Hey everyone,
Not sure who is interested in this, but here we go. A little report on events so far.
After the usual overnight from Toronto to Frankfurt, we are greeted by one of the most disorganized passport control areas I have ever faced in Europe. Surprising given the German reputation for efficiency. Regardless, a 3 hour layover means there's no rush to get through immigration, and that is easily passed in the end. Our arrival in Billund (location of Legoland!) sees us hunting around for our ride. A miscommunication between our travel agency and race organization means that they think we're arriving at 10h00, while we only left Frankfurt at 9h50. We steal the bus sent to pick up some of Team USA and they send another bus for them as their flight arrives a bit later. Unfortunately, four bikes and one set of bags are missing, but that situation is being dealt with and a fair bit of that stuff has already arrived. The highlight of the airport is seeing Ivan Basso as he is arriving for the Tour of Denmark (starting today) and Bjarne Riis who is picking Basso up at the airport.
Our hotel is really nice, I'm sharing with two other members, and so far so good. We get the typical European breakfast buffet included, so that's good. Last night we went for dinner in town. Fredericia is definitely a port city with a very industrial flavour to it. I'd hardly call it one of the prettiest European cities I've been to, but it has a typically European feel to it.
We went for a swim this morning. The posted water temperature is about 17C, so this is the coldest water I've swum in this season. However, once you get adapted, its fine. The salt water isn't too bad relative to the Indian Ocean, which is the last salt water I swam in. The only unpleasant aspect is all of the jelly fish, and there are plenty of them. Fortunately they don't sting, or at least the sting isn't very painful (or maybe that's the salt stinging), and they don't have long tentacles, so you don't get tangled up with them, just a bit freaked the first few times you see them. I'm sure they'll be fine race morning when there are more swimmers in the water. Team USA arrived as we were finishing up. They certain made a big scene about getting into the water (probably colder than the folks from Cali and Texas are used to swimming in) and I think the jellies freaked plenty of them out too.
Registration today, bike ride of the course this afternoon, and hopefully some touristing on some of the other days. We're going to try to get to the finish of the stage of the Tour of Denmark that isn't far from town. So far the weather has been overcast, cool and a bit windy. The sun is trying to break through the clouds today though, so that's been nice.
Hope that everyone is well back in Canada and enjoying the hot weather there. More on Friday or Saturday probably.
Hey everyone,
Okay, so I lied about when I'd send the next update. In case it wasn't obvious before, feel free to pass along my other message to anyone you think might be interested.
Just a quick report on the bike course. We did a pre-ride today. It was rainy for most of the ride, or wet roads to make life interesting. The course is very flat with one significant climb that is just enough to add some variety and let you use different muscles, but not too much to make life really hard. The wind will be the biggest factor in this course, and if it really gets going, it'll be a factor in the race. Hopefully it'll be manageable so keep your fingers crossed for us here. Hopefully we got all of the bad luck and other issues out of the way as we had 4 flats, two other mechanicals and one crash on some train tracks. Everyone came out okay though, so hopefully all the bugs got worked out today.
Off to bed soon now. Take care and enjoy the rest of your day.
Hey crew,
Some quick thoughts from Denmark tonight. We did another swim this morning. The salt isn't so bad anymore, and the jellyfish don't bug me nearly so much anymore, so I am sure I'll be okay come race day. I'm also sure that having other people around me will help.
I did one loop of the run course today. Its pretty flat with a few small climbs. We go up onto the earth embankment around the town, so that's a bit of a climb, and then its flat. The path on the top of the embankment is flat, but we have a nice dirt path to follow there so that'll be knee friendly. After that its out towards our hotel and then back into town. The run to the turn around has a nice easy little climb up towards the hotel. The only cobbles on the course are on the run, so no nastiness on the bike in that sense. I have avoided the problems so far, but more flats and another crash (including moderate concussion) today for other riders. Fingers crossed I can continue to avoid problems.
Today was the parade of nations, opening ceremony (complete with Europop theme song) and then the pasta dinner. We also hit the expo and cleared them out of a fair bit of stuff. Tomorrow a group of us are going to Legoland, and then trying to catch the finish of Stage 3 of the Tour of Denmark in Vejle, about 20km down the road from us.
The weather report for Sunday is sounding promising with slightly better winds than the past few days, so we're keeping our fingers crossed for that.
Last bit, a few thoughts on the whole Team Canada experience, in case anyone else is thinking of doing this. Its definitely been a lot of fun, and I've met some pretty cool people here. Triathlon is definitely an individual sport, so everyone is definitely a bit of an individualist, and there are plenty of different agendas here from racing to win, to just racing and having a great experience. I think I fit somewhere in the middle. There are also plenty of accompanying members... parents, partners, siblings, etc, so its a very mixed group. We are left primarily to our own devices in terms of training, and if we want something, the team management is here to help us, but its really up to us to organize anything we want, so a willingness to express what you want to do and when, and what you need to do it, or else just being able to go off and do stuff on your own are essential things to keep in mind on such a trip. The team is small, only about 50 people, so much smaller than an Olympic WC team (usually around 200+ people) so its got a much cosier feel to it, which is really nice and its been a worthwhile experience for certain.
Hope everyone is well there, and more now after the race most likely.
Greetings from Fredericia again.
I am going to stop promising when I'm going to send reports, and when I won't. So, here's today's report. Slept a bit later than intended, but that was fine as the pool next to the hotel was closed early, and I wasn't really feeling like swimming in the ocean again. I think I have the jellyfish mostly under control mentally, and its a mass start (more on that later) so that will help some with the number of jellyfish to be contacted.
Today was a tourist day though. A group of us took the train and bus to Legoland. It was a bit of an adventure as two of our party were charged the incorrect rate for the bus from Vejle to Legoland. It never did get sorted out, so we just accepted it and moved on. Legoland itself was interesting enough. Miniland was very cool with all of the models of the places and attractions in the world. Unfortunately, my camera chose this time to stop working, so no more pictures for me from this trip and I'll have to beg photos from other team members. The rest of Legoland is composed of rides that are geared primarily to kids, so after a couple of hours, we were all Lego'd out. Some shopping time and then it was back on the bus to Vejle.
Vejle was the stage finish today for the Tour of Denmark, so it was pretty busy traffic-wise getting back into Vejle. Fortunately for us, it was raining all day (so we were pretty damp at Legoland as its all outside) so the racers were behind schedule. We made our way onto the race coruse and found a spot on the major climb on the route. The riders would climb this hill 4 times as part of a loop done at the end of the race. The climb was about 800m long and averaged 21%!!!! For those of you that ride, you know this is a serious climb. As a point of reference if you ride in the Milton area, the final pitch of Bell School Line is 18%, and it isn't anywhere as long as this climb. Even with this grade, the top riders are flying up the hill. The hill was lined 5 people deep at the top, just like you see in the Tour coverage, so we clearly live in the wrong part of the world for cycling support. Amazing. We got to see the Pro Tour guys go by just inches from us, including Basso (the most famous rider in this race - who has won every stage thus far) and also got to drool over the serious bike hardware going past us on the tops of the team cars!! If I could have grabbed a bike or two, I would have (sorry Chris), but then I'd need an extra bike box or two. Definitely worth the wait in the rain though.
After getting some extra motivation for the race, we took the train back to Fredericia, and then had our team dinner.
A few final notes about the race site and the race. The swim is a mass start, so there will be 650 athletes all starting the swim at the same time. I'm hoping for some good feet to draft, and a bit of help dealing with the jellyfish. At the end of the swim, we go across a big ramp to the top of the cliffs into transition. The bike ride is going to be interesting as the draft zone is 10m long, considerably longer than we're used to in Canada. I figure I'll just keep moving forward and should be okay for the most part. There's also a short no-passing zone where passing another rider will mean an automatic DQ. The run should be a relief in that sense as it won't require nearly as much mental energy to stay in a legal position and it just comes down to using whatever is left in my legs. The weather forecast is for cool weather with rain, so we won't have heat as an excuse for a poor race.
Tomorrow is bike check-in. We're on our own for the day, so I'm planning to head to Arhus for a bit of shopping, wander a small amount, sit at a cafe for a while, and then come back to Fredericia. Sunday we race, cheer everyone else on, and have a chance to relax after the race is done. Monday most of the team is headed to Copenhagen for some good touristing, and then a crazy early flight home on Tuesday. I'll probably report after the race now (for real this time).
Enjoy the heat there. I'd be happy to have some (but not all) of that warmth over here, but we'll do the best with what we get. Apparently we'll be on Danish TV, but that won't help anyone in Canada looking for coverage.
Well, our last night here in Fredericia. I'm sitting at the computer well past midnight after a day of touristing in Copenhagen, and one day after racing my longest triathon ever, my first World Championships, and the first time I've ever raced a triathlon outside of Ontario. So, on to the race report.
Race morning dawned cool, relatively clear, and windy. I got up at 5am as the age group race start had been pushed back to 8am due to a shortening of the swim (the amount was still uncertain) in order to clear the elite racers out of the water before the age groupers started the race. Breakfast went fine, I grabbed my bag and pump and caught the shuttle down to the transition area. It was already buzzing with athletes when I arrived shortly after 6am and I set about my business of getting the tires up to pressure, preping my bike with nutrition and helping any other Team Canada members with any last second bike goodies (like needing a tubular spare, but bringing a clincher tube by mistake). With that all done, a trip to the bathroom was made and then it was off to the hill to watch the elite swim start. We watched the first loop of the swim and then made our way back up to transition to grab wetsuits and head for the age group start. One lesson we learned was that when the announcer told the elites they had one minute to start time and they were under starter's orders, they actually had about 10 seconds, so we referred to this as the Danish minute.
The swim: Based on the official water temperature (15C), the decision had been made to shorten the age group swim to 3000m from 4000m, so we would swim two 1500m laps. As a stronger swimmer, I was a bit unhappy with that, but as there wasn't much I could do, and I just needed to have the best swim I could. Because of the cool air temperatures, I decided to wear my arm warmers under my wetsuit so that they would be on for the bike ride. This turned out to be a wise choice. There was lots of nervous energy in the holding area, and lots of encouragement offered between members of the team. We were let into the water about 2 minutes before the swim, so no time for a warm up and no time to really adjust to the water temperature. I made sure I got far out from the shore and got my entire body quickly into the water and submerged my face so it wouldn't be a shock when the race started. Our Danish minute lasted longer than it did for the elites and we were off. I was out as far as possible from shore on the course to take advantage of the current that would push us through the first section of the swim, and had reasonably clear water with some bodies around me. By the time we made our two turns and were headed back up the course, into the current, the order had mainly sorted itself out and I found a good pair of feet to follow for as long as I could hold them. That lasted about 250m of the upward leg before I was on my own. I made the third turn and aimed for the wrong bouy, but was corrected by marshals on the course, and adjusted for the correct bouy. At this point I saw the group I had been towing and let some of them come past me after the fourth turn. The second lap was more of the same only I allowed the group I towed through the first lap to tow me on the second lap. The jellyfish weren't nearly so bad as in previous days, although I felt one brush by my face, and touched a few others. The focus of racing and having other people around definitely helped. As I exited the swim I saw a time around 46 minutes on the clock, so knew that I'd had a good swim.
Final swim time: 46:17 Rank after swim: 26 (out of the water in the 4th pack chasing the leaders)
T1: From the beach, it was a long run up the ramp and over the bridge to the hill next to the beach. The bridge put us out half way up the hill so up the rest of the hill into transition. The cold water made me a bit dizzy, but nothing too serious. I gave a high-5 to a Canadian supporter on the way in. No problems in T1, and out onto the bike.
T1 time: 2:08
Bike: The elite men were just finishing their first lap as I came out onto the bike course. So, they were flying by as I made my way out onto the course. There was definitely some pretty obvious drafting going on amongst the elite men, but that wasn't much of a surprise to me, and I just raced my own race. I tried to maintain a steady effort, and tried to pace myself in terms of how much energy I spent and my eating. The wind wasn't too bad on the first loop of the bike, but it definitely picked up on the second and third loops. It was into our face on the way out of town, and at our backs on the way into town so at least it was possible to hammer on the way home. The climb was challenging enough at race pace, but nothing terribly nasty, and there was lots of encouragement on the hill, and plenty of fans elsewhere. The section through the valley next to the beach and just around the start finish area was a great boost of energy and I hammered through there a bit too hard on each lap, but nothing too far beyond myself. On the third loop of the bike, we caught one racer who then proceeded to blatantly draft the rider 2 bikes ahead of me, as the rest of us tried to stay legal. Unfortunately there wasn't a draft marshal in sight, so he got away with it. Since there wasn't much I could do about it, I simply ignored it and focused on my own pacing and nutrition. I gave him a piece of my mind when I passed him for good just before the turn-around point, not that it matters much to him I'm sure. In the end, I managed my effort coming back into Fredericia to set myself up for the run.
Bike time: 3:22:10 Average speed: 35.62km/h. Rank after bike: 36 (not bad, only lost 10 spots to the Euro-stud bikers)
T2: Into T2, bike on rack, helmet off, stripped the arm warmers off, socks on, shoes on, into the porta-potty. I had needed to use a bathroom since the first third of loop three, but wasn't ready to stop on the bike, so it was a long pit stop to empty my bladder but very helpful and necessary, and out onto the run I went.
Run: As I started the run, Jonas Colting, one of the Swedish elite men was coming through the start-finish area to start his second loop. For whatever reason, I was actually running his pace until I smartened up and slowed down. Because of the looped nature of the run course, we would pass the finish line 4 times (after T2, and after each of loops 1, 2 and 3) before crossing it for good. This allowed athletes to get a check on their lap time, assuming you could do the math in your head. I had been racing all season without a watch, and without looking at my bike splits with great success. After subtracting the hour for the earlier pro start, I figured that with a solid run I was in a good spot to break 7 hours for the race.
The first loop went well, alternating Coke and energy drink at each aid station and using sponges and water whenever required. Loop 1: 32:53 Rank after loop 1: 45
The second loop is when dark times arrived. In long distance racing, apparently everyone will experience some dark times, and for me, it was loop two. I was feeling dizzy, and like the wheels were coming off. I was reduced to walking up the hill onto the embankment, and had to walk a long section of that just to get things back under control to start jogging again. At the next aid station I started hitting the Coke pretty hard (2 cups per aid station) plus started using the energy bar as it was clear to me that I was behind on nutrition (probably on the bike) and needed energy to right the ship, lots of it, and fast. Its not usually a good idea to try new products in a race, but I needed the energy, and also know that my stomach will tolerate nearly anything I put in it during a racing situation, so lots of energy bars were consumed. I also needed another porta-potty stop to empty my bowels, and once that was done, felt much better. The run pace still wasn't fast, and I hit the nutrition hard each time there was an aid station, and by the end of loop two, things were coming around again. This was absolutely the worst I have ever felt in a race. Loop 2: 45:12 Rank after loop 2: 77 (uh oh!)
Loops three and four went much better for me after getting my energy levels back in a good space. I was able to run hard for the both loops, and ran down a number of people who were fading in front of me on the last lap. It definitely felt good to take back places from other racers during the last lap and I did my best to offer encouragement to other members of Team Canada when I saw them. As I came into the finish (and picked up a little Canadian flag to wave), there was a member of the German team ahead of me, so racing it was (rather than soaking up the finish), as I tried to pull him back. He was just a bit too fast in the end, but we both pulled back another guy. In the end, I wound up high-5-ing all the kids I could, and finished with a strong final 15k on the run. Loop 3: 35:06 Rank after loop 3: 68 (moving back up in the world) Loop 4: 35:39 Rank at finish: 63 (woo hoo!) Total run: 2:28:48
I wound up second Canadian, 12th out of 42 in my age category, 63rd age grouper overall, beat all of the age group women, all but the top 10 elite women (and one elite male) (out of the finishers). Needless to say, I'm very pleased with my race, and feel really great going into IMC. Team Canada wound up with 2 world champs (including Linnea Humphrey who was first female age grouper) and 3 bronze medals. A successful World Championships all around, a great experience and a ton of fun (in that twisted way the racing is fun for us). Home soon, so I'll see many people tomorrow, or later in the month. Take care from Fredericia.
A few events that weren't reported on above. The first is the trip to Arhus on Saturday afternoon. In the morning, I got on my bike, cracked out the disc and gave it spin in the winds along with a final ride of the bike to be sure everything was working. Once I was sure that the bike was working okay, I walked down to the train station and bought a ticket for Arhus, a university town about an hour away. When I arrived at Arhus, I enjoyed a walk down the main shopping street as I looked for somewhere to grab a bit of lunch. I found a shwarma house and bought myself some lunch. I enjoyed my lunch sitting on some concrete steps next to a canal passing through the city and did some people watching. After this, I did a bit of shopping (Helly Hanson), enjoyed an ice cream (marzipan ice cream rocks!), and sat on one of the patios enjoying a coffee. As a larger city, Arhus definitely was more energetic than Fredericia, helped by all of the people shopping downtown on Saturday.
I made my way back to Fredericia in time for the start of bike check-in at 17h00. We were supposed to get a ride with the locally organized shuttle service, but this didn't seem to be materializing so I hopped on my bike and rode down to the transition area along with a few others. Our bikes where checked over (one of the officials practically stood on the handlebars to be sure they were tightly affixed) and our helmet was checked to ensure it was intact. Once this was done, we went for dinner at one of the local establishments.
Sunday evening consisted of the pre-banquet party in the hotel lobby with both Team Canada and Team GB in attendance. We all relived our races to each other, and generally enjoyed the opportunity to be a bit more relaxed now that the racing was completed. Dinner was a relatively casual affair but when the food was served, it was a bit of a disorganized stampede to get food as everyone simply crowded the tables without much order. After dinner during the awards component of the evening, I traded my Team Canada jacket away for some Brazil Tri Federation clothing with one of their team members who is staying at our hotel. The table where our team was sitting actually wound up being gear trading central with one of the girls making out like a bandit on her trades with a Team Australia member. The rest of the evening was spent hanging around and talking in the hotel lobby, although I did take advantage of this time to disassemble my bike and pack it up as we were going to Copenhagen the next day and would probably return too late to pack my bike then.
On Monday morning, we collected a small group of people, walked to the train station and took the two hour trip to Copenhagen. Because we didn't have a reserved seat, we sat on the stairs between cars, and chatted the time away. Upon our arrival in Copenhagen, the group split up as different people wanted to see different things. The group I spent my day with went to Tivoli Gardens (a bit disappointing, not much garden, a lot of amusement park), then took a bus tour through the city (a bit of a disappointment, typically oversold so we couldn't always get a headset to hear the commentary), walked along the main shopping district, took a canal boat tour (much better idea) and then enjoyed dinner at a restaurant in Nyhavn. Unfortunately, the Carlsburg tour does not operate on Mondays as that was one of the activities that nearly everyone was interested in doing. We had a beautiful day to enjoy the sights in Copenhagen (despite some threats of rain around lunch time) and did a fair bit of walking around the city, stretching out our post-race legs. There was definitely too much to do and we packed as much as we could into the relatively short time we had at our disposal. We took a relatively late train back to Fredericia and arrived back at the hotel around 11:30, and prepared for a short night.
Tuesday consisted of everyone dragging themselves out of bed early, catching a 5h30 shuttle to the airport in Billund, an hour on the plane to Frankfurt, an incredibly dull 4 hour layover and then the flight from Frankfurt to Toronto. While it was a pretty typical flight back from Europe, it felt especially long coming two days after a major race with significant fatigue in everyone's legs. We took advantage of every opportunity to get up and walk around that we could.
Denmark was a beautiful part of the world to visit, and everyone was really friendly. It is quite expensive relative to the costs in North America, so that is something to keep in mind when traveling that part of the world.
The Team Canada experience was a lot of fun, and definitely something that I believe I'll repeat in the future. Thanks go out to Matt and Norm, our team managers for the hard work they did to help everyone have a great race, as well as the rest of my teammates and their support.
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