Statistics
Swim 01:12.1
T1 5.31
Bike 05:57.4
T2 3.36
Run 04:16.1
Total 11:35
Age Group Pos 99
All Men Pos 689
Overall Pos 705
Total Starters 1800ish
Travel
BA airmiles flight to Stuttgart and hire car. Bike on the plane was no problem. BA allow you to take the bike as your normal luggage upto 23kg. Drive from/to Stuttgart was long, a lot longer than I expected, (in future use Munich, it’s closer).
Hotel
Ibis was great, E66 + breaky + parking, loads of other competitors staying there, the hallway looked like a bike shop! Only issue was after the race walking the bike back took a long time
The Event Organisation
Compared to IMUK it was superb, lots of helpers, lots of atmosphere, lovely town, was a bit spread out around town, register in townhall, pick up bags from a square around the corner, party tent elsewhere, so a bit of walking about. No Nuun tablets in sight anywhere.
Racking bike in T1 meant driving out to the lake, not sure if there were shuttle buses or not, think it did say in the Race notes.
Shuttle bus went from a square a short walk from the hotel, so it was easy to walk there and we got on the first bus and left immediately, there was another bus waiting as we left.
The Swim
The course was a bit confusing and no one was really able to explain it to me beforehand, best advice I got was, ‘follow everyone else’. The swim was a beach start and was crowded, I had heard stories of Germans being ‘eager’ in the swim so went a little to the left thinking I had a bout 1km to slowly come to the right and hopefully keep out of trouble, and it seemed to work. I did not get kicked or punched. I was in amongst a lot of swimmers and as the course is quite narrow there was some bumping, but nothing too bad. I even found quite a bit of open water to swim in as packs formed. Sighting on the first & third long legs was helped by a massive tower of a buoy on the shore behind the first turning buoy. At the buoys the packs converged and it all got a bit packed. Somewhere after the start on the first leg I did think to myself that there was no ‘get out clause’ with so many people around which I would have been worried about if I did not have my wetsuit on.
I was really pleased with my swim, and enjoyed it. For me it was a fast swim, probably something to do with doing lots of kicking to make sure no one grabbed my ankles!
T1
Had all my kit by my bike, so ran around there (matting all the way), tri shorts under wetsuit, shirt, socks, shoes, hat, glasses, number belt and cream on. 1 issue, the toilets were back over by the swim exit, you can guess the rest.
Bike
Super flat and smooth roads, the whole course was closed to traffic, loads of draft busters, loads of police bikers (with guns, presumably for persistent drafters). Aid stations seemed to appear from nowhere, was there signs to tell me they were coming? Stations were excellent with everything. I missed the Isotonic a few times and took Coke instead. The hills were no problem, my bike was under geared, need to get a 25/11 cassette to go with my compact chainset.
Got stung by a wasp at about 30km, bugger, awesome downhill section, fast, wide and no potholes. The major part of the course was flat with long straights, not a lot of slowing for corners, there were corners but you could take them fast with the whole road being closed, the course is great on a TT bike.
Final stretch about 10km leads to town, long, straight with a few roundabouts. Flat out all the way then! I felt good at this point, did have times where my energy ebbed and came back as I took the gels, in general I felt strong and comfortable, just need to be quicker.
T2
This is a big area with loads of racking in it, you wheel your own bike to the rack, it’s done in time order so you don’t need to find your number. Worked well when I came to pick my bike up again, helpers look at a spreadsheet on the wall and then take you to your bike.
Your bag is found and handed to you as you run through, just call out your number, and in the tent there are people to repack your plastic bag. It’s brilliant and I was out again in no time.
Run
The run is 4 loops, flat and both through town with it’s narrow cobbled streets, lots of people, noise and cow bells. Then there are areas around parks on paths. You pick up a coloured band on each loop and are allowed to turn right to the finish when you have 4 bands. I ran between aid stations and walked through each one. The aid stations are about 2km apart and have everything, except the gels ran out towards the end. Coke, Isotonic, Redbull, banana, salt, water, sponges, ice. I took the ice at each station and put it down my shirt, kept me cool.
The Finish
Final right turn and 100metres down the finishing chute, picked up my speed, brushed my hair back, put the sun glasses on top of my head, threw my arms in the air and smiled. Awesome
After the Finish Line
I was taken care of by my helper, given a cold wet flannel, showed where to go to get finisher shirt/medal/showers/massage/clothes no problems no queues.
Onto the party tent where I found I could not eat or drink, my stomach just about told me enough for one day, and I had frequent toilet visits/stomach cramps. Wish I could have drunk a few beers. Maybe next time.
