After weeks of procrastinating, hoping to go racing in Vietnam but failing to find affordable flight tickets (I missed them while i was recovering from the paratyphoid and unsure whether I could race again so soon), I did decide for Mallorca at the last minute. 4th year in a row, not going into the unknown here. And yet…
Travelling with the usual suspects, Virginie, Lars and Vincent, and staying in the majestic bay of Bonaire, minutes away from the tackiness of Alcudia.
Here’s how race day unfolded (copy of my post race text message)
“What a (bad) day! Journée de merde from the beginning…
– this morning, believe it or not, i forgot my trisuit (the one we chose catefully)…After asking everyone for a spare one up to 10min before the start, I decided to race anyway, in running shorts and a baggy beach vest. Not good for my balls and not good for going fast. But quite rock n roll at least 😉
– during the swim i got stuck in a group that was very slow…but at least i didn’t do any effort.
– out on the bike I got a yellow card (stop and go) for drafting after barely 10k…then I made a big solo effort to catch a group just before the big climb. Caught a few guys (and some rather bemused looks by fellow pros) but got caught back by many during the last 40k. Legs not there, and baggy shorts and vest didn’t exactly helped me slice through the air…
– in T2 i got another yellow card (for unzipping my helmet too early)…
– on the run i was far from flying but felt ok, even stronger towards the end…but I thought i had 2 more km to go (unaware that the 3rd lap was shortened as I missed the briefing), which cost me 2 places at least and i finished not tired.
The good thing is 1/I finished uninjured and 2/It can hardly be worse than that!”
And 3/People did notice me 😉
A few hours later I realised that the result wasn’t as bad as I thought it was (considering a few things went wrong). The next day I was out on a mighty ride to Puerto De Soller, Ironman Lanzarote being only 2 weeks away…
