Powerman Zofingen - Switzerland

Powerman Zofingen – Switzerland

Powerman marked the final race in our 3 month trip to Europe this year. Getting ready to head down to Switzerland the anticipation was nerve racking, not only because of the race but far more by the constant fear of the horrendous excess baggage charges we were possibly going to incur travelling back to NZ afterwards. We each had two bikes, and through Asia where excess baggage charges run upwards of $30 per kilo – ouch.

We managed to make it to Frankfurt for the miserly sum of €80 and immediately encountered an unexpected obstacle. An overzealous rental car lady who, taking one look at our 4 bike boxes swore there was not a car in their fleet which would accommodate these, let alone the small class of car we had booked. It didn’t help that the car type they’d advertised on the net was twice as large as the actual car they were offering but once she’d gone on her break we snuck back and talked the other rep into letting us try and fit them all in. 20 minutes later we were on our way.

Once in Zofingen it became apparent that we were somewhat under prepared for the course. Elina and I had polar opposite problems, on the up hills I simply didn’t have a small enough gear to keep my cadence up, especially on the largest of the climbs and Elina was continually running out of gears on the super fast descents. Add to that our training base in Finland had been about as flat as you can get and here we were looking at over 500m of elevation gain per 50km lap and then some more on the runs.

Race day and the women set off 48 minutes in front of the men in a handicap format. First home overall gets an additional $2000 as well so there was plenty of incentive for the women to stay ahead and the guys to chase them down. We had a perfect day which sounded like a minor miracle in Zofingen, with most of the weather stories containing references to rain, snow, hyperthermia or a mix of all 3.

It was pretty cool being able to watch the start of the women’s race and Elina was near the front on the opening run and when she disappeared on the bike she was still with the lead group of women – I was left wondering if that’d be the last time I saw her until the finish or not.

Our race started with a gentle sprint up the first hill, and that pretty much continued for the next 9km until we got on the bikes. The run courses is a mix of on and off road and when you’re not struggling up a hill you’re inevitably playing catch up with your legs as you plummet towards the next uphill.

Onto the bikes and the pace was quite moderate in the lead group, it stiffened a bit up the first climb and on the second it became apparent that my legs had a different plan to my brain and I was struggling just to stay in contact. My gearing wasn’t helping the issue either and it was obvious that the 25’s and 27 tooth rear clusters many of the others had weren’t there just for show.

Once up on top there was a spectacular view across to some of the Swiss Alps and then we began the back half of the lap which was essentially a 15km downhill until we reached the next uphill – surprise. I was still with the lead group although it had necessitated a small game of catch up once off the main descent and up front they’d let one guy get away which we all chased with diligence, clawing back to within 100m before the final hill of the lap when he disappeared again.

Onto the second lap and I was feeling OK, but I was dreading the major climb as struggling up there with a cadence around 50 doesn’t do much for the fatigue in the legs or the moral as others spin away and my fears were realised soon after starting the climb and I started going backwards through the group like I was towing a concrete mixer.

No longer with the group I was resigned to picking off riders on their first lap or who had succumbed to the pace at the front. I did see some interesting interpretations of the drafting rules though. It seems if you have no qualms about cheating then it is OK to draft cars (that are quite obviously being driven at just the perfect pace for certain individuals). There also appeared to be a team time trial section, witnessed by 6 riders in perfect formation who then jumped on my wheel as I went passed – luckily they couldn’t hang on up the small rise shortly after but not before I’d managed to call them a pack of frickkin cheats, unfortunately that was too much for my limited German vocabulary but I think the tone might have got the message across. I also heard of some coaches or supporters providing a little ‘on cycle’ drafting assistance and it seemed that the rule about only throwing rubbish at the aid stations was only meant for a small portion of the competitors – say 10%.

After struggling up that damn second hill a third time the legs were well and truly poked and the run was looking about as appealing as a glass of cold fish milkshake, and as I stumbled out of transition onto the first hill I am sure I was doing my best impression of a octogenarian in the final stages of a 100 mile running race.

Luckily it seems I wasn’t alone but by the time I had struggled through the first 10km I was getting pretty sick of my pathetic display and when two of the guys I’d passed on the bike when they looked completely blown went passed enough was enough. It’s amazing what a different headspace can do and when I heard I was in 14th that made me even madder and I set off on the final 20 km with the goal of giving myself a bloody good hiding for making such a hash of the first 80% of the race.

The legs were starting to tick over now with a belly full of gel and coke (a cola) and at each turn-a-round I was able to get a fix on the next person to try and pick off. And then there was also the small matter of not being beaten to the finish by my wife. Easier said than done though as I swear every time she saw me she sped up and I didn’t seem to be cutting into her lead nearly as much as it seemed I would need to do to catch up.

My legs where really getting a hammering now, especially on the down hills, it was almost comical watching people on the up hills as peoples legs were just wasted from the hilly bike and now the run was just finishing them off – me included. Heading to the final turn-a-round I’d finally spotted Elina who I guessed had to be close to the top 5 now and at the same time I caught 10th place in the guys field.

A few words of encouragement to each other as I over took Elina and now the end was insight with only 7.5 km to go.

I have to say it was a relief to cross the finish line, as it always seems to be in these longer races, but as I relaxed, I just about did myself some damage as I managed to trip on the timing map and only just kept it upright. Elina finished less than 2 minutes later for a great first ever Duathlon and 5th place in the Powerman World Champs. I ended up clawing my way up to 8th and for both of us it was a massive learning curve, but ultimately an enjoyable one, in a funny painful kind of way.

The race itself is a fantastic event, an incredibly tough course, excellent competition and really well run. We also had a brilliant home stay who made sure we were never hungry and bent over backwards to make us feel at home so a huge thanks to Marianne and Heinz Zimmerli for their hospitality.

We’ll be doing it all over again next week in China after a brief trip back to pick up some headlamps in NZ. We’ll be racing at the Wulong Mountain Quest with our team mates Marcel and Jacob.

For full results in the Powerman go to http://services.datasport.com/2009/tri/zofingen/

For our next race, the Wulong Mountain Quest, there is info about the race and hopefully some daily updates at http://www.wulongquest.com/en/hwyd/

Thanks also to all of our Sponsors who make things like this possible and to everyone who follows our adventures and offers support in many different ways