A great ride with Chrissie Wellington, Debbie and Tauny Southwood

Catching up with Chrissie in the lava fields

The road through the lava fields: the Queen K highway

In team formation

As always the wind was pretty strong at the top of the island towards Hawi


Team photo in Hawi. Asker, Chrissie, Mim, Lawrence, Tauny and Debbie

Day 3 in Kona (For photos of Day 3 in Kona click here)

Today Tauny, Debbie and I were going for a bike ride with celebrity guest Chrissie Wellington. At 7:30 we set off on the bike for a longish bike ride (115 k). We rode the course from the start to the turnaround point in Hawi. Then we rode back towards the finish for another hour an got in the car. Jo had been driving the car the entire way alongside us, taking some amazing photos in the process.

For more photos of Day 2 in Kona click here.

It was great to catch up with Chrissie. She is so much stronger than last year and so ready to race! As we were riding on the Queen K highway through the lava fields the wind picked up a bit and when we got to Hawi the wind was pretty strong and there were places where we were only going 18-19 km/h even though the road was flat. It was a lovely sunny and an unusually clear day and I enjoyed the ride which felt very comfortable. Before the start we briefly saw Mim and Lawrence who had driven to Hawi in their bright yellow Jeep at the same time we did. It was very " "Mim"- bright and sunny!

In the afternoon, we arrived back to the hotel and met up with Phil who had also gone for a ride with a bunch of Australians on the Queen K. Nick - another Brat had also arrived with his family that morning so we all arranged to meet at Lava Java - the coffee house cafe again and had a lovely breakfast/lunch and catch up.

We got back to the hotel, relaxed for a bit and went for dinner across the road and had an easy night. This was the last day before it all gets into full on Ironman mode. Tomorrow registration starts, the parade of nations will be in the evening and the expo opens, so kick off begins.