Kona 2011

I have heaps of photos from Germany last week which I've been meaning to put up here but with a hectic week moving house, and Ironman on last night I thought I'd unleash a few thoughts on the state of long distance triathlon in Australia.

But first, here's a preview of my Germany post:

Yep.  It was like that.

So... the Hawaiian Ironman is the world championships and has fascinated me since I was 16.  On the surface it seems a stupid endeavour (and it probably is) but I love the idea that there are 1600 people racing and there are 1600 different reasons for being there.

Australia has owned the men's race for the last 4 years (Crowie in 2008 and 2009, Macca in 2007 and 2010) and last year Miranda Carfrae also won the women's.  This year at the half IM worlds Australia won the men's and women's races (Crowie and Melissa Rollinson) so Australia held the world championship for all long distances in both genders.  A huge feat for any country and something to be flaunting for promotion of the sport, yet Triathlon Australia made no mention of this dominance on their website, in press releases or used the world champions in any kind of self promotion whatsoever.  A huge opportunity wasted.  Luckily they still have a chance because Australia finished 1st and 2nd in the men's (Crowie and Pete Jacobs) and 2nd in the women's (Carfrae) so yet another year to be proud of Australian long distance triathlon.

With the expectation that no Australian media will mention this, I will offer a few thoughts on last night's race.

Luke McKenzie, an Australian pro who has chosen his races selectively for whatever reason often gets good results in poor fields.  He has been criticised for not racing the best in the world, most famously by Macca who is a great proponent for racing in Europe against the strongest athletes.  Whether it be purely down to my physical location I'm not sure but I also agree that Europe has the most competitive Ironman racing in the world.  Luke won Ironman Brazil but it was against a 2nd rate field (who, incidentally, would tear me apart- but here I'm simply a commentator!).  Many were wondering if Luke could step up at a big name race.  Step up he did, came off the bike in 2nd and finished the race in 9th.  A huge effort that should put most people's criticism aside.

Pete Jacobs, another Aussie who finished about 10th (I think) last year.  He has been chugging away in Sydney all winter and through his twitter he seemed fairly confident during the last few weeks.  I'm fairly sure that he even surprised himself with a 2nd place!

Chrissie Wellington has done 13 ironman races.  Guess how many she's lost.  None.  Not one.  Not even a 2nd place.  13 starts and 13 wins.  I like working with trends but I understand when a trend is unsustainable.  13/13 including 4 world championship wins, I didn't expect her to win again.  Someday her run will come to an end and I hope the media don't make a big deal of it.  There are many girls so close to beating down the door and beating Chrissy but it didn't happen yesterday.  Cracking effort for Chrissie to win again.  The undisputed queen of ironman triathlon.

Once information about the age groupers comes out I'm sure there will be some spectacular performances to comment on there too.

Ironman is one of the few sports in the world where you can race against the pros on the same course, same day and same conditions.  It also keeps the pros sort of mortal in the eyes of the fans (age groupers).  But the humanity of the pros in acknowledging that everybody performed super-human feats on the day makes the event so much more incredible.  Seeing Chrissie, Mirinda and Crowie come back to the finish line after their win to congratulate athletes crossing the line all the way up to midnight puts a nice touch on the event.  It shows a mutual respect and always lights up the face of those who realise the world champion is placing a lei around their neck.

I'll leave you with my favourite photo of the day; Macca, last year's winner, not racing this year but cheering on previous arch enemy and eventual winner Crowie.  Rivalries are all talk.

Athletic Priviledgr

Hang tight, I've got a lot to say.

People don't know how good they've got it...


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Encore en frois, s'il vous plait?

When the question was asked of me whether I'd rather go to France or Croatia for my last real trip to Europe before going home I did have to think for a few seconds. I've had several amazing trips to both. But even though it was a tough question the answer could never have been anything but France. It was my birthday on the Monday so Carla pretty much organised the whole trip. I knew our Eurostar times on Friday morning and Monday evening, where we were staying, and that we had spare time on Friday afternoon and Saturday night, but what I didn't know was that I'd be treated like a king all weekend.

On Saturday we saw Chateaux Versailles, Louis XIV's old crib.

Obviously a few generations worth of Louis lived there but I found it interesting that there was very little furniture in the palace because it was all auctioned off/ looted (there are conflicting stories) at the beginning of the French Revolution. Take note kids- if you're gonna loot JD Sports or Phones for You, think about how much cooler it would be to get a royal throne rather than a pair of Air Max...




Dad, I believe this is the building you like...  Sorry, we just had to jump in and spoil what would have been a very nice picture!

Sunday was set aside as a whole day activity, yet I had no idea what it would be.  When Carla gave me a birthday card with two tickets to Disneyland I was embarrassingly excited.  I went to Disney World when I was 12 and the aura hasn't subsided.  I still think it's magic.

Anyone who says Disneyland isn't fantastic is lying to themselves.  I think it might be the best idea for a present Carla has ever given because she was equally excited as we planned the order we would attack each ride.  Just for the record- Space Mountain: Best. Ride. Ever.

Monday was a relaxing day as we chose to ignore our pending return to London.  Not before another surprise from Carla, however, on the birthday weekend that never ended!  We had an incredible lunch at Restaurant du Palais Royal.  The most amazing food in such a beautiful setting.

Thanks for all the birthday messages, and thanks Carla for a phenomenal weekend!

One day I'll get the balls to live in France...

Ironman melbourne

This event was years in the making and surprising that it took so long. But what they've produced will be brilliant. The course, the logistics, and the beautiful (but ridiculous) sport that is Ironman will combine with the best city in the world for an incredible day in March next year.

Most Ironman races around the world are still open for entry in the months leading up to them but the two previous races in Australia sell out in 20 minutes every year. When they announced that a 3rd race in Aus will be held I knew this would sell out fast. Registrations opened at 4am this morning, London time, and I was ready. I made sure my active.com account was ready, I knew my password, I had all the web addresses saved and I had money in my account. But I slept though my alarm. Dickhead. Reports are coming through that this sold out in 6 minutes and I also heard 3 minutes. So I don't expect to have got in anyway but it would have been nice to have tried. Congratulations to everybody entered- simply registering would have been harder than qualifying for Kona.

There's definitely scope for more Ironman races in Australia but that's a rant for another post and I will go on for ages. I'm annoyed I missed out but this lifted my spirits:

Curiosity-Duh-De-Duh-Duh-Duh

The Curiosity Show is up for sale, complete with colourful jumpers and creepy facial hair. The production company of the children's science show from the 1970's and 80's has gone into liquidation and is to sell off all assets. The downside, though is that the two presenters are not selling their half, and you need to bring your own scissors, toilet roll and kettle.



What is exciting, however, is that the production company also own Humphrey B. Bear. The mute bear who made the effort to wear a waist coat, hat and tie but neglected to wear pants is up for sale along with the merchandising and all intellectual property (pardon the pun) relating to the show.

Despite Humphrey's nose being dirtier than the Blarney Stone, I think I, too, may have kissed it in my youth so I'd like to see Humphrey wildly gesturing in a park on a sunny day (providing it's a sanctioned event- he's borderline shady) or see him back on TV.

Now taking bets as to what he's worth...

Prostate Cancer Charity Tour Ride Wales

Ouch. That hurt. Another 200km+ day but more hurt than I've ever experienced on a bike...

It started with Carla talking with pride about the Tour Rides she organises and how much more value for money they are than triathlons (not hard to agree there...). So I decided to do one for the fun of it (and brownie points). But then it escalated; I get free accommodation, paid for by the charity so it would be nice to raise some money for them. I wondered who would give me money for something I do most weekends anyway, so I upped the game for my donors and for me. A guy who also works at the charity wanted to race me (and who am I to turn it down?) so I agreed that I would double my donations if I lost this 'race'. We had never ridden with each other so this was a big risk on both our parts.



The power was on from the outset and at 99kms I bonked. Completely ran out of fuel and couldn't hold the pace any longer. From there on it was a lonely 88kms through the finest, windiest, most energy sapping hills Wales had to offer. While I struggled between 100 and 150kms I kept pushing as hard as I could (mostly so I could get some food as soon as possible) and then started to feel good, in a strange ability-to-suffer kind of way. I powered through from 150 to 180kms and recorded my fastest 180kms ever in 6 hours 35 minutes.

Unfortunately for all involved, it wasn't over there. I could see Caerphilly Castle (the finish line) having done 181kms and was then forced to turn left. Given the density of Chavs in this town I thought someone had changed the signs but then I saw someone ahead so I tried to pick them off. It wasn't until I got 200m up that I realised this was the killer hill you can see in the profile.



"It's just a blip compared to the others" you say. Nuh ahhhh. I have never ridden anything as steep as this monster. Even the 70km/hr I hit on the downhill on the other side didn't make this climb 'okay'. ...and I love climbing.



Crossing the line I struggled to make any expression. I think that's a look of disdain at what I'd put my body through (much like the look of disdain when I saw that it would cost me £9 to buy this photo). I lay down while Carla asked me questions I couldn't physically answer! Now that I've recovered I'm glad I'm still saying it was the toughest ride I've ever done- mostly due to the rapid pace from the outset. The Pro's race this course on 14th September and I can't wait to see it.

I lost so will be paying up £150 to the Prostate Cancer Charity. If you would like to donate to a great cause, please do so below:
http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/NathanFenton

Bristol to Exmouth Night Ride

After bailing on Todd before the last night ride I was quite excited for the Bristol to Exmouth night ride. We had all trains booked, nothing left to fate (but the ambiguous ride directions) and even allowed ourselves a few hours in Bristol to check the place out.

The great weather for a Saturday afternoon pushed the whole city outside so it was tough to find a pub with outdoor seating for dinner but after doing a few laps of the nicer areas of Bristol we found a pub that happened to serve a great burger. Being a relaxed ride, it'd be rude not to have a drink too.



After dinner we headed down to the pub where the ride started to take a look at all the flouro-yellow jacket wearing old men who have been riding fold up bikes and recumbents since before we were born. I think some of the t-shirts we saw were also from before we were born. Social bike rides really do attract a weird crowd. 20 minutes after making ourselves comfortable in the beer garden we noticed a man climb out of a hammock he had set up in the trees, fold it up into the 60kg worth of luggage he had attached to his bike and get ready for the ride. A few hours earlier we met 2 girls who had just ridden to Paris and they had less luggage than this guy. If he wasn't riding around the world then I'm not interested. Finally, it was time to get started.



We waited for the biggest group to depart and hung on to the back of them. Surely they're locals and have experience in deciphering these hieroglyphic directions. First roundabout: 25 dudes asking which way we turn. At least it was all light hearted and pretty funny. Todd and I got into a nice rhythm with a big pack until we got out of Bristol and then jumped between packs depending on how we felt. This continued nicely for a few hours and while sitting in, possibly the largest pack of the night, Todd's drink bottle cage fell off his bike with a clang! We stopped to pick it up and lost the pack but this was the fun part- in the middle of nowhere with some strange directions we made our own way.



I think the highlight of the night was the first stop at around 102kms in Cheddar Gorge. We knew there would be a nice downhill leading into this but didn't realise there would be sweeping bends on smooth roads. We flew down there as fast as we could but were limited by a few over-cautious riders. For the rest of the night there were ebbs and flows of energy, excitement and disdain over the terrain, and a mix of interesting and strange people to chat to. My mega powerful light from Exposure was incredible and on a mixture of settings it ran all night.





After one last food stop at sunrise, the roll into Exmouth was nice but very quiet and with such a crap finishing point it was almost an anti-climax. I think Todd and I were quite happy with ourselves but too tired to consider it!



The train home was like a kindergarten in the Wonka Factory but a bottle of water and a beer preceded us both passing out. Back in London we were a little more jovial and had a few celebratory drinks at a quiet pub in the sunshine before canning it all and crashing out early.

I'd definitely recommend the ride to anyone, despite a 200km night. Take plenty of food, take some friends, take your time and you'll love it.