Hi Guys,
Well all is ready for tommorrow morning and my first go at the famous Quelle Challenge. My final blow the cobwebs out session in the morning after a birthday breaky with the Fürsts has me feeling ready to go. I am confident in the training I have completed over the past 10 weeks under a new coach and with the support of Sam (plus growing bub), Nick from Platypus Asset Management, and my other friends, training partners, and sponsors. I am looking at a good performance with the aim of moving towards future goals in mind for tommorrows race.
Thanks for all the well wishes and birthday messages (today is my 33rd birthday). Much appreciated. It is always nice to get some support when you are on the other side of the world preparing for a race. I always seem to be away for my birthday with the European races predominantly focusing there major races in the first two weeks of July.
Rego went without a hassle. The expo was not too bad at all, with many new triathlon brands for me to view for the shop. Plenty of those bike brands that we have not heard of at all in Oz and each seem to be a carbon blend with plenty of bling factor.
I went over the course and am glad that I did. It is quite a hilly course with many rolling hills and long slight inclines. But then you have perfect road surfaces and long descents to pick the speed up and make it a fast course. Some "hairy" corners though especially in the wet and the hay bails are already awaiting a few people I think. You could make the mistake of going hard on one of the big climbs early on where there is a steep 10%+ incline for a short 1km, but it then continues for the next 5kms into a headwind. So some patience is needed on the course.
Last night I completed a phone interview with Tim Moore who writes for Triathlete mag in the US and other triathlon related media foremats. The interview was mostly about the doping in triathlon, testing or lack thereof, and ways of moving forward for our sport. This is becoming more of a hot topic of late with some of the major races (eg Frankfurt and Roth Ironmans) making large efforts in testing and after a couple of major positive results occuring in the last year/s. It will be interesting to read the article when it is published. Other athletes to talk to Tim have included Chris Lieto, Faris Al Sultan, and many other prominent athletes. Again we have another cyclist testing positive, Manuel Beltran, at the Tour de France and bringing it to light in the media for all. I am looking forward to a challenging but clean race against top athletes here in Roth on Sunday.
At bike check in today I met up with Clemens Coenen, a German friend who raced in Japan with me. His fiancee is racing tommorrow and I have been told to look out for the "get going" slap on the Solarberg (the tour de france like hill where people crowd in and there is no gap in front of wou until they peel away). Nice guy, and look forward to catching up again post race for the promised beer.
Sam says the bub is growing great guns at the moment and is kicking all over the place. Probably trying to give me a boot and help me along tommorrow ;) .
The forecast is for either 8-15 degrees or 10-16degrees depending on the weather channel. What they both agree on is heavy rain for the day. This shall make the bike course a bit slower, 10mins the locals say. I like racing in the cold and wet so should suit me perfectly, especially considering the cold conditions in Sydney. I cannot wait to get out and put all my training into place during the race and be patient but focused for a good, quick result tommorrow. The main aim is a good run and everything else will fall into place.
So, I am off for my last carbo load, some tour de france tv, and reading Sams movitational cards she writes each time I take off to race. Next blog will bring my report about racing the Quelle challenge and ticking another box off my triathlon list of to do's...
Cheers,
Bevan.
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