The gloves are off.

It’s been a day to remember; for the first time since we arrived there has been no cloud cover in the morning and no wind, consequently it has been a very oppressive day.

During the heat of the day, it was almost impossible to ride quickly without damaging the health of the competitors, trying to keep the ‘lid on’ things though is not simple. I finally persuaded Simon to rest at 1 o’clock this afternoon, the plan being to do nothing for 4 hours, I followed to our tents an hour later and slept like a baby, little did I know that Simon had got up at 3.30 and started riding again! I woke at 4.30 could sense the heat, got no reply from Simon’s tent so closed my eyes, 2 hours later I woke with a start and discovered he was gone.

 

Before we decided to rest, Simon and Kale had reached a Gentleman’s agreement to sleep through the heat of the day; I guess Simon’s ‘Sixth Sense’ is better than mine, because Kale had started riding just before him. It’s now 6 hours later and they both are still at it, Kale has been really pushing the pace and I have finally got Simon to ‘back off’, it’s Kale that has to do all of the chasing as Simon has a 110km lead…… which on this course at these speeds is over 5 hours.

Oh yes forgot to tell you, ‘the gloves are off’ and Simon has reached 1200km’s only 600 to go and the small matter of 420km’s of running !

So we will see how the night unfolds, stay focused Simon, we’re watching over you.

The Psychological Battle may be over.

Well the boy cracked a big, nay huge milestone this morning; 1000kms, hip hip, hoorah.
After last nights meteoric efforts, Kale went of to bed fairly early but Simon and I decided to stay focused and pile on the pressure, the result of that...

being, that when we thought we had done enough to maintain a lead even with us sleeping we would. That point came at 4am when Simon had ridden himself 117 kms in front with 953 laps
I decided that I would help, the last one Ironman a day boys to complete his marathon as he was really struggling, so I packed Simon of to our celubriious tent, whilst I ran with Enrique (no not Inglasias) to cover his last 24 kms. He had been struggling and looking as if he would not complete in the 24 hours, I got him there with an hour 20 to spare.
During this jaunt Kale appeared on the track (runners runclockwise to the cyclist anti circuit, at least they see the same tarmac from a different direction), he looked shattered. So I decided not to tell Simon as I didn't think that Kale would be able to take many laps back, I was right on two fronts, not only was he riding slowly, but 'Sixth Sense Bourne, reappeared just after 6, and was zipping round the track in a flash.
Which is why he now has over a THOUSAND kilometers ridden, only another 800 to go.
The plan today is to consolidate, cover Kale's moves and hopefully, get some sleep.

 

Some wisecracker moved Simon's socks just as I was taking the photo of him relaxing !!!!!

Taking it to him !

What a day we have had, 2 more competitors dropped out today, that’s 4 in total the two previous were withdrawn by the doctor; this event is so brutal there is one here all of the time.

Simon though goes on and on; we began today at 10 am and since then (it’s now just after midnight) he has taken 2 major breaks (over an hour) and several minor ones, the best of those was in the shade with his legs dangling in the pool, we have discovered that this is not only a good way of keeping his feet in good order but naturally cools the body, which is essential in these temperatures. Three other competitors have followed our lead.

As for the contest, the aim of course is to finish this debilitating event, but when there are two athletes like Simon and Kale competing, it has turned into a game of cat and mouse, neither wanting to cede to the other. Whilst we were sleeping between 6 and 10 Kale was able to gain some ground, 80 kms in fact, there’s an adage that springs to mind “you snooze, you lose” but in this case it’s a double edged sword if you don’t snooze you can lose. So it’s all about finding a balance and deciding when it’s right to sleep and when to drive forward. There has been some serious ‘chess moves’ today, some very bold tactics, only an hour ago Kale tried to destroy Simon with 2 laps each covered over a minute faster than his [Kale] usual, Simon responded, despite me asking him not to because there is still a very long way to go and using too much energy early could have disastrous consequences, for 6 laps Kale tried in vain to break Simon, eventually he broke himself.

Simon has now passed the 900 km mark and has increased his lead to 65 kms; how far will he go before the next long break?

‘The walls have ears’ especially in this cyber space age, so watch this space.

 Stay strong, ride long Simon.

Ariba ariba, andele andele as they say down Mexico way

This post should have been read before the previous but had saved as a draft. Sorry.

Simon's battle with Kale is pheonominal;

 

Kale has been trying to outwit him and confuse our strategy with different messages, Simon's answer was to follow everything that he did, apart that is when he decided to put 'The Hammer Down' and ride the fastest 2 laps of the day a 2:09 & 2:03, to put some distance between the pair, it worked because Kale's speed dropped dramatically and he decided to take a break at 8.30pm. As I write at 1230 he still has not reappeared, Simon has used that time to put distance between the two and did not rest himself until that gap was a 100 kilometers ! Then Simon himself took a rest of 1.5 hours sleeping on a magnectic field bed, and has since got back on the bike and is 'ripping it up again lapping comfortably at 2.30 km pace. He is going to try and ride until 8am and hopefully will have posted 720kms by then, his total stands at 600+ at the moment.

 This is an event like no other, brutal in its intensity both physical and mental, if you're brave enough why not give one a go ? You could start with a Double continuos Ironman or 2 inn two days.
Bourneo leads the way, but there is an awful long way to go.

Titanic has got nothing on this.

It's 'Tea time' in the UK, lunch over here, what a night you all missed.
Simon's battle lifted a notch last night, whilst his rival slept he poured on the pressure; amassing kilometer (mile) after kilometer, by the time Kale came back on the track at 2am Simon had increased his lead to 130kms.
We think that Kale and his crew were expecting Simon to have gone to bed as he had been on the go since 1pm, so they got a shock when we appeared from a coffee break and joined in the fray, what happened next was remarkable.
Kari Martens from Sweden, regarded by most of being the best Ultra Triathlete in the world also came out after a break, the 3 joined in a titanic battle, Kari is the best cyclist here and continued to force the pace, Simon responded which forced Kale to, for 2 laps they all rode faster than 2 minutes a lap, which on this course is a remarkable time and don't forget Simon had been at it for 12 hours, they were both rested, wow. Of course it's not possible to sustain anything like that pace ina an 'Ultra', thankfully Simon responded to my signals and slowed down. He stayed out until 6 then we both took an opportunity to take a shower and garb a nap, Kale of course stayed out, Simon was back on the road at 1030 and only lost 75kms to Kale. Simon has just gone through the 700km barrier and is looking very good despite the 91f temperature.
Smooth pedals Simon.

The Race is definitely on !

I am a little late in posting because there is a lot going on in the race, read on.

Guess what? We had another plan, which was to sleep through the worst of the day’s heat and then get out on the road and make any time up that he had lost. We had heard that his closest competitor who did not have a good time in the heat yesterday during the cycle; would also rest during the day. Kidology that’s what it was!

Simon’s pursuer made up 80 kms whilst we tried to sleep and rest, so to make a statement Simon was up and at it at 1 o’clock, the upshot of that is that he has now completed 445 kms and leads by about 50 kms . The man is a machine, it’s 96 degrees Fahrenheit again today and the sun is relentless in its intensity and of course as in Formula One the track temperature is even hotter.

I can’t tell you when he is going to rest right now, but he and his pursuer, who by the way, is called Kale Poland and is from the USA are matching each other lap for lap and are recording the same times.  Neither of them seems to want to rest, Kale’s crew were expecting him to do that an hour ago, clearly he doesn’t want Simon to gain any more of an advantage.

This is a race of epic proportions, and I have no time to report on the other events of an Ironman a day for 5, 10 or 20 days, phew makes me even hotter just thinking about it. But there is no doubt that the event is Simon’s 10 continuous Ironman distances as quick as possible.

He is almost at a quarter of the distance now on the bike, he is living the dream.

The Morning after the first night ride

And so it continues; Simon has just finished a 14 hour stint on the bike and clocked 380kms or 226 miles, thats an average of 15.5 miles an hour including stops. He is in great spirits, has just passed the Doctors Medical and will be ready ...

to get on the bike again later; the strategy is to sleep through the heat of the day and ride all night again. When we left the race HQ his nearest pursuer was 120kms behind, that might change as he has chosen to ride on.
Everyone here is impressed with 'Pintsized Rocket', as he made the ride look easy, and as expected is in great spirits and laughing and joking with everyone.
More from us later, till then keep following his exploits, he's doing us all proud, but more importantly he is doing himself proud.
On on Bourneo.