops to about 44 degrees while the wind and rain blow in from the west. The lake is once again an ocean. Ginger and I eat dinner with the Tahoe crew and some people are thinking the race will be cancelled or shortened because of the weather. We see on the weather channel that it is snowing on the race course while we push our bikes covered with plastic bags in the pouring rain into T-1. We go to bed the night before the race knowing that race day air temps will be in the low 30’s and that the water temperature in Lake Tahoe is predicted to drop to near 60 degrees. Race Day. We wake up 3:45 am to 31 degrees and clear skies. The race is a go. We go down and get body marked, pull the bags off of our frozen bikes and top off the tires. We put our nutrition on our bikes and check in our special needs bags. We assemble at Kings Beach wearing hats and down jackets and footwear to keep out the cold. The sand has frozen from the night before and is rigid under our feet. The water is covered in fog, so you can only see the first orange buoy and none of the other eight marking the swim course. The surrounding mountains reveal last night’s snow. Nothing left to do now but work our way to the start line emotionally and physically. We assemble in the fence for the 6:40 swim start. Boom!!!!!!!!!!!!! The cannon sounds and we are off. The new swim start is nice with everyone going into the water at intervals according to how fast they swim. Spotting is difficult with the fog. I swim the 2.4 miles at a relaxed pace and finish at 1:15. Entering T-1, I cannot feel my finger tips or toes, but manage to get my biking gear on in fairly short order. Out on the bike everything stays very cold until our first climb on Dollar Hill. Sensation returns to my fingers around 30 miles into the ride. The climbs start after Truckee and actually feel good in the beginning helping us warm up. A guy wipes out in front of me doing 37mph and appears unconscious. We make our way through Martis Camp and get our first look at what we have been missing. This stretch through Martis Camp is a winding neighborhood that has quite a few short grade climbs and than a long climb with some 12% grades. I think it is equal to or harder than the Brockway Summit climb, which is next. I round the corner on the Brockway Summit feeling very good and the legs feeling strong, my nutrition thus far, is spot on. I think I am hallucinating though. I see in the distance what I think is an oompa loompa running around in his German Speedos. Turns out it is none other than GGM Wolf Hillesheim. Wow!!!!!!!!!!! What a sight. I look around and see the El Sobrante Crew but no time to visit. I’ll be back! Second Loop of the bike. Feeling great! Passing people on the climbs and feeling really good. Make it through Martis Camp and start the Brockway Summit climb feeling strong. I am with a group of riders and their pace drops off so I pass them feeling good. I can see the passing lane coming up, which means I only have ¾ of a mile to the summit. I stand up to kick it in a little bit and hear what sounds like a gunshot. I initially think I have broken my chain. I look down and see the chain is fine, maybe my derailleur? I hop off and find that my wheel will not spin and I cannot seem to figure out why or what’s wrong. I hop back on. No go. I hop back off and finally see the damage. My Hub, where the spokes attach in the center has exploded. DAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNGGGGG! I want to throw my biker over the edge. I ask myself, “All of this training for this?” I take off my shoes and helmet and begin to walk to the summit. To add to my misery this guy drives by and calls me a Sissy for quitting. I make the summit and Wolf thinks I am cramping. NOOOOOOOOOOOTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT! I tell the race support crew what has happened and that I need another wheel. The bike support lady in the world’s slowest way calls the guy with the wheel who says he will be here when he can. More than an hour goes by before a bike tech arrives. After seeing my wheel he says, “Dude I have been doing this for years and have never seen anything like it.” In the mean time, Wolf wants me to take Bubba’s mountain bike to the finish or just ride down the hill on my blown out wheel (No wonder he crashes so much). I still have 22 miles of biking to get to the run transition. This would be a disqualification. I try to stay hydrated and keep eating, but my strategy has imploded while I wait. I am getting cold and irritable. I use Liz’s phone to call Ginger. She wants to help, but she is on the other end of the course and there is nothing she can do. Finally the wheel guy shows up and changes out my cassette onto another wheel. I am finally back on my bike 1 hour and 48 minutes later. Finish up the bike. Put in a pretty good run for the first nine miles and then the legs said “No More.” I just resolve to finish, never surrender, never give up. The ups and downs of this week and of this race day made this my greatest race yet. My time does not matter. My place does not matter. My goal to finish is what matters. In a race that had the 2nd largest amount of people to not finish in Ironman history, I was just humbled to have reached the finish line. I look forward now to Ironman Florida and helping Joe Stone in his quest to become the first wheelchair-using quadriplegic to finish and Ironman. Follow his journey at ironmansjourney Thanks family and friends for all of your support. Special thanks to my wonderful wife Ginger for allowing me to chase my dreams.
Posted on: Sat, 28 Sep 2013 21:06:54 +0000
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