An Eventful Weekend In Bilbao

Bilbao – The European Middle Distance Championships

Well….. that perfect race they talk about…..

Sorry that didn’t happen!!!

Thinking about reviewing this with out sounding grumpy, but I thought no….honesty is the best policy.

Did I enjoy it…YES….. Could it have been better YES!

I woke up on race day morning, grabbed some breakfast in the hotel and watched the awesome documentary on YouTube from Steve Green on his triathlon Guinness world record. Well worth a watch!

Headed down to the transition area to rack my bike and hang my kit bags. Getting there early was a small win, avoiding the queues and some Spanish failings with organisation.

They hadn’t put the racking up to hang out bike transition bags. For those not aware, this is the bag you get your bike shoes and helmet out of after the swim and put your wetsuit, goggles and swim hat into. Anyway 30 + mins later they got it sorted!

Well…..

More on that little scenario later.

With the race being at an unusual time of 3:05pm local time, most of the day was spent thinking about when to eat and clock watching…..not much fun for Jo and mum. We grabbed some food, mum and Jo went shopping, I chilled near the start line watching rugby highlights on YouTube, staying hydrated and basically trying to switch off as much as possible, until we headed back to the transition area about 1 hour before race start.

It was still chaos down there! Although there were countless people wearing “technical official” vests, they clearly were not briefed. It was like playing roulette. If anyone was mildly autistic that would have caused havoc!!

Then I saw the BIB I thought would solve it all…. “head referee”….. nope 2 questions, still no clarity!! You get the picture!

RIGHT – THE RACE

Swim – These days you generally get to seed yourself according to your own predicted swim time for a rolling start. Not this one….they had a different “system”.

The swim took place in a tidal filled river, salty with a cracking current on the outward leg, I was flying to the turnaround point! I thought ideal, overtaken a load of people…..quick glance at my watch on the exit……oh that must of been some current on the outward leg because I was much slower on the way back!

Transition 1- this is where it started to go pear shaped! Imagine hanging your school bag with all of your books on a peg with your home work in it, then having to explain to the teacher that you definitely brought it and somehow it’s not here!

When we rack our bags, most of us normally walk through transition to visualise the paths we will take in the race so there’s nothing left to chance. I had my spot marked. End of the rack closest to the road!

I get there and the bag on my peg (329) had a pair of SIZE 4 bike shoes in it.

The officials had moved my bag to another area, to another peg with the last 3 digits of my race number on it (329). It was CHAOS in there hundreds of athletes and me with a referee trying to find my bag for 3 minutes! I don’t mind telling you I had a serious sense of humour failure! How can they make such a debacle at supposedly one of the biggest races on the calendar!

RAGING… I spent the next hour telling myself to calm down!!

Bike- on to the bike, super slippery due to next to no rain over the previous 3 months, then some serious down pours on the morning of the race. I saw one poor athlete get his front wheel stuck in a gap on the first bridge we went over. Picture you pulling the front break really hard and watching the back wheel fly up in the air! Poor chap!

Out of Bilbao, up the first climb I went to stand up and my foot almost slipped out the pedal!!! OH SH*T, I know what that is!

Under the base of the cycling shoe we have a bit that clips onto the pedal. Mine had come loose, so for next 45 minutes, I sat very still and pedalled as lightly as I possibly could. Along the way asking every GBR athlete I passed if they had a tool I could use to sort this! I had most things on me I needed but not that! No luck, no one had what I needed.

So until we reached the top of the first major climb, I spotted a van and a gentleman with a tool box (mechanic). I lay my bike in the verge, sat down and took my shoes off whilst we worked on the shoe! More time wasted, but now I didn’t have to fear not finishing the race because of that!

Here is where some of the descent started and I witnessed a few people skidding down the tarmac on roundabouts and punctures around the place! I did also notice that the Spanish athlete’s looked far more confident descending.

The 2 hour mark arrived, up this point I had followed my hydration and nutrition plan to the letter. I reached around behind me where my 2nd bottle of electrolytes were when I started the race, nothing there!

They must have fallen out!

Unbeknown to me a fellow GBR athlete had spotted me trying to find this and he rode up alongside me and said “you’ve only got one bottle mate”……damn!!

Next thing he hands me some of his and we rode side by side whilst he allowed me to have as much as I felt comfortable “borrowing” and he rode off into the distance! I clocked his number (6333) and surname on his top because I hoped I may see him at the end of the race to thank him for great sportsmanship.

Later in the ride I would catch up with him again to thank him once again!

Into transition 2…. Thankfully NO BAG issues! It was exactly where I left it

On to the run….. have to say I felt good, barring a bit of stitch the first lap or two felt good. Then I started to pay the price for that lack of electrolyte. Cramping a little bit managing to run through it!

I used a little mantra “ you are capable of more” on occasions when I was slacking a bit! On other occasions I tried to soak up the support which was incredible. Thank you to all of the supporters from all nations, you made that run as good as it was!

With a friend of mine, Matt Lee catching me on the run I pushed as hard as I could for the last 11-12 mins, it was like two knives stabbing me in the quads!

What was really nice was that Mr Middleton crossed the line shortly after Matt and we all had a photo and I got to thank him again for being a top bloke! We grabbed a photo with the GB flag he had!

Earlier that morning I had watched the video of Roger Federer retiring and Raphael Nadal absolutely distraught that one of his biggest rivals was bowing out! This is why sport is amazing, you can be competing against someone, no matter the level, but when it’s all said and done you respect the effort others have gone to to get there!

Overall I was happy to get back in one piece and get ready for Nepal over the next few days. A little right knee injury, I would imagine as a result of the pedal/ shoe issue I had on the bike which hopefully I can get sorted in the next couple of days before I fly!

I think that’s the season done for me!

Not too bad personally really….

Qualified for the Challenge World Championships by virtue of the race I came 5th at in Wales in June, which will take place in May next year in Slovakia.

Then 13th in this race, 4th placed British athlete in my age group, in which there are some absolute weapons to be honest!

P.S. Thank you to everyone who sent wishes of luck etc over the last week or so. Much appreciated!