Xterra World Championships 2009 Maui, Hawaii

Arriving in Maui for the Xterra World Champs we were immediately reminded why we hadn’t come any earlier – the cost, our cheerful cabbie dropped us off, took our cash, assumed the extra $15 dollars was his tip and jumped back in his cab and took off before we could even utter ‘could we get some change from that’.

Luckily our place was looking pretty plush and so it should have been at the price. A couple of hours later we’d almost righted all of the things we’d either assumed wrongly or over looked such as the fact there was no way to get to the race venue without either riding (or in Elina’s case running as she hadn’t brought a bike over) or by car, which we subsequently hired.

Given we’d cut the arrival time pretty fine it was all systems go to put the bike together and get down to the race HQ to register and get out on the practise course (the actual course is closed except for the race).

What a huge stroke of luck it was then that we were able to find the HQ without a map, which we didn’t have, and that the practise course consisted of a 3km ride to the trail section which was then about 7 min long before you were back at the start again. At least I hadn’t missed too much excitement or valuable training time on that one.

Now that the time pressures had been averted it was time to try and figure out where the run went. Unfortunately we were presented with Private property signs at even the slightest hint of an off road excursion and so we ended up running down to a beach we were fairly certain was in the course. We were less certain about the nudist beach we ended up at.

Back for a quick swim and for some reason I thought it would be a good idea to swim out around the buoys that had just been deposited for the swim course. It always seems to be when you are as far as possible from the beach that the realisation that you could be on tonight’s menu hits and the prescribed up tempo efforts turn into one mad dash for the beach. The next day I was duly informed that just a few kilometres down the beach a surfer had received several hundred stitches when an 8 foot shark decided he looked rather tasty

Race Day had dawned by the time I got up – I love late starts!

Waiting for the swim start it was incredible how blatantly most of the pro athletes ignored the efforts of officials to move back from the water’s edge so it was no surprise when they got it somewhat close the gun sounded and we were off. The usual washing machine of arms, legs and bodies.  I always find it intriguing how you can end up having someone trying to swim horizontally to you as they try and climb over your back.

Given this was my first ever open water swim race without a wetsuit I was feeling pretty happy compared to my worst case scenario thoughts. I was however slowed to a complete stand still around the first mark before pushing off several people’s heads and I was off again. The biggest surprise was to come though as I started going forward through the pack instead out straight out the back as has become my accustomed feel, as it turns out maybe I had just been even slower off the mark than usual.

The rest of the swim I was chasing down the next pair of feet and then on to the next one, the short run between only served to show me how many more I had to go. The swim course itself was brilliant with the bottom clearly visible, and we passed over a reef teeming with fish and one especially large sea turtle.

Out of the water and I was hot on the heels of the other NZ elite competitor Scott Thorne, we’d had a great battle at Xterra NZ and it looked like a similar scenario unveiling already.

At the start of the first climb I gradually pulled away from Scott and several others who’d we’d picked up on the way. The trail was pretty good but the loose rock was impossible to get any traction on if you got off line.

I was moving pretty steadily through the field but after about mile 5 I was caught up by Michael Weiss from Austria. I’d seen last year he’d had a slow swim then smoked the MTB on his way to second so I knew he would be heading towards the front of the field. I was able to get into a good rhythm and keep pace reasonably well but as we hit some more undulating terrain he jumped away after cresting one of the climbs.

The one problem I was having was hanging on, on the down hills, literally. I wasn’t wearing any cycle gloves and my grips were really slippery with all the sweat so I had to give them the death grip to keep from slipping off. 

I was now riding with another guy who was canning the down hills and I was able to stay close enough to get some good visuals on the lines and then put a bit of time on him on the up hills. The combination was working pretty well and we were closing in quickly on more riders in front. I could still see Michael Weiss further up ahead too which was encouraging.

Hitting the top of the climb it was actually quite surprising how far up we’d climbed and the downhill was definitely a hang on and hope like hell I didn’t come off affair. My forearms were getting pumped like I was in a kayak race from having to hold on so hard but I wasn’t losing too much time and was still catching guys in front.

The loose rocks were like riding on marbles in places and the consequences of coming off didn’t really bear thinking about.

I’d just caught Mike Vine from Canada on one of the smoother parts of the track and was feeling great when I heard  a sharp crack from underneath me and with a sickening realisation knew I’d just snapped my seat post, it was still there for a another kilometre or so but definitely not in any condition to sit on. Then it finally gave one last wobble and fell off. Mike had caught back up and all I heard was ‘Dude your seat just fell off’ – no shit Sherlock!

I was now about 8km from the end of the ride and was in the utmost danger of receiving a prostate examination from the ragged carbon end of my broken seat post – not a pleasant thought. All sorts of thoughts go through your head when stuff like this happens, it seems at the time almost pointless to continue but experience has proven otherwise and so it was now a matter of trying to limit the losses and get to the run proper.

About half way back to the transition Scott Thorne sped by – a consoling ‘bummer man’ and he was off. I finally reached the smoother trail back towards the road and as soon as it flattened out I was cranking along out of the saddle back towards the run. I passed the first of the runners around a kilometre from the transition and as I counted each competitor going the other way knew I’d have to pick off a few to make it into the top 10 now.

I was definitely not lacking for motivation on the run and with the closest person being Scott it was just added motivation to try and get past him to be first kiwi home. The temperature had been pretty mild on the bike but the sun was now out in full force and heating things up.

I was pulling Scott in but once it got to about 100m progress seemed to stall and I wondered if the extra fatigue from the stand up biking was taking its toll but as we neared the bottom of the downhill I finally was able to get past and right in front was Mike Vine. I set about putting as much time into the guys as I could and as we hit the beach I could see a group of 3-4 athletes only 300 metres or so along the beach but I was fast running out of course to catch them.

At the end of the beach section there was less than 2 kilometres to go and I was finally able to gap Mike properly through the twisty forest section although it was still unclear where the guys in front were.

I popped out on the final beach and could see it was down to a hundred metres now and 3 guys were all really close. I hammered as hard as I could over the sand, rocks and finally the grass heading up to the finish and missed 10th by only 2 seconds.

So 11th in my first Xterra World Champs – a pretty disappointing result to be honest but the only consolation is I now know I can compete against the best guys in this format. My run time was 2nd fastest for the day and without the broken seat post I think I would have been looking at around 5th position.

The competition is so tight now everything has to go well to get the top positions. I learnt a huge amount for the future and was really happy with the new On-One 29er until the seat broke (it wasn’t one of their own seat posts if you’re wondering). I have no doubt with a bit more experience on it I’ll also be able to get a lot more speed on the downhill’s – and in the more technical sections.

The swimming is definitely coming a long, the time might not have indicated it but it was a very different feeling to be swimming forward through the pack and it was maybe more a case of inexperience in mass starts that got me on the wrong feet initially rather than a pure lack of pace.  I’m sure I’m finally on the right track and a few more months of focus I’m confident I’ll be getting much closer to the goal of staying nearer the front of the field and in the process digging myself much less of a hole to climb out of over the rest of the race. (Thanks Ally)

Now it’s a short holiday before an easier month in November leading into the last team race of the year in Abu Dhabi.

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