Meg and I drove to
Race day was perfect; no wind, blue sky, and 9
degrees with no chill in the air. I registered, set up my boat in T1, and jumped
my home trainer to thoroughly warm up. I knew the first 5k’s of the ride was
going to be tough, and I wanted to be ready to race from the gun. I completed a
30minute warm-up with several efforts similar to Ben’s Monday night home
trainer sessions. There were approximately 300 starters, with the elite wave
starting first at
As I predicted the pace was ridiculously fast, I was
fourth wheel and we flew up the climb. Half way up, I looked around and only
eight remained in the lead pact. Most of the damage was being done by two guys
who were rotating off the front. I decided to move up and have a look at them.
They were riding fast and looked very comfortable; I also caught a glimpse of
Jarrod and noticed he was hurting. I moved in front of him and deliberately lost
the wheel of the strong guys in front to see what he would do. As I predicted,
Jarrod went around me and closed the gap. By the top, the two strong guys had
opened up a 40 metre gap and they continued to hold this for the next 20k’s.
Meanwhile, Jarrod and Co worked hard attempting to close the gap. Just after
Jarrod’s last effort on the front, I jumped across the gap and road with the
two lead guys into
A ride to paddle transition takes a little more time
compared to a Triathlon transition. You are required to wear wet-suit booties to
protect your feet from oyster shell cuts, and a life vest. By the time I had
transitioned the rest of the lead pack had arrived and six of us were attempting
to carry our kayaks down a slippery boat ramp. Jarrod and I were first in and we
went for it. Paddling on someone’s wash is similar to drafting behind another
bike rider. It’s significantly easier. Jarrod came from a paddling back ground
so I knew I had to jump on his wash and drop the other guys before they hopped
on our wash. After about 10minutes of hard work I looked around and we had
dropped them by at least 100metres. Jarrod and I decided to work together, and
for the next 10k’s we wash rode each other increasing our lead. But we both
knew the inevitable was coming - a very hard 12k run. We entered T2 together
4minutes ahead of the next pact; and after a quick transition I lead out by
40metres.
Within the first kilometer of the run there was a
sharp climb up rocky stairs followed by a very step descent. I held a meager
40metre lead over the top but to my amazement by the bottom Jarrod had passed me
and he had a 40metre lead. He leapt down from rock to rock, bounding several
metres at a time. I moved as fast as I could, but must have looked like a
lumbering giant compared to Jarrod who danced away from me. This worried me,
because we had to go back over this section and the finish was within 400metres.
Hence, I knew I had to work as hard as possible along the flat and up hill
sections. Once I reached the flowing single tracks and fire trails I spent the
next 8k’s bridging the gap. I eventually caught Jarrod and tried to open up a
lead. As soon as I had 10metres on him, we would go down another rocky raven and
he would scoot by. I knew I had one last chance, a 600m flat stretch before the
final rocky drop into the finish. I ran as fast as I could, but I wasn’t
pulling away liked I had wished. I ran over the last crest with a slender lead,
but Jarrod must have seen me like a lamb to the slaughter. He attacked down the
descent and aside from literally throwing myself down the rock face I couldn’t
stay with him. He held the lead and won the race. Two from two, and too good (on
the day).
Meg was a tremendous help in transition, setting
things up, collecting all the gear and making sure I was eating enough. In fact,
she had to support two people as we took up a friend who didn’t have land
crew. Also, thanks Ben for your coaching thus far, and to all the crew at
Tridents. See you around!!
Jeremy