The day after. Looking back on the race now and being objective about it all, at least I don’t have sunburn like our Russian friend Valentin Meshcheryakov (above). 12th is an alright result. All things considered. Originally I was going to finish with racing in September and wasn’t going to do this race so to come away with 12th for my first ITU World Cup is something I can’t complain about. Sure, I would have liked to race faster but the form is not there at the moment, it’s been a very long season. I raced here on strength, nothing about speed at all. It was a slog in 38 degree heat. From 57 starters we had 22 finishers and most of them dropped out as they couldn’t handle the heat.
Again I was down in the swim (nothing new about that) and had to cycle by myself for almost all of the 40km. At one stage I was joined by Tyler Butterfield who was riding really strongly and in one lap we took 20 seconds out of the front pack. I was sure the two of us would bridge the gap and get across into the front pack but it was not to be. Tyler got a flat and I was alone again. I held the one minute gap to the front pack for the 40km but just didn’t have the legs to get across to them. By the end of the bike I was creeping up the hill in the dead heat and humidity.
The run was a slog. Lucky they had 4 water stations on the course and they were needed! On the last lap one of the stations ran out of water! All of it was just being dumped over the head to try to keep cool. I ran ok and was strong towards the end which I usually am, that’s a positive. Not much else to tell really. I went to Mexico and had a decent race. Last one of the year and now I’m on my break. Its so 2009, and I’m all about the 2010 now.
Onwards and upwards for next year
In Turkey I got one of the Locals to Ride my bike for a video, Unfortunately in Mexico they were not so willing to partake in such jovial activities. They are a quite bunch out here. This was the best I could come up with after spending 30mins talking with the locals and trying to convince them to hop up on the bike. Oh ya, and this guy is a mathematician and a taxi driver….
