Before then however, (potential) disaster struck! Having enjoyed the flatter, faster section of the ride out to Usk and back to Monmouth via Raglan, my chain duly snapped on the first real “climb” of the day out of Rockfield and toward Newcastle! Although I had a spare chain link in my saddle bag and reasonable knowledge of how to repair it, I was however pleased (not to mention extremely grateful!) to see a fellow rider drop back and help me fix the problem and although I will have to deal with issues such as this alone during the Ironman, it was a good lesson in keeping calm and working through the problem! 10 minutes later and I was back on my way, albeit covered in black grease! This was to be my only issue of the day and the rest of the journey progressed pretty smoothly!