AAA TALES – Train from Milano to Lucca, Italy. Monday 28th July.
I cant believe its been 6 weeks since my last update, just shows how busy, crazy & fun it has been, phew !
Briancon, Hautes-Alpes, France, what a place. Europe’s highest official town at 1300m and supposedly 300 sunny days a year. Well after a 12 hr travel day due to a train breakdown near Valence, a 2.5 hr wait and then a looong bus ride I arrive with no hotel booked in the pouring rain. Found a great little place close to train station with friendly local owners who know a little English, tired & straight to bed.
Cant wait to get out into the area and explore, but the rain persists, bad luck, no time so just get wet. Across the border into Italy & the ski resort of Sestrierre at 2000m, a double run day also in the rain and I am hanging out for the sun that is supposed to reappear tomorrow.
Yahoo, its back. No leg warmers today and its straight out of town and up the famous Col D’Izoard to 2300m before a 40k descent thru a truly magnificent valley before going back up another monster, Col De Vars at 2100m. Another long descent before a waaaay longer than expected route along the Lake of serre-poncon, back to Briancon for a 220k, 9 hr epic ride. Guess I will shorten that one for the tour group.
Another 2 sunny days in Briancon, filled with a little swim at the local sports centre, run around the track and more famous cols such as the Lauteret & Galibier, the latter at over 2600m.
Mission accomplished, contacts made, Briancon scouted and the bike legs a little stronger – back to Switzerland, this time via Italy & the Cisalpino, all the way to new base for 4 days at Verbier in the Valais region of Switz.
Thanks to meeting some new friends in Singapore, I was invited to stay in a truly magnificent chalet in the equally remarkable village of Verbier at 1500m with views of some of the Swiss Alps’ most spectacular peaks, what a treat. For 3 days I ran along a rolling mountain trail at over 2000m, swam in an outdoor pool where you see the mountains each time you lift your head to breath, and rode down thru the towns around Lake Geneva. This place oozes charm, mountain bikers, paragliders and adventure seekers and great potential for some triathlon camps (stay tuned).
It was nearly time for our first campers to arrive so Colleen and I spent a few days exploring the French side of Switz, riding some solid mountains, visiting some old friends and then the last days in the beautiful Jungfrau region and the village of Lauterbrunnen, our cycle tour base.
Our Ironman Switzerland camp consists of 10 days, most of these spent in the quiet, rural countryside of Central Switzerland, away from the cities and with incredible training options. Our base this year was the magnificent Bellevue Hotel in Sursee, just a short walk to Lake Sempach. The views from the restaurant are stunning and the quaint little town of Sursee provides just enough facilities, restaurant & shopping options to keep us entertained.
Our crew this year was varied: Ben & Jenelle, James & Jane from Sydney, Keri from Cairns, Dave also from Cairns (back for his 3rd year), Mick & Jo from Caloundra, Siong & Lyn from Singapore and Craig, a former Aussie now living in Singapore.
We spend the first few days recovering from long flights, putting the bikes together, a little riding, running around the lake tracks and swimming in the crystal clear waters. On Wednesday after picking up the last of our arrivals we head into Zurich to check out the course and an early registration. The Swiss weather had turned again after 3 glorious weeks and the race day forecast looked bleak.
I forgot to mention to many, that I wasn’t riding and running around huge mountains for nothing and had actually snuck in an entry myself this year, and as the weather turned, my race jinx looked to be continuing. For those who don’t know, I have often been accused of conspiring with the gods to make races as hard, hot, cold, or just plain ugly as possible. Some quick stats: 2 years in Kona – 2 of the windiest & worst. 4 times throughout Asia – cancelled swim due to weather, typhoons or similar. Malaysia – boiling hot, New Zealand – freezing cold & wet and there are more. But I guess after nearly 20 years, you would have to expect some odd weather, right ?
And that’s how it looked again, some cold & damp last days before we head back into Zurich on the Friday before race day to stay at the Hotel Senator for 4 nights. Zurich is quite a happening city of around 360,000 and the Senator is on the edge of a famous party district so there is always plenty of entertainment to keep our minds off race day, another of my secret ploys, avoid the hype, keep the mind relaxed and save the anxiety and energy for the day.
The day before was the same and some of us managed to get down to the lake in time to watch Dave, Colleen, Lyn, Jenelle & Jane strut their stuff in the Olympic distance race, all did well but were back to the hotel very quickly to get warm again.
Race morning looked a little depressing, rolling up to transition in the dark with light rain expected to stay with us for most of the day. Good idea to get straight into the wetsuit to stay warm.
I will be writing a more detailed race report and even a short story on my entire build up soon, but we were delighted to report that all of our crew had great days and managed to survive the very cold and wet conditions on the bike and post great times or even PB’s.
Ben and I spent plenty of the day in close proximity, His awesome 9:37 in testing conditions was the highlight, although missing a coveted Kona spot in the competitive 30 age group he was happy with his effort.
I finished in 9:40, best race for a while, more on that later.
Siong snuck under 11hrs and had a blinder, so too James with Craig not far behind, an awesome result for someone who works, parties and travels more than most Ironmen I know.
And lets not forget Keri the energiser bunny who nailed an impressive 11:39 on debut.
Even mighthy Mick who got himself very sick after the flight over, and didn’t go near his bike, runners or goggles the whole week before the race, managed to get across the line. Certainly not his best day, but a rewarding finish and gutsy effort.
For many, the relief of months of hard work coming to an end and the chance now to really enjoy their holidays and let the hair down a bit.
Monday is a presentation brunch where the free Erdingers were in full swing, thanks to the early arrival of some joining us on the Swiss cycle tour and the fun, laughs, could have’s and would have’s flowed freely till the body said no more. A great day and a great ending to another successful Ironman Switzerland tour.
AAA Fitness has been fortunate to once again score 10 reserved places for 2009. The race is already sold out as are most of the European Ironman’s now.
So, if your considering a destination race you better start planning now. Switzerland is certainly a great event with an honest course and I believe in a short space of time, our AAA tour can introduce you to the real Switzerland and give you a chance to see more than just the centre of a big city. Spots will go quick, email me now and we can look at locking you in for 2009.
More soon on our incredible Swiss / French Alps cycle tour and our 2 Italy editions…..
Ciao from Italia !
