Race 7: Triathlon De La Touraine, Nouatre triathlon 2000m, 38km, 10.9km (24th June 2006)
It was a long drive to this place. The two French guys Gwenn Dupas and Frederic Tulane drove the rest of us foreign Cesson members for what seemed like an eternity. We had left Rennes at around 10am in cool overcast conditions but arrived in Nouatre at around 1pm in scorching hot and sunny conditions. By the time we had put our bikes together and got our race gear organised, I had sweated about 4 litres. The whole race was a little quirky. The town itself was tiny, yet the race offered pretty big prize money, paying to 51st and the top five teams. The swim start was 2km upstream, in a river that had such a current that you could only go one way. The transition area was so small that bikes had to be hung vertically to make enough room. We were after a team result, but needed 5 members to finish. Gwenn, Fred, Adam and myself waited anxiously for Laurent Triquet to arrive, which he did, with about 40 mins to spare. 
After the pre race brief we all hopped on busses and travelled to the swim start. Many guys had their wetsuits already on, but I opted not to as it was so, so hot. There were two busses; and we pushed our way on to the first not wanting to loose valuable warm up time. As it turned out the busses had to do two more trips each, allowing us ample time to warm up in the water. Adam actually swam a bit far downstream and could not swim back against the current. He had to swim to the bank, climb out and walk a few hundred metres back to the start line. 
The organisers got everyone out of the water and allowed the females to go first. Once everyone was up the steep banks of the river the girls were allowed into the water and a whistle was blown to signal the start. I am sure there was meant to be a few minutes gap between the guys and the girls, however a few unfortunate, but not unforeseeable events did not allow this to occur. We all had to swim down the river but were made to start on the bank of the river, sort of 
at right angles to the start line. Of course the most downstream end of the start line was packed as it was the shortest line of the swim. So there were about 200 or more nervous guys pushing for that magical start position, the most downstream the better. Everyone was edging bit by bit closer to the water, creeping down the slippery bank of the river. After about 30 seconds of the girls departure, the creeping had for some guys reached the edge of the river. People behind pressured for front positions, and people behind them forced them further forward. 40 seconds (my estimate) after the girls start, was about the time the human dam first broke. I think someone slipped forward rapidly, they guy next to him thought he would jump forward also, and guys further away, sensing rapid movement moved right into the river. Someone fell right in, and the splash created enough panic to start the race. I could hear the officials yelling and then the whistle blew; that was how we started.
Not long into the swim we had caught the girls, which made it hard for them and us. The swim 
was pretty quick with the current. The last 50m were under a bridge and over to the exit chute, through an area that was like mini rapids. I panicked a little in here as it was so choppy I couldn’t see any of the guys I was swimming with, and started thinking ‘oh no what if I am caught in some whirl pool area where the water is not going downstream, while everyone else is zipping by me in fast flowing water. I felt rocks under me and stood to see the guys just meters ahead of me. I walked over the rocks with the others (Yes walking in a race, pretty fun) and then ran to the transition area, helmet on wetsuit off and bike back on the ground.
The ride was two laps of a pretty solid course. Most of it was flat or rolling hills, but there was one cracker of a hill just out of the town. It was said to be more that 15%. That is tough enough, but it was also the poorest road surface you could imagine. It was like a very narrow, unused farm road, with holes and heaps of gravel. It was as close to unsealed a bitumen road could be. Stephane Bignet and Paul Amey had taken off on the bike and were out of sight by the end of the first lap. I had found myself in the next group of about 10 guys a few minutes behind. The remainder of the ride stayed pretty much like 
this with the exception of two guys slipping away about 
30seconds in front of us into transition. It was hot on the run. There was no cooling effect from the wind that you get on the bike, and no water to squirt on your head whenever you feel. After about 2km of running I was leading the chasers with another guy right on my shoulder. We passed someone on the side of the road who offered me a big bottle of water. I grabbed it and tipped some on my head then offered it to my limpet friend. He had some also then ran off on me not 
long later, going on to record the fastest run of the race. I ran alone for the rest of the run, battling cramps from the heat. I caught one of the guys who had taken off on the bike but could not catch the other, crossing the line in fifth. All the members of the team had done well and we ended up second. I was 5th, Adam 9th, Laurent 14th, Gwenn 21st and Fred 27th. All in the top 30 of a race with over 300 shows a good depth in the team.
Result from race six = A hot 5th
It was a long drive to this place. The two French guys Gwenn Dupas and Frederic Tulane drove the rest of us foreign Cesson members for what seemed like an eternity. We had left Rennes at around 10am in cool overcast conditions but arrived in Nouatre at around 1pm in scorching hot and sunny conditions. By the time we had put our bikes together and got our race gear organised, I had sweated about 4 litres. The whole race was a little quirky. The town itself was tiny, yet the race offered pretty big prize money, paying to 51st and the top five teams. The swim start was 2km upstream, in a river that had such a current that you could only go one way. The transition area was so small that bikes had to be hung vertically to make enough room. We were after a team result, but needed 5 members to finish. Gwenn, Fred, Adam and myself waited anxiously for Laurent Triquet to arrive, which he did, with about 40 mins to spare. 
After the pre race brief we all hopped on busses and travelled to the swim start. Many guys had their wetsuits already on, but I opted not to as it was so, so hot. There were two busses; and we pushed our way on to the first not wanting to loose valuable warm up time. As it turned out the busses had to do two more trips each, allowing us ample time to warm up in the water. Adam actually swam a bit far downstream and could not swim back against the current. He had to swim to the bank, climb out and walk a few hundred metres back to the start line. 
The organisers got everyone out of the water and allowed the females to go first. Once everyone was up the steep banks of the river the girls were allowed into the water and a whistle was blown to signal the start. I am sure there was meant to be a few minutes gap between the guys and the girls, however a few unfortunate, but not unforeseeable events did not allow this to occur. We all had to swim down the river but were made to start on the bank of the river, sort of 
at right angles to the start line. Of course the most downstream end of the start line was packed as it was the shortest line of the swim. So there were about 200 or more nervous guys pushing for that magical start position, the most downstream the better. Everyone was edging bit by bit closer to the water, creeping down the slippery bank of the river. After about 30 seconds of the girls departure, the creeping had for some guys reached the edge of the river. People behind pressured for front positions, and people behind them forced them further forward. 40 seconds (my estimate) after the girls start, was about the time the human dam first broke. I think someone slipped forward rapidly, they guy next to him thought he would jump forward also, and guys further away, sensing rapid movement moved right into the river. Someone fell right in, and the splash created enough panic to start the race. I could hear the officials yelling and then the whistle blew; that was how we started.
Not long into the swim we had caught the girls, which made it hard for them and us. The swim 
was pretty quick with the current. The last 50m were under a bridge and over to the exit chute, through an area that was like mini rapids. I panicked a little in here as it was so choppy I couldn’t see any of the guys I was swimming with, and started thinking ‘oh no what if I am caught in some whirl pool area where the water is not going downstream, while everyone else is zipping by me in fast flowing water. I felt rocks under me and stood to see the guys just meters ahead of me. I walked over the rocks with the others (Yes walking in a race, pretty fun) and then ran to the transition area, helmet on wetsuit off and bike back on the ground.
The ride was two laps of a pretty solid course. Most of it was flat or rolling hills, but there was one cracker of a hill just out of the town. It was said to be more that 15%. That is tough enough, but it was also the poorest road surface you could imagine. It was like a very narrow, unused farm road, with holes and heaps of gravel. It was as close to unsealed a bitumen road could be. Stephane Bignet and Paul Amey had taken off on the bike and were out of sight by the end of the first lap. I had found myself in the next group of about 10 guys a few minutes behind. The remainder of the ride stayed pretty much like 
this with the exception of two guys slipping away about 
30seconds in front of us into transition. It was hot on the run. There was no cooling effect from the wind that you get on the bike, and no water to squirt on your head whenever you feel. After about 2km of running I was leading the chasers with another guy right on my shoulder. We passed someone on the side of the road who offered me a big bottle of water. I grabbed it and tipped some on my head then offered it to my limpet friend. He had some also then ran off on me not 
long later, going on to record the fastest run of the race. I ran alone for the rest of the run, battling cramps from the heat. I caught one of the guys who had taken off on the bike but could not catch the other, crossing the line in fifth. All the members of the team had done well and we ended up second. I was 5th, Adam 9th, Laurent 14th, Gwenn 21st and Fred 27th. All in the top 30 of a race with over 300 shows a good depth in the team.
Result from race six = A hot 5th
posted by Kristian at 9:39 AM
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