Confidence boost

The bike is the longest part of Ironman for most people and in Copenhagen in 2010 I took 7 hrs and 14 mins on the bike which is poor. I have analysed it to death since then and there are a lot of good reasons it was slow but my inexperience and lack of miles on the bike would be the biggest two as I'd only been cycling properly for 2 years at that stage.  As a result, and following a poor training week in Lanzarote last year I decided to enter an Ironman with one of the toughest bike courses which is of course, Lanzarote.
So I have worked hard at improving my bike and have put in a lot of hours and miles.  Over the winter I have concentrated on Turbo training which has increased my fitness.  So today, although officially a rest day, it was a birthday bike ride for one of the coaches so a group of 25 cyclists went out and did 45 miles.  I was going to take it easy but my coach suggested I attack the hills as it was a relatively short ride, so I did and finished in the top 4 or 5 on the big hills which is unheard of for me.  I was also in the top 5 for the final sprint and that's never happened before - ever.  I received compliments on my improvement from cyclists I respect and they were the same ones that left me for dead in Lanzarote a year ago.  That's a nice wee confidence boost before I go to Lanzarote next week for training - but there is still a lot of work to do before Ironman.