As is always the way, the promise to myself to keep these blogs on a monthly basis have completely fallen apart (again) and I’m somewhere near two months since the last time I’ve put pen to paper (finger to keyboard).
In the middle of all this I’ve been away – twice.
First Stop – Majorca….
The intentions of this trip was to get us all into open water, unless you’re completely sadistic, this is the only way to get that kind of experience as British waterways are in the single figures still and hypothermia is an option if you’re not careful. Instead we opted for Majorca and its warmer Mediterranean waters. I’ll be honest – that first “dip” into the Med was pretty cold and I did wonder how I’d fare in the 3.8km race the following Friday morning.
The Long Course Weekend (LCW) format has been quite popular in recent years and a little bit of an admin error meant that the organisers failed to get authorisation for the bike-leg. So, this was soon turned into the “LCW Duo” – a swim on the Friday and then a run on the Saturday. I was clearly out of the game not being able to run, walk even, so it was just the swim for me.
In an almost automated response to knowing we’d be going to Majorca I organised bike hire at the drop of a hat. The resort of Colonia San Jordi at the most southerly point of the island was somewhere I’d never been, even on a bike ride as it’s too far south. It is pretty remote and therefore very quiet. The one road that takes you to the town was the only option for the first 15k and from the first roundabout there were options for longer rides. Suzy said she needed to do a few rides so asked me to plan the routes, Danny and Michelle just went with the flow.
First time out was a 135km ride taking in Randa and San Salvador climbs, I was like an excited dog being on the island and was 100m in front of everyone else for the entire ride, not very social I know but I was just excited to be there. I tried to keep things smooth on the flats and hammered up the two climbs, once at the top I was taking pictures and videos of the others as they reached the summit. From this point Suzy had smaller rides to do and Danny & Michelle opted to ride only when Suzy did so I headed out for a ride pretty much every day. I rode out to Planet Cycling – an awesome cafe in Alaro, but that meant a 160km ride that day and that was pretty knackering! On other days I took on Randa again and rode round San Salvador as well as taking in new routes in the South of the island – notching up about 700km in 7 days.
Alongside the cycling there was the open water swimming with Danny & Suzy, it seems that whenever I swim it’s always choppy. You look out of the window of our hotel room and it’s calm – I walk down to the beach and the wind picks up and it’s choppy! Nonetheless, it was good experience to get in those kind of waters in advance of the event on Saturday and the Worlds in Ibiza coming up pretty fast.
On the Friday morning the event soon came round. Choppy waters – naturally. The build up was pretty low-key and the event not as well-attended that previous years. I’d put that down to the bike-leg being cancelled and the venue being tucked away as opposed to the ever-popular Alcudia in the NorthEast of the island. Once the gun went off myself, Danny & Suzy were doing the 3.8k swim and Steve – another BTC member was doing his first open water swim, completing the 1.9km option. I had my customary panic attack and had to breaststroke for about a minute to calm myself down. Suzy saw this and stopped to help. Once under control off I went and just got on with it. The 3 lap route was a little difficult to navigate due to the waves coming in at a 45-degree angle to the course, but I just tried to not panic and just followed the bubbles of other swimmers in the event. In the end I completed it in 1hr 8minutes – the same time as LCW in 2019 in the very calm Alcudia event so happy I could keep that pace in more difficult waters. Danny came in a few minutes before me and Suzy a few minutes after me. Steve was also chuffed to bits that he’d completed his course so we all celebrated with some beer at a nearby cafe, not to mention some freshly cooked Paella from the organisers!
Suzy, Danny & Michelle ran the next day in the 10k event. Steve and his wife – Janine ran the 5k event in very hot conditions, whilst I went out on another 100km bike ride. Whilst out I noticed some closed roads nearby and then quite a few Rally Cars on the road – the penny dropped – that’s why we couldn’t have the bike-leg, as there was a big car rally going on nearby. That would’ve been an interesting combination of fast cars and 100’s of cyclists on the open road!!!
Next Stop – Ibiza…
With only 4 days at home we were already Ibiza-bound for the Triathlon World Championships. It was originally an option to get the ferry from Majorca to Ibiza (3hrs) and just stay there but work commitments and exorbitant prices meant it was better to come home for a few days before heading out again.
Our hotel was in Playa D’en Bossa – one of the party hotspots of Ibiza. I was reminded at every opportunity that 20 years ago I was on this island and at these venues for very different reasons. Being “athletes” and behaving ourselves, it seemed very weird to observe the antics of the party-goers each day and hard to comprehend that this was me several years earlier!
To provide some kind of context, our hotel had a tattoo parlour (and it was rarely empty), it was a free bar, when we were heading out each day there were taxis coming in dropping off people that had been out all night. Guardia Civil police were regularly seen looking after paralytic females and people were being stretchered off the beach in an inebriated state!
Michelle had her race on the Sunday, a week before ours, hence why we were out there for 10 days. In hindsight the all-inclusive holiday wasn’t the best of options in trying to maintain “race weight” but at least we didn’t have to spend a lot of money on restaurants and drinks as we did in Majorca. Michelles Standard Duathlon race – 10km run, 40km bike & 5km run, was based in Santa Eulalia which was 20km north of our hotel. We hired a car for a few days to make sure her bike was easily transported to the event and made easy any public transport problems that could occur. This was her first World Championships, qualifying in October last year so a bit daunting I’m sure. The race was absolutely stacked and the winners were almost at pro-level in their performances. Michelle did well, completing her race in just over 2:37hrs placing her just outside the Top-20.
The next day, again in Santa Eulalia, another Beccles Tri Club member – Vicki had her Aquathlon (1km swim & 5km run) event. We still had the car so travelled to watch her where we met her mum & dad who’d also come out to see her race as well as one of her training partners – Matt – so no pressure! Again a very fast race and some super-fast performances. Vicki finished 7th just being pipped at the line by another GB athlete who, by the looks of things was in full flow! I think Vicki’s aim was to get in the Top-10 and do a 22-minute 5km run so boxes were ticked.
Attentions were turned to our race later in the week, but first we had several days to kill before the build-up to the World Triathlon Long Distance Championships, and the PTO European Championships being held the day before at the same venue. One day we took the bus to San Antonio – the place where I had stayed all the years ago and had a day of reminiscing and took Suzy to see Cafe Del Mar although in hindsight it would’ve been better if I took her at sundown as that venue is what it is famous for. Another day we took a boat trip to Formentura – an island 40 minutes away that is very remote. A beautiful place and somewhere I’d like to visit again although the prices for food & drink were pretty extortionate! In between these visits the all-inclusive hotel took it’s toll and I think I took on about 5-6kgs over the week!
The weekend arrived and it was time to get “race mode” on. The day before we watched the Professionals race a 2km swim, 80km bike and 18km run. Men & women. Some of the best in the world with Olympic Champions and Ironman Champions racing against each other in this fairly new “100km” format by PTO. The backdrop of Ibiza town was pretty cool and I’m sure quite a spectacle for people new to Triathlon, although I’m not sure what the islands’ party-goers made of all this extreme exercise thing!
Later that day it was time for me, Suzy & Danny to rack our bikes and prepare for the Long Distance Aquabike race the following morning. We caught up with some old faces we’d seen the year (or two) before at differing events. I caught up with Joe Skipper and Ray – his dad and wished him well in the full triathlon the next day – he was a heavy favourite so we all had our fingers crossed for him. A minor cock-up with Technical Officials meant that we were apparently not allowed to access our “Swim-To-Bike” bags on the morning of the race, which meant us going back to our hotel (20mins walk away) to get things we would normally do on the morning of the race. Only to be told when we returned that it was incorrect and that we could?!?! To be honest this is fairly common at WTU events – there’s always a stressful moment when there doesn’t need to be – they do it every year & I really wish they could sort these unnecessary hiccups out as they don’t help with the pre-race nerves.
Race Day – After watching the Elites starting it was time to get ready for our start. A 3km swim which encircled an island out in the bay and then a 116km bike seemed quite daunting to most of us, but here we were – ready. Danny & I were in the same wave (Male 18-54) which was pretty huge. I remembered the 3.8km swim in Majorca and my panic attack, Vicki had also said to me after her race earlier in the week to count 1-2-3 before going in, avoiding all the “mosh-pit” mayhem in the first 100m of the swim so when the gun went off I just stood there for three seconds and went in – a perfect start! (Thanks Vicki!). The swim was fairly smooth (rare for me) but once we started out around the island it got a bit more choppy and I lost my sighting for the final buoy to come in to the beach & transition. A lifeguard in a canoe whistled at me and I was soon back on target after treading water for a few seconds to gauge where I was. Not that far off – one of my straightest swims ever.
Once back onto the beach I grabbed my crutch and hobbled into transition to collect my bike, for most this was a 4-minute affair, for me it was just under 9-minutes so I needed to knuckle-down on the bike pretty quickly (sound familiar?). Once out of the resort I was on the main roads and tackling the first of quite a few climbs. My power was topping 350-400 watts at points and I knew I had to calm it down but the gradient was so extreme in places I had to ride 300w+ just to keep moving forwards. I soon realised that my rear cassette, a 12-28T (for those who know) was a bad choice for the 4000ft+ climbing and I needed at least a 30T or 32T to tackle these climbs, this meant that I had to grind a few of them at very low cadences which made me suffer later in the race. Just over the hour I caught Danny up and said “Master Sayer” as I passed him! Moments later he flew past me in a 600w effort just to “JunkYard Dog” me before easing off and letting me past again. Apparently later he did exactly the same thing to Joe Skipper as he was in the middle of this Elite race! On a side issue, Joe actually had the time to give Suzy a few words of encouragement as he passed her, something which many pro’s wouldn’t have done – I do like Joe, I’ve got a lot of time for him as he’s down to earth like that. Knowing him since he was a kid when he started riding bikes & coming from the same town makes me a little biased I guess.
With about 15km to go there was a fast dip in the road followed by a short climb which your speed would get you up, at the top of the short rise there was a left-hand turn (St Rafal I recall) but the road was off-camber, adding into this there was a localised shower and yep…I came off! The Irish girl about 50m ahead braked and went down, the American lady I was just about to catch went down as well and I touched my brakes so as not to crash into her and I low-sided it. As I was sliding along the wet/smooth road I thought “did I just do that?” and came to halt using my left elbow as a brake. The Guardia Civil guy said “do you need an ambulance?”. I replied “no – just get this bike off me” as I was still clipped in. He pulled it off me and threw it to the curb which I’ve since noticed has completely scratched my custom paintwork. In doing so it also put the Di2-electronic gears into “crash-mode” and I had only the hardest gear to choose from. I only realised this as I started riding again and quickly realised I couldn’t ride in top-gear. I stopped again, got off my bike and reset the system and got onto getting back to the riders I was just about to catch before the crash. In a fit of adrenaline I caught about 20 riders in that last 15km. Most of the course was downhill on a motorway so it was 70kmh+ until I came into the finish area.
Another let-down…the athlete’s guide recognised that a 800m run to the finish was not a good idea (like last year) and set the finish 25m from the foot-down/dismount line and that was our official finish. The day before this was adjusted to 50m before the dismount line to allow for Aquabikers who were racing to the line. As I approached the finish I was then told this finish line has disappeared completely and it was in fact at the dismount line. It didn’t phase me but if there were athletes racing to the line it would’ve been carnage.
Once through into the transition area I could walk through to rack my bike, then go through to the Aquabike Official Finish Area to have my finish picture taken – one more let-down… one photographer sat under a very uninspiring finish line with a cup of water, an apple the size of your head and half a banana to offer in the recovery area. There was also no medal nor was there a t-shirt to commemerate the event. It clearly looked like the budget had been spent in Ibiza town where the triathletes would finish their run. But for us Aquabikers – an afterthought. That’s definitely been fed back by the majority of the Aquabike athletes!
I waited for Danny to finish and then we both waited for Suzy to finish before heading back to the hotel for some all-inclusive beer. I came 20th hitting the top third in the swim and the top quarter in the bike legs. Danny was six places behind me and Suzy got 10th overall and 2nd place Brit which gives her another auto qualification to next years’ race which is in Australia.
Within 24hrs we were back in the UK, it was raining and Suzy & I stopped at a services area for some food only to be reminded of the “comedown” when some guy was mouthing off at customers & staff alike. We looked at each other and both said “welcome back to the UK”. Our thoughts wandered perhaps to staying in Spain indefinitely.
So that’s it – The Worlds’ over & done with for another year. Townsville in Australia is a hell of a trek for an event and after the poor service to the Aquabiking contingent I’m not convinced we’ll be treated any differently out there. 2025 is in Spain again so maybe we’ll skip a year?
Back to reality and it’s time to concentrate on the rehab as opposed to sporting goals.
The knee didn’t really behave at all in Spain, one moment I would be walking (carefully) and trying to avoid leaning on the crutch too much and then all of a sudden the knee gives way, gives me all sorts of pain and swelling and I can’t stand/walk for the rest of the day without difficulty. Looking back, my original take on post-op improvements were that the foot is flatter and the alignment is better. As weeks have gone on it’s clear the knee is weaker than before – presumably because the metal isn’t in there to support, the full range of movement has reduced over the weeks and I feel like I’m going back to the same 95% of ROM as before the operation. I have my 3-month follow-up consultation next week so we’ll see what he has to say regarding a prognosis and if further surgery is required. I do have a horrible feeling he’s going to say what the other surgeon said last summer, as in it is what it is and I’m going to have to live with it from now on.
In the meantime, the insurers have restricted physio to just one session a week and one short massage/manipulation session. They’ve also put limiters on other treatments (pending reports) which I personally find obtrusive in getting me back to a good condition/state. I’ve ranted about this before on previous blogs and pounds, shillings & pence being the priority over patient care so I won’t start again as you’ve heard it all before. But you can clearly tell from these comments my current thought process.
My rehab sessions are progressing, not as quick as I’d like them to but at least, on paper, there’s a slow response. I try to replicate these sessions at least a couple times a week on my own but I don’t have the eagle-eye of my PT to tell me my technique isn’t as good as it should be. So maybe I’m not getting the best out of myself on these sessions.
My swimming has improved, my Ibiza swim was 1:47/100m as compared to 2:01/100m in Samorin last August so that’s a good sign. My weekly sessions will soon move over to Open Water Swimming but Danny’s temperature check last night at the river (9 degrees) doesn’t inspire me to jump in any time soon. There is on the horizon a pretty long swim down near Henley (Mid-Aug) so I need to start clocking up some miles in the river or the broads soon or else I’m going to struggle.
Cycling is ok at the moment too, as long as it’s not 4000ft climbing like last Sunday! A big lad like me doesn’t like hills, I’d prefer fast & flat terrain where absolute power has its advantages. In the meantime I’ll stick to a few Time Trials and there’s London 100 and Tour De Cambridgeshire 100 at the end of the month to get some mileage in before Challenge Roth in late-June. After that I’ll turn my attention to the European Aquabike Championships in Belgium in late August and then Challenge Almere Aquabike a fortnight later. Perhaps feet up after that???
Very humbling…
It’s a bit of a footnote but I’m always aware of the things I can do, try & race events, travel a bit and go to the gym more than others’. There have been comments recently regarding my ability in the water and on a bike, and indeed the amount of spare time I have and that’s great – at times, but do you know what….. I’d rather go back two years and avoid that fateful day altogether. I’d rather have my knee back. So please, think before you speak 🙂