ETU Europeans – A weekend in Spain and the race now known as Alco’ Horrendous!

Where do I start....
I set off on Friday morning with my number one supporter, Mum, to Madrid. The first thing to happen was a full bag search with security as I had forgotten to take my knife (used for peanut butter on rice cakes!) out of my gym bag. That took some explaining but they let me through. After an hour's delay on the flight, we landed in Madrid and arrived at a very strange industrial town called Alcobendas. Not where you would expect to find an international event!

On arrival I grabbed my bike, quickly got changed and joined the bike recce. This was quite an experience, there were about 150 GBers cycling. This was the same time as the Elite recce so we had a police escort to follow! The bike and run course had 96 roundabouts and no flat. With hill climbing being my strength, I quite liked the course  but was concerned with the technicalities of the roundabouts and lines. I completed two laps and then joined a few other Brits for the cycle bike back to the hotel.



 Friday night also consisted of an Opening Ceremony. With the British squad dominating, there was a mayors speech, flamenco dancing and a bit of random Zumba to finish….!

Upon registering I received a large suitcase as a gift; quite strange but very generous though slightly unsure how to take this home on the flight (it went home with the bike in the end!).

Saturday:

The whole standard distance Team GB!

Today I took it easy in preparation, with a taper session of a 30 minute bike and 20 minute run with a few bursts at race pace. I set off at 7am and took some of the other ladies onto the bike course as they missed the recce the night before.  I have no idea how but after a few wrong turns we managed to find the course in this confusing town.This was then followed by a very large breakfast and the race briefing from the team managers. Going through rules, penalties and the course – it all seemed very technical which was making me quite nervous!



20-29 year old Womens team!










The afternoon was followed by a quick bike check (loose handlebars not good) and supporting the Paralympic race and the elite athletes.








RACE DAY –

5:30AM Wake up call, due to the strange organisation of the event you have to rack your bikes between 6:30-8:30am even though my race wasn’t until 12:30pm. I planned to meet Yaz (a fellow participant and incredible doctor and athlete who 12 months ago could hardly walk, let alone run due to a severe slipped disc). We met at 5:50am to get the coach and take our bikes to racking. It was cold, dark and raining heavily, not the conditions I hoped for. After waiting 20 minutes, as the racking opened late, we racked our bikes. My shoes and helmet sat getting wet in the rain for the next 6 hours, we then jumped in the coach back to the hotel for breakfast and a little kip before heading back at 10:30am. Also we had no timing chips yet as the timing chip driver had crashed on route - not the best start...!


The rain was very heavy on arrival at the site. Everybody was huddled into a sports hall to try to stay dry. 45 minutes before the start we were called back into transition. I checked my bike again and my shoes were sodden! I had a warm up here trying to keep warm in a very thin tri suit for this long time wishing I had an underliner. I knew a few of the girls from other races and knew the standard would be extremely high. My aim was to just complete the course in a good time.


The Run - we set off everyone sprinting up the hill. It was a undulating run of 4 x 2.5km laps. The crowds on the run were great and it was amazing to hear everyone shout your name and country. Starting near the back of the field, I seemed to be overtaking people each lap and I felt good and very strong. Coming into the transition 2nd in around 38 minutes felt amazing!

Transition was a bit of a disaster! As soon as I mounted my bike and before I could get my feet into my cycling shoes, an Irish competitor crashed in front of me at the first roundabout! The weather was bad now; very windy and torrential rain. Visibility was horrendous and it started hailing at some points. Barriers were blown into the road and I even saw someone fall off riding in a straight line! His bike got blown in the wind and he slipped on the white line. On the First lap of 10k I saw 4 falls! I was shivering and slow, just concentrating on not falling off but told myself to man up!
Starting the second lap, I didn’t feel right. My jaw kept locking and I couldn’t control my breathing. My only thoughts were get round, grab a jacket from Mum and start the 3rd lap. I don't remember much of the second lap. I was slower, the weather was worse, it was freezing, the road was awash with water, and I saw more falls. My muscles started locking completely and I couldn’t control my bike or breathing anymore, weaving and slowing down. As I got round to the start of the third lap, I didn’t know what was happening at all.  A marshal pulled me to the side. A  man grabbed me off the bike and the next thing I remember was being thrown in a hot shower with all my clothes on! Spanish people were asking where my dry clothes were and a lovely English guy from team GB, who competed in the morning, was giving me a hot chocolate.  Somehow Mum was found and later she said I  was pretty out of it, shivering and blue when she saw me! (She had been sheltering in the cafe after seeing me do the first lap as she was so cold but really couldn't bear to watch the bikes skidding around!).

This picture sums up the weather well at the end of the mens run.

Once warm, it hit me that I hadn’t finished and I just felt cold and devastated. Why had my body let me down ☹. I had trained so hard for this. Looking back, you can’t prepare for the weather. All, I can do is move onwards,use the experience and prepare for Worlds. Many more experienced athletes also had to stop and told me I would never experience conditions like that again! Half my race finished. During the standard distance alone, there was one broken hip (Irish guy), a few broken collar bones and 30 cases of hypothermia. This included 17 men so I wasn’t the only one!
The next race was cancelled….!!


Post Race;
Since the race, I seem to have just been eating a lot! Monday I felt very tired and still keep waking up in the night shivering or sweating but I will get over it.  I just can’t wait to race again and take out my frustration! Now to concentrate on Worlds and compete in some races  this summer….


I would just like to thank Wayne, Claudio and Ron from Team GB for coming to my rescue! Also, congratulations to the athletes who survived the course and those who won medals, I absolutely loved being in team GB and have made some great friends. I can't wait until the next big event with the team in Australia in October.