Thursday, June 30, 2011

Euro Travel + Jet Lag

So I am waiting at Auckland International Airport for my journey to Roth Germany. I will give you a little time line of whats going to happen

7pm NZ time - leave Cambridge for drive to Auckland

9pm - Arrive at airport, say goodbye to Tracy with a big hug :)
check in, bike box and my life checks in at 23.1kg - love it, no excess baggage charges with air NZ and its booked all the way through to Nuremberg, 3 flights

9.30pm - write this blog on a really small keyboard, there is free internet stations on the way to gate 6 and 8 which are about 30m from the pay ones! top secret

10pm - finish this blog

10.30 - Kill time by looking at the stars............

11.15 - Finally on plane and ready for lift off

11.30 - Check the movies, plan my next 3hrs before i hopefully passout for the rest of the 12hr flight to Shangai /china with the aid of a sleeping pill

12-3pm  - watch some movies, get annoyed with the snoring lady beside me who keeps falling asleep on me

Arrive in China some time, not sure on times now as in the ZONE

Go nuts as I have a 7hr layover, read a book, do some laps of the airport, write some programs, hopefully find a free wifi connection

1.15pm china time - Leave for 12hr to Frankfurt - Germany
Get cranky as getting a little tired and hungry, need some more airplane food.
Going to try and have a nap but not to long, as i want to get into Euro time asap.

8hrs into flight - been through all the decent movies, been to toilet 6 times, practising my ironman mental preparation of Switching off, ignoring the time.....

6.45pm Germany time - Arrive,sweaty, tired and most likely grumpy, stretch the legs for 3 hours and on to the final flight.

9.45pm - Fly out to Nuremberg, thankfully only a 40min trip!

10.25pm - Arrive, so so glad to get the flying done. Hopefully the bike has made it in one piece and my homestay is waiting for me.


11.30pm - Get to ROTH, crash and burn for a big sleep - Hopefully!

So 2 x 12hr flight + a 45min flight, about 10hrs of layovers and some driving. Love it.................


Next update soon.....

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Packing for Europe + Dead Snake

Times flies and its just about time to head to Europe for Challenge Roth and Copenhagen.

I am really looking forward to my first time at Roth, I have heard so many good stories from the race, with the atmosphere and course, it should be a ripper.

Since I am flying through Asia, the baggage allowance is only 23kg so I have written a list of what I need and don't, as its always a struggle to stay under 23kg! I use a cardboard Orbea Box and carry on bag for laptop, book and any heavy stuff

  • Orbea Bike
  • Durace 75 Race Wheels
  • Training Wheels - may have to leave at home and borrow some
  • Saucony Kinvara's and Fastwitch shoes, one of each, I can save weight, wear one pair on plane
  • Compressport Calf compression - wear on plane, save weight
  • Orca wetsuit
  • Sugoi Race kit
  • Sugoi training kit, one kit
  • Drink bottles - get in Europe
  • Pair of jeans - wear on plane
  • Jacket - wear on plane
  • Undies - 3 pairs, wear one on plane
  • Socks - 3 pairs, wear one on plane
  • T shirts - 3
  • Shorts - 1
  • Laptop
  • Bike Pump - borrow
  • Timex Race Trainer Pro watch - wear on plane
  • Aero Helmet
  • Normal Helmet
  • Cycling shoes
  • Lydiard running book - always get me motivated
  • Passport
  • Wallet
  • Toiletries, just take the tooth brush and get the rest there
That's about it, so if i get desperate I normally stuff all my smaller clothes in to my Jacket pockets and if I really need to put three t-shirts on at once. It does not sound like much but it all adds up.

Packing Car

Random Dead Snake on Farm

Close up

Thursday, June 9, 2011

A few photos from Brasil

On the Orbea

On the run

On the podium

With Dad, Bia and winner Sturla

Kiwis in Rio
Timex, Tracy, Dad and I at beach

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Ironman Brasil Race Report

Orca Swim, It was a beach start with the pros getting an approximately 5m head start on all the age groupers. I was a little nervous about this as my previous beach starts have not been the best. But I got a good start and settled into the front pack with a solo swimmer going off the front right from the early stages. It was a M shaped course, with 2 bouys, yes, two bouys, but luckily there was no real swell so navigation was not too much of a problem. After the first lap we had an approx. 100m run around/along the beach to start the 2nd lap. This was the hardest part of the swim. Exiting the water, I was still where I needed to be.


On to the Orbea bike course, and straight away the sensations in the legs didn’t feel that great. I got dropped from the front group and continued to loose time until the end. I was just hoping to come right, but never got going. Sturla had done a demolition on the rest of the field and I was now 20min down starting the run. The bike was two laps, with quite a few out and back sections and most of it was on the motorway with one lane closed off for the cyclists and the other used for the cars.

So out on to the Saucony / compressport run and I tried to get the engine revved up , I picked up previous winner Galendiz and a few others but the gap to Mcdonald who was in 5th at the half way stage was 9min. With Roth coming up soon I decided not to kill myself as there was no way I was going to run him down or the others close by unless they had some spectacular blow ups which they didn’t. The run course was one big lap of 21k then two smaller 10.5k laps.

So I rolled in to the finish in 8hr37min in 6th position on the Timex Race Trainer Watch. Not exactly what I wanted but I learnt some good lessons, and a solid 180k in the legs which will be good for me.

The last couple of days Tracy and I have been having a look around Rio De Janeiro and have now just arrived in Santiago for 2 nights before we fly back to NZ. The legs are pretty good, so I will be straight back into it on Monday J





Big thanks to our accommodation hosts Paulo and Lu. Some interesting conversations with gesturing, and a mixture on portugese / English words!