MY ROAD TO IM AUSTRIA 2012

interested

good job in getting around in those conditions and tackling the swim sans suite - never something people plan for.

pgibbo

interested wrote: »

good job in getting around in those conditions and tackling the swim sans suite - never something people plan for.

+1 Well done

handangeo

Race Report Ironman Austria 2012

After completing IM Switzerland and Challenge Roth I choose IM Austria as its renowned for being a fast course, and
probably one to get a good PB. Since doing 10hrs 49 mins in Roth, I knew that I was capable of at least sub 10:29:59.
For 2 reasons - I knew if it wasn't as warm I could bike stronger and run much better Hmmmmmmmmm!

I flew into Vienna and took a hire car and drove the 330k to Klagenfurt, I was in no hurry and arrived late afternoon. The weather
was very warm with little or no breeze at all. Registration was simple and easy and I was happy to have that done an dusted. From there
I made my way to my city centre Hotel - No Air Con and the room is like a furnace. Next morning headed back to the IM village to soak
up the atmosphere and have a swim. Decided about 30 mins with the wetsuit should be fine, the water in the Worthersee is drinkable and
so clean, it was warm and a lovely blue green hue. Lots of swimmers about including lots of white bodied Irish folk!

After lunch I had to pick up some stuff at the Expo which I had forgotten and ended up spending a fortune, then changed into my run gear,
and did 3 miles @ 7min mile pace. Christ when I was finished I was soaked through, there was no way I could maintain that pace on Sunday
which was expected to be even hotter. The car temp guage was now showing 37 degrees plus I'd just got a parking ticket Ggggrrrrr. Decided
the best option was to cool down with another swim sans the wetsuit - just in case.

Didnt sleep a wink friday night with the heat again, made a note to myself to try and get a rest Saturday pm. Race briefing was 9am on Saturday
morning where they announced to a shocked audience "a non-wetsuit Swim" I went pale as did many others. I'm not the strongest of swimmers
and maintain the same slow pace but 2.4 miles with no wet suit scared the living daylights out of me. Something I had never done in open water
before. I saw lots of people in tears, in particular one girl who flew from Texas who was now pulling out of the race. Hung around the Expo for the
rest of the day as bike racking was at 4pm for me, I managed to bump into Chrissie Wellington at the TYR stand, my God she is thin. I reminded
her she passed me sprinting like a hare in Roth the previous year to which she apologised, she had time to speak to anyone and everyone and
to me is a real champion.

RACE DAY

Breakfast 4:30am and bus to transition at 5:15am, its already 29 degrees and the eery silence of what lay ahead was very obvious in transition. I
finally managed to meet Oryx and Red B who both seemed as nervous as I about the swim ahead. After depositing various nutrition to the bike, I pumped
my tyres and set off to the start line. As the Austrian national anthem played, the helicopters and hot air ballons circled overhead. Red B and I
shook hands and the cannon went off. 3 mins later I'm panicking and dont want to continue, this is not what I signed up for, I needed my wetsuit.
I breast stroked and tried to calm down, I was being left for dead, everybody else it seemed could manage no problem. I made myself swim to the first
bouy and then the second, I glanced at my watch and saw I was way off already time wise. I could not find any feet to draft off and slowly very
slowly progressed to the first turn. As I looked back I still saw a lot of white hats behind me, this gave me small bit of encouragement at least.
The rest of the swim seemed to take ages, I was tiring and my right calf starting to cramp. I kept thinking "I should be on the bike by now". The last 1k
of the swim is down a narrow canal where the spectators line the banks to cheer you on. But by now it was sparse as everybody had moved to watch the bike
leg, this was supposed to be the fun bit, it was a real grind and already it clearly wasn't any fun.

Swim 1hr47mins - the longest swim of my life, I was purely exhausted with having 30 mins extra energy used up that I hadnt planned on.
As I grabbed my bike I was already tired, hot and my stomach was not in a good place mind you neither was my head. Out on the bike course, there was little
shelter from the sun and its blistering reflective heat bouncing back off the asphalt. It was going to be important to drink all day, I had set my Garmin to beep every
15 minutes as a reminder as I know after a few hours cycling my brain goes to mush. I was passing loads and keeping a good average speed up, but the power seemed to
be lacking, its was like someone had grabbed a big syringe and sucked every bit of energy from me, I kept eating and getting calories in as much as I was able.
There were a few steep climbs 10-12% gradient that at home I would comfortably stay in the big ring and motor up them, however today I was in the granny ring
in my lowest gear and struggling. I had completely overheated so I took a full bottle of cold water at the next aid station and poured it over my head and legs.
The demons in my head were praying for a puncture so I could maybe DNF and retire. However there were some lovely decents near the end of the first loop and managed to
just touch 70kmh on one of them, as we turned back in Klagenfurt to start the second loop, I had to have a serious talk with myself as i had lost interest totally in the race.
The second loop was more of the same and I just wanted it over, there were lots of people struggling and had death like stares when I passed them, It wasn't only
me who had serious thoughts as to why they had signed up to this torture. I was calculating that I was not going to be over 6 hours on the bike no matter what so i pushed on to
finish in 5hrs 50 min - at least 30 mins slower than what i had origionally planned to do.

Into T2 and collapsed on the bench to change - I had a complete change of clothes as my bike gear was going to be soaked at this stage, as I stripped off I removed
my timing chip for some reason ? grabbed my gear and took off, I managed to run the first 2k but then reality struck. The wall of heat was incredible, and the majority
of people were walking. The first aid station seemed ages away and i just wanted liquids, what was supposed to be a run was a jog, walk, run, walk, but with far more
emphasis on the walk. On the run course which ran behind many peoples houses the locals were out with there hosepipes showering runners as they passed by, but this only
gave a momentary relief from the intense heat. By now the ice was gone and aid stations stocks were becoming very sparse, I felt for those who would be out alot longer
than I looking for aid. I realised after 21k I had no timing chip and could just imagine the panic going on at home for all those who signed up to the text alerts.
I found a marshall and explained what happened with my chip in T2 and though nothing more of it until he found me a hour later and gave me a new one! This gave me a boost
of sorts as I thought with no chip i would get no proper finish time. I just had 10k to go and decided to HTFU and get this nightmare over. One my final few K I passed
Red B, I could hear the finish line announcers - only a few 100 m's and the pain would end. I crossed the line in 12hrs 26 mins my 3rd and slowest Ironman. I sat down at the
finish, I was disgusted with myself, disappointed for everyone at home, sunburnt, cross and feeling weak. I went to the recovery area, with bodies strewn around it, the choice
of food and drink was pathetic considering the cost of race entry and not a patch on the Challenge series events. So the journey ends, now with time to reflect the heat
took its toll more than I could imagine, I'm really cross for not HTFU more than I did but on the day it didnt happen for me. Austria was an experience and i will have to
look at my nutrition more and become mentally stronger to deal with those type of days.

Roll on Beast of the East Sunday week

BTH

That really wasn't a day for the Irish. 17 degrees is too much for us, I can't imagine what it was like to race in 37 degrees. Congrats on finishing. No matter how disappointed you are you still struggled on to finish. Many others won't/didn't.

handangeo wrote: »

Roll on Beast of the East Sunday week

I'll see you there

Izoard

From your report, it sounds like you had already checked out during the swim, so fantastic guts to keep it together and bag the medal.

Your photo at the finish line says it all.

One for the grandkids....

RacoonQueen

Sounds horrendous. Well done for grinding out a result in tough conditions.

griffin100

All I can say is WOW. Sounda like one hell of a day. Well done for getting around.

Trig1

You are an inspiration to Ironman wannabee's like myself, you did a great time in unbelievable heat especially with the huge disappointment of not being able to wear wetsuit, I know if it was me I would have chucked the towel in after the first lap of bike.. congrats and hold your head up high- you have COMPLETED 3 IRONMAN races!!!!!!! your a LEGEND

handangeo

Izoard wrote: »

From your report, it sounds like you had already checked out during the swim, so fantastic guts to keep it together and bag the medal.

Your photo at the finish line says it all.

One for the grandkids....

I actually think I checked out at the race briefing the day before when they announced no wetsuits! I was on auto pilot from then on.

I didnt enjoy one part of the day except the finish line party which was rocking. I may just come in near the end some day to experience it


On a happier note I won the Club TT last night , thats a first, first, second and first over the 4 races with 2 to go

interested

Nice report chief and again, very well done.
re: lack of wetsuit swim

Hell of a swim to tackle without a suit and as you say yourself it had a direct input on the energy you'd left for the bike and run part of your day. Ive had a few experiences of swimming with and without wetsuits in 'soup' like that - and although you'd have been faster swimming in your wetsuit there is an associated risk in how much water/salt/energy you'd have lost during the swim if wearing the suit.
In colder water they act as insulators, in warm water like that .. think I read it was 24.9 ... you've have been slowly cooking in a black wetsuit. If you stumble and fall due to overheating whilst running, its not ideal but there will be people around to look after you. If you start to suffer from dehydration whilst swimming .. well, passing out can have more serious implications - especially at an Ironman event when there are 2000+ other bodies in the water.

Can't have been easy in T1, fair play for getting yourself out the door and onwards.

handangeo

Back at it from today, I need to get some focus after a week off, my race schedule is as follows:

Beast of the East - for NS points
Kilkenny Grand Prix Olympic
IM Galway 70.3
Challenge Barcelona.......?????

Challenge Barcelona is on the horizon as I'm kicking myself for my non show in Austria, it cant be as hot as it was last week and maybe worth a shot. I've been checking the temperatures online, it will be wetsuit as its a sea swim and should only be in the low mid 20's.

However the 70.3 in Galway is only 4 weeks before, I know I'll have recovered. I need to do myself justice for the training, its the finance issue aswell. Spent a fortune in Austria. What you think guys??

Izoard

handangeo wrote: »

Back at it from today, I need to get some focus after a week off, my race schedule is as follows:

Beast of the East - for NS points
Kilkenny Grand Prix Olympic
IM Galway 70.3
Challenge Barcelona.......?????

Challenge Barcelona is on the horizon as I'm kicking myself for my non show in Austria, it cant be as hot as it was last week and maybe worth a shot. I've been checking the temperatures online, it will be wetsuit as its a sea swim and should only be in the low mid 20's.

However the 70.3 in Galway is only 4 weeks before, I know I'll have recovered. I need to do myself justice for the training, its the finance issue aswell. Spent a fortune in Austria. What you think guys??

Well, what's your plan for next year? If IMAT was your last IM for a while, then finances and family allowing, I would jump at it.

From a readiness perspective, I don't see a problem doing Barca 4 weeks after Galway, as long as you are motivatied to keep at it.

Maybe give it another week or 2 before deciding and let the frustration of Austria die down a bit.

On the flip side, I think being in a constant state of "IMness", can be draining all round (personally, finances, family etc..) so it can be good to take the foot off for a while.

pgibbo

handangeo wrote: »

Back at it from today, I need to get some focus after a week off, my race schedule is as follows:

Beast of the East - for NS points
Kilkenny Grand Prix Olympic
IM Galway 70.3
Challenge Barcelona.......?????

Challenge Barcelona is on the horizon as I'm kicking myself for my non show in Austria, it cant be as hot as it was last week and maybe worth a shot. I've been checking the temperatures online, it will be wetsuit as its a sea swim and should only be in the low mid 20's.

However the 70.3 in Galway is only 4 weeks before, I know I'll have recovered. I need to do myself justice for the training, its the finance issue aswell. Spent a fortune in Austria. What you think guys??

Personally I wouldn't bother with Galway. I did both last year and decided to do Galway at IM pace rather than risk it. I believe Galway is too close to Barca race it and then recover enough to race Barca to the best of your ability. Barca is a class race. Be warned though, it's damn hot. It was hitting 28 to 30 on the run last year - Barca that is, not Galway.

Accomodation in Callela is cheap and the resort itself is cheap too. Lovely area also. Flights aren;t too bad to Barcelona either and there''s a train that will take you from the airport to the Callela for around 30 return.

shotgunmcos

+1 on Galway. If you have Barcelona in mind, particularly for redemption, then that will undoubtedly be the main foucs. Galway is just an expensive training session then. Rightnow it may seem like it may not affect Barcelona but consider some scenarios

1. You need a swim boost and tha weekend will be better served with a couple of long OW swim sessions
2. You missed a long bike the week before due to Life getting in the way and now need to do a 5hour bike instead of a 5 hour race
3. Its wet and windy and you get cold. This will increase the injury potential.
4. You have a fabulous race at Galway, blitzing your expectations. However you went very deep to do so and need a week of hard recovery. You feel lethargic then with Barca 3 weeks away and do too much in the weeks leading up to it
5. The extra pocket money you will have for post race celebrations in Calella


Well done on plugging away and getting through IMAT after that swim. It was a gutsy effort

ronanmac

Great report re. Austria. You might have been pissed off with yourself at the end, but just finishing in that sort of heat is slightly mind-boggling (considering that melting-point for the average Irish male is 29 degrees*)


*This is scientific fact

handangeo

pgibbo wrote: »

Personally I wouldn't bother with Galway. I did both last year and decided to do Galway at IM pace rather than risk it. I believe Galway is too close to Barca race it and then recover enough to race Barca to the best of your ability. Barca is a class race. Be warned though, it's damn hot. It was hitting 28 to 30 on the run last year - Barca that is, not Galway.

Accomodation in Callela is cheap and the resort itself is cheap too. Lovely area also. Flights aren;t too bad to Barcelona either and there''s a train that will take you from the airport to the Callela for around 30 return.

I know all about Galway and FOUR Seasons in 1 day there last year :eek:, the problem is its all booked and paid for including the accomodation. I hadnt planned at all on doing Barcelona, it looks cheap enough to get to and looks a cool race. Decisions, decisions!!

pgibbo

You could look at deferring Galway to another event. Ronanmac deferred his to Austria 70.3. The accomodation I'm not so sure about but most hotels have a policy that it won't cost you if you cancel with enough notice.

It sounds to me like you want to do Galway. If you then maybe, swim hard, bike hard and run easy. It would be too risky injury wise. I think MCOS calls it out perfectly above.

Your call at the end of the day but if it were me I'd look at nailing Barcelona and try to defer Galway for a European 70.3 next year.

handangeo

A miserable wet, damp, rotten, windy...I could go on but it was the same for everyone. Most of the usual 30/40 of us turned up, hoping I suppose secretly it would be called off. The passing motorists must have thought we were a crazy bunch to be out on such a night.

The route is a flat rolling one, where the wind is either with you like the previous night or in your face like tonight. When I saw everyone else in wet gear I decided it was all about aero dynamics so dispensed with the rain jacket - we were going to get soaked anyway. I was off somewhere in the middle and has quickly passed the guy who set off a minute before me, I passed 2 or 3 more along the way, then because of the cold I was cramping in both calves? something that never happened before.

I battled through the pain, the average speed for the night was 37.01kph as opposed to 41kph the early week - thats the wind for you. It took at least 25 mins in a hot shower afterwards to thaw out - yes its the 12th July :eek:

Good news however - first place again with one more race to go, which I need to do a few laps of before the showdown next thursday evening. I have at last found something I'm good at after 41 years of trying! All those sufferfests on the turbo are paying off.......if only I could bother learning to swim properly I might be good at this triathlon/ironman lark.

handangeo

SAT AM Went on a quick reconnaissance of the 16k route for Thursday nights final TT. Its pretty exposed on the early section with 3k of a pretty long drag, after that its rolling with poor enough road surfaces. I need to average at least 43kph on the night to win the overall series. We race 3 courses twice, however I missed this one when in Austria, and it was the only decent nights weather that week - TYPICAL!

So I will be watching the weather forecasts hourly praying for no wind whatsoever! Interestingly enough from the Tri Club and 2 local Cycle clubs involved circa 60/70 competitors the TRI club has the top 4 Positions on the leaderboard.

SUN PM Still now running or swimming since Austria, but managed 40 mins on the turbo @ 200w watching the last 48k of the Tour, I was suffering as much as they were and it was hot and sweaty especially the last 10 mins.

I have been deliberating purchasing a Zipp disk wheel all week, but I think I can justify it now, whether I have the balls to turn up to a race with one remains to be seen, plus the pi$$ taking from the Club members .
I always thought it cool passing a pointy helmet or a disc wheel, now I'm rarely every passed on the bike.........maybe thats because the good bikers are fast swimmers and are gone ages before me!

handangeo

Finale of the season TT tonight, winds easing off here so its all to play for, splashed out on a new Zipp Disk wheel.......:D Haven't told the OH and the kids are sworn to secrecy shhhhhhhh!

pgibbo

Sweet looking machine. :cool: Good luck tonight

My 2009 B2 Pro is going back to Felt - headset / bayonet issues!

pgibbo

Have you made a call on Galway and Barcelona yet?

handangeo

No, Barcelona seemed a great idea a fortnight ago, but I havent done much since Austria only bike work. I'm doing Beast of the East this Sunday all going well and then Kilkenny Tri the following Saturday which is the local club race so huge incentive to do well there.

Not much for August only Tri the Hook in Wexford, things on the homefront a mess with this "triathlon lark" as its known :mad:, life, training, work balance issues.

So much so I'm scared stiff to mention Barcelona at the moment, she knows about Galway alright. I will probably decide in August I'd imagine one way or the other.

Izoard

handangeo wrote: »

No, Barcelona seemed a great idea a fortnight ago, but I havent done much since Austria only bike work. I'm doing Beast of the East this Sunday all going well and then Kilkenny Tri the following Saturday which is the local club race so huge incentive to do well there.

Not much for August only Tri the Hook in Wexford, things on the homefront a mess with this "triathlon lark" as its known :mad:, life, training, work balance issues.

So much so I'm scared stiff to mention Barcelona at the moment, she knows about Galway alright. I will probably decide in August I'd imagine one way or the other.

If you are going to get a red card, you might as well do a Joey Barton and get full value from it.

Zipp Disc + Barcelona + summer 2013 IM all in the one confession.

Oryx

Izoard wrote: »

If you are going to get a red card, you might as well do a Joey Barton and get full value from it.

Zipp Disc + Barcelona + summer 2013 IM all in the one confession.

I agree. If youre going to get sh1t anyway, do it all in one go and get it over with. And remember, anticipation of pain is often worse than pain itself. Just say it.

handangeo

TT Final Night 16k Rolling with a long climb for first 5k

It was pretty breezy, but with the way the weathers been lately it was good considering. A big crew turned up for the final in this 6 part series, I suppose the weather brought out the fair weather cyclists. I was off 40th as usual, but a few in the slots ahead of me hadnt showed so there was a 2 minute gap, despite this I had caught the 3 ahead of me by the midpoint. My legs started to struggle at this stage, maybe I wasnt warmed up enough? Even though I had calf guards on it still was a painful 22 minutes.

The second section was faster, smoother surface but still a slight headwind, I had do really dig in on the last stretch, unfortunately there was no one else to catch which makes things that bit harder. I had got my average up to 24.6mph [40kph] I knew it wasnt enough on the night, and I reckon finished maybe 2nd by about 20 secs. The results are being closely guarded and are being announced at the prize giving tonight. I may have sneaked the overall by about 35 secs, but we'll just have to wait and see.

The top 5 riders from each club are being asked to do a team time trial in a fortnight on a newly resurfaced stretch from Kilkenny to new motorway and back about 16-18k, the real rivalry starts now!

handangeo

Although I was second on the final night by 6 secs, I claimed the overall TT prize by 1 Min 26 secs .......fastest man in Kilkenny - Well maybe on the bike certainly not in the pool.

Canned Beast of the East even though I'd entered, hadnt got my race head on and I'm still feeling tired from Austria. Spent Sunday morning with the Club doing a brick session on the course for the Kilkenny Tri next Saturday. Went well, legs starting to feel good again and going to give it a real blast next weekend.

Swim session tonight and start the build now for IM Galway 70.3

handangeo

Sunday: 20k bike with club as mentioned already followed by 10k run with 5k easy and 5k hard.

Monday: 1k Swim in River - and its stink at the moment, I swear I have a sore throat after it today, followed by a 5k easy run. Just trying to get back into the swing of things for race on Saturday.

The plan for the rest of the week is 1 x turbo, 1 x16K run, a swim session and a tempo run. That should sharpen things up from where I was the last few weeks. After this I have to get a solid block of training done for Galway [where in the middle the wife is away for 8 days so I wont get much done]

Still havent decided on Barcelona......maybe it was wishful thinking, the draw of IM distance hasn't bothered me one way or another the last few weeks.

Planning for 2013 brings new items to be ticked off namely:

Connemara Ultra Marathon
National Series
Complete a long Adventure Race
Sub 3hrs Marathon

I dont know if I have the enthusiasm for another IM after doing 3 in 3 years, the training is long and can be boring at times. Maybe its time to spice it up and make it fun again.

shotgunmcos

Well done on the tt league win!

handangeo

shotgunmcos wrote: »

Well done on the tt league win!

Thanks.....problem is I'm already a marked man for next year!

pgibbo

Congrats on the TT win. Nothing like having a target on your back to keep you motivated.

How did you find the disc wheel?

handangeo

pgibbo wrote: »

Congrats on the TT win. Nothing like having a target on your back to keep you motivated.

How did you find the disc wheel?

Honestly - I didnt feel much of a difference......I sounded good and looked good, which of course is far more important!

handangeo

Tuesday

Nothing :mad:

Wednesday

Swim session, just 20 mins mainly speed work, I am a real slow swimmer, I mean really slow 1:50 for 100m, swimming just doesn't do it for me.......ever.

Followed by 5k run @ 4:10k pace, it was very warm and humid, I followed the path of the Kilkenny Oly route for Saturday along the river bank where I swallowed a zillion midgies yuck. The river looks absolute stink at the moment and the current so strong I'd say it will be downstream only.

Followed this then by a 20k cycle [I must have been full of energy last night] on the newly surfaced ring road averaging 34kmh.

handangeo

Thursday PM - TT Team practise night, we eventually got the rolling chain gang thing working, albeit a bit slow. If it goes well next Tuesday night all will be well in the camp

Friday early AM - 5k run ahead of Oly race tomorrow, legs seemed fresh enough and firing well - its a 1500m swim 43k bike and 10.2k run, with buckets of pride at stake :eek:

We'll see what happens on race day....

pgibbo

Best of luck

handangeo

Just the highlights bit of a report later, 15th Overall and 2/92 in AG 40-49.
Disappointed as a top 10 was there for the taking and winning AG aswell.

handangeo

With IM Galway looming on the horizon, it was time to get back to work. I need to get focused and get my race head back on pronto. OH was on holidays for the best part of 10 days so got nothing done when minding the 3 little Indians.

Missed Tri the Hook in the middle of this aswell. I managed 3 sessions on the turbo this week and will do a swim session tonight.

I had video swim analysis done yesterday locally...........lets say this:
On the overwater view I thought I had a decent enough stroke and "thought" I was doing things correctly, HOWEVER on the underwater/side view:

My head is to high when I breathe
I breath only to the RHS - I knew this
My left hand catch is all bubbles and no pull
My right leg goes like a scissors :eek:
My arms cross over badly, and I was aware NOT to be doing this

Is it any wonder I'm so bloody slow? hmmmm lots of room for improvement which I knew anyway. Its now time spent vs return on investment debate, but a few small changes might make a big difference.

handangeo

Eventually found where you all had got to! Thought I said something to upset everyone

Galway in a week and training is......mediocre at best

pgibbo

Predictions for Galway assuming a full length swim

Oryx

Where did you get the analysis done?

handangeo

pgibbo wrote: »

Predictions for Galway assuming a full length swim

Realistically:

SWIM 0:42:00

T1 0:03:00

BIKE 2:40:00

T2 0:03:00

RUN 1:40:00

TOTAL 5:08:00 at best - would like sub 5, but that depends on all going to plan, no hurricane like last year and having my race head on.

handangeo

Oryx wrote: »

Where did you get the analysis done?

A friend of mine does it in the Watershed Pool in Kilkenny - costs €80 and you get USB key with your info, drills to work on etc afterwards plus consultation. In my case it was perhaps tennis was a better option than swimming :rolleyes:

Oryx

handangeo wrote: »

A friend of mine does it in the Watershed Pool in Kilkenny - costs €80 and you get USB key with your info, drills to work on etc afterwards plus consultation. In my case it was perhaps tennis was a better option than swimming :rolleyes:

In that case I should play chess.

Maybe youd drop me details of the chap? I need to correct my technique as best I can this winter.

handangeo

Oryx wrote: »

In that case I should play chess.

Maybe youd drop me details of the chap? I need to correct my technique as best I can this winter.

Will do

handangeo

Off to Galway in the morning, excuses as follows so I wont have to repeat myself Monday morning:

Weather was crap
Why does it always rain in Galway
Must improve my swimming over the winter...NEVER
Bloody transition like a mudbath
Nearly got blown to Sligo with my new disc wheel
Still don't like the runcourse
The sun appeared albeit for a minute or 2


Oh and Izoard lied about his slow time....he was flying

Oryx

Weather was crap
Why does it always rain in Galway
Must improve my swimming over the winter...NEVER
Bloody transition like a mudbath
Nearly got blown to Sligo with my new disc wheel
Still don't like the runcourse
The sun appeared albeit for a minute or 2


As we like to say around these parts. HTFU

Good luck G. Youll nail it, as usual.

Izoard

How a featherweight like yourself stays upright on a disc wheel is beyond me.

I still have nightmares about the cross winds in Abu Dhabi...and I'm twice your weight:)

Best of luck and see you on Sunday.

pgibbo

Best of luck George and Izoard.

No excuses allowed!!!

handangeo

Izoard wrote: »

How a featherweight like yourself stays upright on a disc wheel is beyond me.

I still have nightmares about the cross winds in Abu Dhabi...and I'm twice your weight:)

Best of luck and see you on Sunday.

If its windy I'll keep going to Clifden , I see us auld fellas are last off, at least we cant be chicked . They should be giving us a head start at this stage of our careers.

Hey Norseman for 2014 are you on??

handangeo

pgibbo wrote: »

Best of luck George and Izoard.

No excuses allowed!!!

We're full of excuses, then things can only get better.....we see you at the weekend??