Thursday, September 25, 2008

Race 17. Grand prix race 3. Les Setton

I can describe this race with as little as two words. Not fun. I nearly drowned in the swim, was next to last at the first buoy and only got it together a little near the end to pass people. I was looking for the boat to get me out of there, when my normal routine of breathing during my swimming part of the race was violently changed to drinking. The course for the bike leg was on pretty good roads but for some reason the French tri federation decided to make it 3 out and back loops on the same road, turning it into a skinny, windy obstacle course. All around lake Setton were perfectly good roads later to be used for the open races, but it must be far more important to keep bunches of 80+ riders in one lane and threaten to disqualify them if they are accidentally knocked on the white dividing line. Add to that conundrum a transition area entrance the width of a paddle pop stick and I think you can see where its all going. The organizers must be thanked by all who made it into the second transition area without crashing, as we were all rewarded with a little rest. I think it is one of the first races where I actually stopped moving altogether, as I could do nothing but wait for my turn to slowly walk through the undersize shute, all the time bumping my bike into the guy in front of me, as he was doing the same to the guys in front of him.....and so on. I got to my place only to find someone else’s bike there, and Antione Le soz was looking everywhere for his shoes that he later mysteriously found in another teams area. I just had to laugh, and say something stupid to Antione as I felt the race was as goo as over. I racked my bike on the other bike, and slipped on my shoes with little rush. The change from bike to run had thankfully spread us out a little and I was able to RUN out of transition, all be it in 55th position. I ran as fast as I could for all of the race and seemed to pass people all the way around the two laps without being passed myself. That is until the final 10 meters when in yet another sprint finish, I came out second best, or it should be said, I came out 9th best as we were hardly sprinting for the win!

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Race 16. Feins sprint triathlon (retro Cesson)

Knowing in the next ten days I had to do a grand prix and then Alpe d’Huez triathlon, I decided to dodge the fight in the Olympic distance race and do the sprint race. This meant no money but no pressure and I could save what little energy my feeble body can hold, for the following races. As I knew I would have little pressure I decided to race in the theme of retro Cesson. Out came the long socks, budgie smugglers, 1986 fluro Cesson top (thanks Pierre for that relic), and head band. I stupidly decided to do the swim in the long socks, under the wetsuit. They were fine for the swimming section, as I was barely able to notice them there, but for getting in out of the water, they were nothing short of treacherous. The Fiens race is in a pretty little lake, but the entry and exit point have a bit of algae present and on the run in I felt like I was on ice. I skidded into my final belly flop horizontal position, hoping people watching would think it was all part of a planned technical dive sequence. At the exit quite a crowd had gathered and by the time I arrived I had a handy 30 or 40 second lead so decided to give them a look at my full out fit that had been hidden until that point beneath my wetsuit. Well they were all clapping and cheering and yelling, so it all felt like a successful strip tease. I was waiting for someone to slip a five euro note in my number belt all the time hoping not to have a horrible wardrobe malfunction with my Engine swim trunks (if you can get what I am saying). Puling off the lower section of my wetsuit I was happy to find all that should be inside my bathers was in fact in there! I was nearing the end of my performance, and people were clapping, laughing and commenting on the outfit that was seductively being exposed as I peeled away my neoprene outer skin when my slippery socks gave way from under me. I fell down so, removed the final portion of my wetsuit in a face down, bum up position, on the swim exit ramp, in some type of caterpillar motion. I thanked the crowd, picked up my wetsuit, searched for my dignity, realized that was lost so ran on towards my awaiting bike. I managed to complete the remainder of the course without too much incident. The only other thing I need to mention is that racing in swim bathers the same size as children’s underwear is not the fantastic idea you have been imaging! Within the first 5km of riding I had noticed that the inside of my leg was a little sore and noted it was rubbing a little on my seat. By 15k the situation had progressed to the point that I had to ride with my knees pointing outwards. I must have resembled some kind of stick insect perched upon a bike, but the discomfort was too great to consider normal riding technique. I even tried squirting water on it for some relief and perhaps create some lubrication, but this did little to aide the current problem, and in fact produced another. The addition of water to the front of my bathers just looked like I, hadn’t made it to the toilet. Thankfully sometime during the 5 km run they dried and the sniggers and giggles from the crowd subsided a little, and attention was again directed to my attire rather than my bladder control, or lack of it. I crossed the line, had a quick interview with the commentator, who didn’t bat an eyelid to what I was wearing, then headed back to the bus, to get away form all the stares.

Race 15. Quimper triathlon

The Quimper triathlon is indeed held in the pretty French village of Quimper (pronounced camp-air). The swim starts the race in the main river of the town, that has high walls on either side of it, so if you wanted to get out, you couldn’t. You swim up stream, against a moderate current then at the third bridge turn 180 degrees and flow back down to the exit. The bike course is pretty hilly. The first 4 km are all up hill and the remainder of the course is up and down before you descend back into town and the transition area. I must also add that the last few hundred meters are over some brutal cobbles, with a few 90 degree bends put in, tricky but fun. The run is two laps around the river and goes through an old part of the town and a small forest type area. As for my race there; Pierre and I attempted to get in the water early but got told off and so walked with everyone else about 500m to the swim start. As the current was pretty strong, there was no real warm up and the real battle was keeping people from floating away. I swam just behind some young guy for the whole swim. I was right against the far wall for the start and for some time had two guys next to me so at times I was hitting the wall. I was glad when they dropped back and left me to hitting the wall on my own accord. I was second out the water and first onto the bike, rode the hill hard, and stayed in first for the remainder of the race. This was actually a race I got to enjoy the run a little bit, as I had some time to spare.