Last September I looked at doing something a little crazy and enter a few triathlons a bit longer on the bike leg so I could create some damage as this was my stronger discipline. The concept of Ironman Barcelona 2018 started right there but there had to be a few stepping stones on the way…like at least one at half the distance.
Challenge Geraardsbergen is a new 70.3 event, 2017 was the first time they held the event. The interest from me was just one thing – the Muur! This 1.3km climb up to the famous church at the top, featured in several professional single-day classics, especially the Tour Of Flanders where Phillipe Gilbert, Peter Sagan, Fabian Canellara, Tom Boonen & Nikki Tepstre all played their hand in winning this prestigious event. So with that love affair for the spring classics I booked it…….yep, I was doing it.
On Friday Suzy & I travelled early, catching the 9.20am ferry from Dover to Calais, an hour forwards and just a two-hour journey on the other side saw us pulling up in Geraardsbergen trying to catch the atmosphere before it got all hectic. After a check-in on a damned lucky booking at B&B Casa Dodo literally 200metres from the finish line and a quick pasta lunch in the town square – washed down with a glass of Belgian Beer (naturally) we walked to the famous climb……..
Shit! I think that was what I said – out loud if I’m not mistaken! As soon as the we left the town square we were on a sharp ascent, we were getting out of breath just walking, god knows what it was like on a bike. It levelled off for a bit then hit some awkward cobbles, then some more awkward cobbles, and some more….and so on. And it got steeper & steeper….and so on. One bit was a sheer wall – turns out “Muur” translates to “Wall”.
Once at the top it was quite picturesque, a gorgeous church at the top where a lot of cyclists like to get married apparently. A few photos and we descended back to the B&B to freshen up for dinner, and more importantly try and distract me from what I just saw.
That evening we just looked for something to eat and ended up bumping into Joe Skipper and Tony Heather who were sat with Dylan McNeice and Brad. We chewed some fat (not literally) and went our separate ways to get some shut-eye.
Saturday morning we ventured down to “De Gavers” where the start and T1 was situated. The organisation had allowed a “test swim” for anyone who wanted between 8 & 9am. So the wetsuit was donned and I swam to just get a feel of the lake so I didn’t feel nervous on race-day. The water was quite warm, even in a wetsuit and I managed 650 metres just messing around. We bumped into Joe, Tony and Dylan again – anybody would think we were stalking them! lol
After lunch we were back to De Gavers for me to do “my bit” in supporting Suzy in her events – a 1500m swim and an hour later a 6k run. After a bit of a panic not finding any safety pins for her number I found some and then settled to watch her swim the 1500m in her new wetsuit. She did amazing and got a well-deserved 12th place – in fairness if race referees were actually watching the final buoy they would’ve noticed that at least 5 or 6 swimmers cut the corner, but Suzy didn’t costing her at least 3 or 4 places.
After that she lined up for the run which would take her back to Geraarsbergen along the river path to finish outside the town hall in the square. The said the heat was unbearable along the river and despite this she managed 7th place!
I stayed at De Gavers as the race briefing was as soon as she started the run….or so I thought. Turned out in helping Suzy get ready for the run I had completely missed the English race briefing – instead I sat in the French version!!!! MY GCSE French came in ever-so handy right there!
As bike check-in was not until 5pm I still had an hour to kill so I headed out on the bike for a leg loosener on part of the course – I got completely lost at one bit and ended up on the Bosberg – another classic climb. I should’ve took a picture looking back but I was soon ken to get back to De Gavers I hit tempo and got back as soon as I could. I called Suzy to see how she got on and told her of my “French Episode” – she added that I was also late for bike check-in and I needed to get my ass in gear. So off I headed to drop off my Red bag (Swim to Bike) and my Blue bag (Bike to Run).
Back in town in the evening saw us at the official Pasta Party – after 3 bowls and 4 (or 5) cake slices I was stuffed and it was time to hit the sack.
Race Day
The race didn’t start until 11am so we had breakfast a reasonable hour! We headed out to De Gavers on a shuttle bus and as soon as we got there we had our first bit of bad news…..”No Wetsuit”. The water temperature had been measured at 24.1c and at 24c it’s a no-go. At Pro-Level apparently it’s only 22c so I had to just bite the bullet and get on with it.
A bit more coffee, some energy drink, a bar and a gel and I was good to go – Challenge Geraardsbergen had begun!
Swim – it wasn’t long before I started to get knocked around in the “washing machine”, being a newbie to this I was surprised people actually did this but I soon learned just to get on with it. I had put myself in the 40-45min group but without a wetsuit I knew this was going to be ambitious at best. After a few breast stroke moments I ended up coming out at 50 minutes – a 7-min drop on what I had anticipated 🙁
Bike – as soon as I was on this I was “on it”, catching at least 20 riders in the first two miles. One guy was quite handy but I soon lost him on the main road as the aerodynamics of my position was no match for him on a road bike. The road was far from flat, I had an illusion that Belgium was flat except these few mythical hills but it couldn’t be further from the truth – it was either up or down and even when I could get some speed I was confronted by swirling winds and 29 degree heat. The first time up the Muur was a shock, Suzy was there, shouting at me just before the 15% bit to go for it and I did and I eased up it quite well considering. The two-lap bike leg was exactly that – two halves. My 2nd lap saw power drop, the heat got the better of me but I still managed to pick quite a few riders off – I’m proud to say not one competitor passed me on either lap.
The 2nd time up the Muur was more of survival so I chose the “28” and just got over the top to get ready for T2 and the run.
Run – the 3-laps of the town were almost a triple “figure of 8” each lap so there was plenty of time for Suzy to get to see me at least 4 or 5 points on the circuit – apparently she walked 14km whilst I was on my 21km run! The first lap was done quite well at 5:20 pace and then I decided to slow down a bit as the near 30-degree heat and 80% humidity was starting to get to me. This was done at 5:40 pace with a few stops for sponges and water at the aid stations every 2km. I started to think “this is actually ok” then it hit me – dizziness, sloshing around in my stomach and mainly overheating in general. I had caught Brad (Joe’s friend) on the bike leg after 20km and he ended up catching me with 2km to go. I think I still beat home as he set off on the swim about 5-mins in front of me. Anyway, I hate to say it but I did walk for a bit before hitting the last climb to the town square for the finish.
Nothing matches the finish line in a triathlon, the pumping music, the crowds, the MC actually saying your name as you get to the finish line – “Nick Esser from Great Britian”!!!
Suzy was there waiting for me – I did get emotional it has to be said. My London Marathons didn’t compare to this – my marathon was over in under 4 hours – this was nearly 6!
Suzy said I should savour this moment so she headed to a bar for a drink whilst I just took it all in, the finishers t-shirt, the medal, the commentary of the other athletes still coming in, the free food, the free drink, the free beer! I did this for about 20-minutes and then found Suzy having a cheeky fruit-beer behind the finish zone.
So that’s it really – Swim was the hardest I have ever done as there was no wetsuit allowed, the bike wasn’t flat, it was windy and hot & humid, the run was undulating and the heat played it’s part too. If there was a 70.3 to pick for my first THIS WAS IT!
It does make me wonder how I’m going to double this up in a few months time!
Earlier in the week pales into insignificance really so I won’t even bother with the details, Taper Taper Taper etc. Oh….a Lotus Race on Tuesday night and the Bungay Black Dog 10km race on Wednesday where I helped Suzy pace her mum round to a Gold Standard at 53:31 🙂
Training Peaks Geeks:
799 TSS, 103 Fitness, +20 Form, 116 Fatigue, 4000m swimming, 40km running, 215km cycling.
Footnote: For those who have helped, supported me and motivated me – thank you. For those who doubted me – thank you 😉