Ironman Lake Placid Party of Awesomeness

Joy here...On Sunday, July 24th two of our friends - Simon and Bryan - competed in the Ironman Lake Placid Triathon.  Lake Placid is in New York State and is only a few hours' drive away from our home in Ottawa, so we planned a post-race party for them at our house, and invited all our friends.

That was Tuesday night.

It was awesome.

Simon ended up leaving our house at 4:30am.

You are an IRONMAN!

Then on Wednesday, Simon, The Man, and I all headed out to the park to do a loop.  I mean, we figured that Simon is our very first friend from Malaysia to come to our Canadian stomping grounds, and we weren't going to let the opportunity to show off our regular ride circuit pass us up.  I just hadn't necessarily planned on riding in the company of someone who has finished NINETEEN IRONMANS!!!  Needless to say, he and the Man rode ahead of me, and were kind enough to wait at certain intervals.

The day was hot and clear, and the afternoon summer sun was high overhead.  We were all tired after a late night with too much booze, but I have to admit that it was one of the most enjoyable loops that I've done in the park.

Pink Lake Lookout

Champlain Lookout

We rode up to the Pink Lake lookout and enjoyed the view (and took in some much needed hydration) before carrying on up to the Champlain lookout (more view and more hydration).

A happy triathlete out for a ride Ottawa-style!

Most importantly, Simon has said that our Wednesday afternoon ride was "one of the most amazing bike rides...one of best ever!"  How awesome is that?  How awesome is it that we can lure a friend from Malaysia who has done Ironman races all over the world - Ironman Korea, Ironman Langkawi, Ironman Kentucky, Ironman Lake Placid, Ironman China (just to name some of the ones he's completed) - and he was able to say that our regular Sunday morning ride in the local park is one of the best rides that he's ever done?  It really doesn't get much better than that as an endorsement for home, sweet home, does it?

My bike...lookin' good!

So while the three of us were enjoying the scenery, sweating out the excess booze, and getting energized to make up for the lack of sleep while out for a 3 hour bike ride, I was also building my confidence by realizing that I was able to ride with the guys and not make it a painful ride for them.  Sure - Simon's post-Ironman, and jetlagged, and lacking sleep etc. etc., but he didn't complain about having to wait and wait and wait for the slow girl to catch up.  That was a real boost to my confidence.

Such a boost to my confidence, in fact, that I'm starting to think that I should set my sights on triathlon.  Who knows?  Maybe I've got an Ironman in me too!

So I'm going to continue riding on Sundays with my "sisterhood" and enjoying the improvement with my cycling.  And then maybe instead of setting my sights on a marathon, I should start thinking about a triathlon.  Or maybe a marathon and THEN a triathlon.  The sky's the limit!

Over and out,
Joy

PS - Watch this video for Simon and Bryan's Post Ironman Lake Placid "race report":