Bouncing Back

The Xterra was a big disappointment. Putting in all that time and performing like a rank amateur. It was one of those “who am I trying to kid” moments, one minute delusions of grandeur a few hours later a hefty ego bruising reality check … worst of all I hated the whole experience; the freneticness of the swim the pure intensity of the bike not to mention the heat – leaving my job to try something I had never done before… idiot!

I was however lucky on two counts. First up Simon and I had arranged a trip along South Africa’s Garden Route in our little white polo straight after the event and then as luck would have it there was a high standard road triathlon in Cape Town the following weekend – best way to exorcise demons – throw yourself straight back in.

The Garden Route was perfect. We drove (like hoons), walked, swam, canoed and drunk our way to Plettenberg. It was a boy’s own adventure with our actions quickly reduced to teenage pranking and general misdemeanor. The forests of the area were made nice and lush for us as the area was hit by heavy rain. Bizarrely it felt really good to be out of the sun in the rugged elements and on crashing shores.

Highlights of the trip included swimming in Wilderness, taxidermists and lighthouse museums at Cape Aguilas, massive dunescapes and tip top walking around Plettenberg and err.. intervals on the N2 followed by too many Caporinhas.

A big thank you has to go out to Grant and Jackie who lent us their swish parents home overlooking Lookout Beach… stellar!

Back to Cape Town and I felt more relaxed about things and ready to face that road triathlon. The event was the South African round of the 11Global Series and upon arrival I quickly realised that this was showtime. Astride his aero everything’d Cervelo P3 was last year’s winner Dann Brook fully decked out in his Great Britain strip. I asked him if he though he would win.. he then informed me that 2006 World Champion Tim Don was competing as was world number 8 Hendrik de Villiers… mmm .. maybe I shouldn’t have entered as an elite!

Olympic Distance Triathlon consists of a 1,500M swim, 40km bike and 10km run. In the ITU World Cups and Olympics riding in packs or drafting is allowed which makes things quicker, more tactical and favours skinnier people like current World Champ Alastair Brownlee. However this event followed the older format of being non-drafting, meaning that should you slip behind someone and take a break from the wind you would be disqualified. What this does mean is that bicycles become very specific with everything being super-aero – with my stock and very old traditional steel road bike without even a set of tri bars I would be at a 6 minute disadvantage from the off.

Come Saturday and I awoke at 4.45 to an empty flat, Simon Turner still out on the town! The moon was magnificently full and I drove quietly (except for some light drum and bass!) towards Big Bay.

I was much more relaxed than the XTerra – this meant nothing and was about pure experience. I had decided to keep it nice and controlled and to ensure that I remained within myself. However one thing I was a little scared of was the Sea. Although Cape Town seems to always sizzle, no one goes in the sea. Why? Because cold Atlantic currents mean it is a freezing 11degrees.  Jees!

It was 7am and the backdrop of the sun coming up and Table Mountain on the left made for a perfect setting. Yet the sea as well as being cold looked pretty rough – what with Big Bay being a surf beach! Unlike Grabouw I have never seen a group of people start a race so gingerly!

Into the water and I went at an endurance pace so I could think! Within three minutes I was having to do a breaststroke switch just to get over the freezing incoming rollers. The first buoy went smoothly and we were then hit sideways by the tide – woooh! Sick feeling ensued but I kept it going. After about ten minutes we (unbeknown to me) turned to have a following tide, which sped things right up. Within a few minutes I was unexpectedly taken by the biggest wave of my life. It felt like minutes under there and at the point of what I thought would be drowning I thankfully popped up. I could already stand on the shallow bay’s sand and this was fortunate, as I had lost both my hat and goggles with the wave force. A quick glance around and I saw a lot of other terrified individuals looking back for the next wave… I did the same. After surviving two I caught a third and ran into transition.

It turned out I was a bit less than five minutes down but I felt very fresh and most bikes were still racked.

Onto the bike and I decided to use my powertap to ride at an even intensity. The course was a 3-lap out and back on the flat – not best for me as I am fastest when climbing. However I quickly noticed that I was passing people with names across their behinds (always a good sign!) and that the leaders were not extending their lead – at least by much. On the old Bontrager I was getting some funny looks as I hunched over the bars - in fact a lot of the aero boys were hating it! Yet the return legs into the wind really showed the bike limitation, as those time trial set-ups would come right back at me.

I came into transition pleased to be around 65 minutes for the 41km – as it would transpire about 6 minutes off the fastest time (the difference the bike would have made). I donned the Orange super shoes and headed out for the 10km run.

Immediately I was running quickly and catching people. I realised that a sub 2-hour time was on the table, which was at the top end of my expectations. I made 5 places on the run to come in 10^th on 1.57.57 just three minutes down on Dann Brook and about ten on Tim Don. Best of all the people around me were all racing full-time. As a further bonus it transpired that with 33minutes and 28 seconds on the slow running course I had the fastest run of the day!

Life felt good again – not just for the performance but the whole experience was good.. the swim was actually fun, the bike was as it should be and the run felt free. So perhaps I can give a good account of myself after all.  

On returning back to Camps Bay I exited the lift in our apartment block to be greeted by the sound of grungy rock. An early cleaning moment? An Ellsworth convention? No! it transpired that Simon was still partying and had guests! I quickly joined the fray and got drunk before quickly being befriended by Simon’s harem! Quality!

Since then I realised that I was kind of lucky to have actually made the bike leg in light of the state of my rear tyre!

I also ran the big Men’s Health 10km albeit on tired legs in Cape Town. A first 5km split of 14.53 (woops), a little 30 second stop for a stomach cramp and a 5^th place in about 31 and half minutes – and all on South African TV! Maybe I should just run! Especially when this happens on the bike:

Final shout – people in South Africa who have been cool and accommodating: Liz, Dan and Jackie and their crew, Ben and of course the Big T… and Tim Don, what a nice guy – like all Big Dogs he was the one to respond to my face making and shouts of “give it some pasty” on the bike course as he rinsed himself to the max!