Outskirts of Nice, Sunday 27th June 2010. 3:30 a.m.
The alarm just went off. I have been awake for the last 2 hours which means I probably had less than 3 hours sleep. As soon as I got up, I realised that I was not in a great shape. My stomach is hurting but I am not sure if it is down to the carbo loading from last night or just the apprehension of the day ahead. In just over 3 hours, I will be on the starting line of the French Ironman held in Nice.
Having lived in Nice for many years, this triathlon has a particular significance for me. I dreamt about doing it for years and today the dream is about to become reality. After a solid breakfast at 4 a.m., my father gave me a lift to the starting line (about 10 km away) with the usual encouragement that a father can have for his son e.g. “if it’s too hard, just come back home after the bike”, “are you sure you really want to do that”, “have you checked the brakes on your bike”, “ Don’t forget to stop for lunch, you won’t digest well on the bike”. The drive through Nice at that time of the night seems unreal: prostitutes, drug dealers and Ironmen to be form a strange combination.
So it is 5.45 a.m. and I have now entered the bike park looking frantically for my beloved Bianchi amongst 2600 other bikes. I start the usual routine, loading the bike with water bottles, food and pumping up the tyres. 8 kg of pressure in the rear tyre. Perfect. Let us move to the front tyre, 2 kg, 3 kg, 3.5 kg and no more air seems to get in. I remove the pump and to my horror the little piston that let the air going the valve has broken.
Time to think about plan B. Should I change the tube, or start queing for the toilet? Only 20 minutes left before the bike park closes, the choice is quickly made. A good toilet break is more important than an underinflated tyre at least at that time of the day. I look for a bike mechanics that could help change the tube whilst I am swimming but there is no one around. Actually I did not see any bike mechanics at all. Wished Colin from Bike Haus would be there.
It is time to exit the bike park and hope for the best. Will my tyre be totally flat by the time I come back from the swim? Just going done the steps to the beach takes about 15 minutes because there are so many competitors. By the time I reach the beach, I have less than 5 minutes to warm up, adjust my wetsuit, and I start to feel seriously stressed. Not a good start. I just jump in the area marked “less than 1h02” (the expected swim time). I look around, there are so many people on such a small beach, it’s incredible. In the distance there are many buoys (about 10 in total, some to veer left some to veer right) and no one seems to know which one to aim for. Well, let us just go with the flow.
Finally at exactly 7 a.m. the start is given. It takes me less than a minute to realise that it is going to be a very messy swim. Trying to swim on someone’s back is not easy. Someone’s tickling my toes, how rude! Then first elbow in the face ouch, it’s painful. Let us keep focused things will get better. But with so many swimmers in such a small space, 2 laps and many buoys to negotiate, it is getting worse. I am doing some defensive swimming. Then came a terrible blow from nowhere, someone just kicked my head. And I am starting to think “Why am I doing that?”. Why did I pay 420 Euros to be kicked all over whereas I could get a better treatment in one of Glasgow’s back alleys for nothing? After 1h11 minutes, the boxing game is over.
Time to get changed and find my bike. Surprisingly the front wheel is still inflated. I am half relieved. 180 km of cycling now, and almost 2000 m of climbing. The stomach pain is over. I start to feel better. It is a gorgeous day, as most summer days in Nice, the sky has this intense blue that made so many painters love Nice. “La Cote d’Azur” deserves its name more than ever today. Today is the first day of the rest of my life. I am loving it!
The first hour on the bike went well. 30 km on the clock and 400 m of climbing. Then after about 45 km, we start the big climb of the day. About 1000m of climbing non stop over 26 km. 4%slope on average with a couple of steeper sections at 6-7%. My average speed dropped to about 26 kmh at the top of the “Col de l’Ecre” at 1120m. I took a few seconds to stop, get my “special needs bag” and empty it in my pockets so no plastic bags will pollute such a beautiful place. Quick check on the front tyre: a bit soft but still holding. Time to have a quick lunch on the bike. A few memories sprang back to my mind. I have gone through these roads so many times. It seems like yesterday although it was more than 20 years ago.The next 40 km are up and down, and it is difficult to find a regular pace. After 120 km, we reach the village of Coursegoules at about 1000 m in altitude and from there it is all going downhill. At least 40 km of gentle descent in very scenic country side, followed by 20 km of flat section with a bit head facing wind. You can view some pictures from the bike course that I took during my reccies by clicking here:
I take advantage of this last 1.5 hour on the bike to eat regularly, drink and really start to enjoy the day. If there was not a Marathon to complete that would be a very pleasant day.
Here is the ride in details click here:
(the Garmin GPS is not that accurate in the mountains but the ride was really 180 km, believe me!)
So that’s the bike section completed in just under 6 hours and a big relief that my front tyre did not deflate. Some may have thought that I had a bit too much sun, but as soon as I reached the bike park I pated my Bianchi Bike on the saddle for another mission accomplished.
After a slow transition (as always I like to take my time), time to endure the last challenge of the day. 4 laps of 10.5 km running along the “Promenade des Anglais”. Surprisingly, I feel quite fresh and surprised myself after completing the first lap in about 56 minutes. The second lap is a bit slower but still feeling good. I am worried however I will go through a “low” as I experienced in Busselton. I decide to slow down slightly in the third lap to eat, drink and gear myself mentally for another 20 km. Some kind of mental break. The highlight of the race was to see my two sons (3 & 5) that came to support me. High 5s for the whole family. It is amazing how distances take a different meaning during an Ironman. 15 km to run seem like nothing, just 1.5 laps. My morale is at his best and I can now speed up a little. Such a beautiful view. I start thinking about dinner, I quite fancy some artichokes tonight. After 4h09, the run is over. Here is how the run went:
Finally after 11h33 the race is over. Here are the detailed results here:
Epilogue:
Nice is a great race venue but the overall organisation was disappointing, so far from the Australian standards. The race course is great for up to 1,500 athletes but accepting 2,600 entries is sheer madness especially with such a narrow swim course. Finishing the race was a strange feeling. Of course I was glad it was over but, in a kind of masochistic way, almost disappointed I did not suffer more. I remember my first Ironman in Busselton I struggled so much to keep going in the last 20 km.
I guess one of the key factors was the the temperature (10 degrees cooler than in Western Australia last year), the familiarity with the course, and more importantly the fuelling strategy. I kept eating and drinking all the way.
Next big event will be Ironman Western Australia in December this year. I will be back with a revenge, and I just can’t wait!
