So where the bloody hell are you?

I landed in the Sunshine State yesterday, my home, the state with aqua clear water, clear blue skies, where women skip along the waterfront in tiny bikinis flashing their bronzed skin while men muscle up in board shorts with a surfboard under one arm and stubby in the other. I was excited. I'd been suffering in Melbourne, eagerly awaiting this time away where I could remember what it felt like to be in heat, humidity and suffering sweaty-ness.

Sigh. That would all be true if the plane diverted to Hawaii.

In the 24ish hours since landing, it has been cold, windy and has rained non-stop. Never mind, I thought, this can't bring me down! I'm on holidays! And I live in Melbourne...pfft this is nothing.

Then I remembered I'd need my wet weather gear. It's excellent I remembered this while at Cairns airport when said gear is still at home. In Melbourne.

Never mind, I've ridden in worse before. Who needs wet weather gear when its barely raining?

I get to the apartment and it's cold. I dig into my suitcase for some warm clothes, specifically a tracksuit and remember - that's at home too. In Melbourne.  Fortunately I am staying next to Cairns' answer to Chadstone so a quick 20min later and I've stocked up on some Melbourne-appropriate gear (while silently thinking this is CRAZY that I'm wearing jumpers in Cairns....anyone who doesn't believe in global warming, please, come and take a look at the tropical north these days).

Up early this morning for an easy 90min ride. I had no idea where to ride as we were told not to ride on the Captain Cook Highway until race day (and I accidentally learnt why this is so when I ended up on said highway with semis roaring past. Got it). So I rode around following bike lanes until I found a decent run along a road parallel to the Highway. It seems others have found their way to this road as I was joined by a kiwi guy for part of the way who was doing his 2nd IM after surviving (I think that's an appropriate term, given the weather on that day) Ironman New Zealand 2011. Any concerns I had about the mild rain and wind in Cairns were kept to myself.

It was during the ride that I realised my gears were not shifting properly. I couldn't get them right so I thought, never mind, there's a stack of bike shops around. I'll just pull into one near my apartment and get them to look at it.

Which I did, and they did and the gear problem was sorted quickly. The source of the gear problem, however, was a suspected worn chain which the mechanic informed me "should" last the race.

"Should" is not "will" and in my line of work is the sort of language we use when either (a) we know exactly what the right decision is but are trying to guide another person to make that decision; or (b) we are not sure what the answer is so are trying to protect ourselves by indicating that there is room for more than one possible outcome.

Either of these circumstances was not going to fly for me. "Should" had to be turned into "will" immediately. However, for this to happen, I was informed I would also need a new cassette. I'm not sure if that was a "should" get a new cassette or I "will" need a new cassette. In any event, by this stage I just wanted to get this shit sorted so I told them to do whatever needed to be done (which I suppose in mechanic terms is the equivalent to throwing your credit card behind the bar).

I didn't care if I was being taken for a ride or not; as a fellow Queenslander, generally we are an honest bunch and with 2 major races in 3 days time, their workshop booked out and people coming in and out looking for help, I don't think they were in any need of extra work taking up their day.

These guys could not have been friendlier and more helpful; I hung out in the shop for an hour (in full kit, helmet still on like a loser) and chatted away to them, their Specialized rep and had a great morning (dint in the credit card aside). Made me remember how friendly and open people up here are; down to earth and aways up for a chat. So to the guys at Pump 'N' Pedals, thank you for helping out this Melbourne girl today at the last minute.

After this little detour to my planned morning, I went down to the Esplanade to check out the race start and see how things were looking. The water was in a sorry state and I can only hope it improves by Sunday:

Transition was taking shape and that's when I started to feel excited:

But the thing that really got me buzzed was seeing the finishing line arch. I honestly cannot wait to cross that line on Sunday; the culmination of 7 solid months of training towards that one goal:

Forecast is for a max of 28 degrees, 8km/hr S, 80+% humidity and late showers. If that eventuates, it will be perfect tropical weather for a race. Fingers crossed!