INITIATION

Mitch's Race:
French Grand Prix, Dunkerque (May 26th)

Since arriving in France, I’ve found the weather to be a real conversation starter! It's been more of a non-verbal thumbs up or thumbs down type conversation, but its nice to communicate nonetheless. With the chilling conditions of the race in Mimizan weighing on my mind all week, I was only mildly excited about racing the first Grand Prix for the season in Dunkerque, a town which promotes both doom and gloom on its resume.

After another cold and wet week in Toulouse, I said “au revoir” (goodbye) to Bernard and Valerie for the time being and began the daylong travel North. Firstly, we flew to Orly Airport in Paris where we met Le Fred and STP team captain “Nicko” who had driven the minibus full of bikes and honey up the previous day. We then raced across town to collect Gabor (everyone’s favourite Hungarian triathlete) at Charles de Gaulle Airport (which is bigger than Texas). It was one thing getting the bikes and the passengers inside the bus, but I was pretty impressed (and relieved) that we found room for the baguettes and brownies too…

The closer we came to famous WWII battle ground the warmer it was! When we arrived late on the Saturday afternoon the sun was shinning and our spirits had lifted. We had time for a quick jog before meeting at the hotel restaurant for our team dinner. Unfortunately I was forced to later make the comment that I ate 30% more than capacity. It was a buffet so I guess I was actually pretty controlled.

There had been talk of a Duathlon if the water temperature was below 12 degrees, but we prepared for the race as normal. The sun was out again on race morning, however the chill factor was significant! The race started at 2:15pm so we had plenty of time to get organized. In my case, too much time… I was rather flustered on race day and found myself packing, and repacking for the race. This scrambled mindset continued through the day as I demonstrated an uncharacteristically poor preparation. I tattooed both my race numbers on my left arm (don’t ask), I was forced to remove my tri bars in transition because they didn’t meet the regulations and I was always five minutes behind where I wanted to be during the warm up. Even when the drums started playing and we gathered at the start line, I had given no thought to how I wanted to execute arguably my biggest race to date (it was on French TV live).

With 16 teams and 90+ athletes, the pontoon was at full capacity. We were all aiming for one little yellow buoy 200m from the start and I was pretty sure I wouldn’t be first there. Fortunately for STP, “The Weapon” aka Sebastian Borderas was, and he created a nice little passage to the turn for the rest of the team. It’s a unique experience to have so many people swimming on top of each other, and I’m sure my Ironman readers can relate to the congestion. Just when I though things were going great, Murphy’s Law kicked me in the face and my goggles dislodged. After swimming blind for 50m or so I decided to take the seconds to fix them. Given that I wasn’t at the back, I was tackled by half of Europe and dunked underneath… This was no surprise and I emerged with goggles in tact and continued to ride the wave to the swim exit. When I made the decision to stop and fix my goggles a second time after another kick, I was forced to work hard to maintain touch with the main group. I made a charge through T1 and got onto my bike at the tail of the pack. I pushed hard into the first turn and had bridged up on the second straight when I strapped into my shoes. At the same time, the wheel in front did the same and we'd slipped off the back once again. I hesitated and hoped he would take me back but by the time I took it up myself the gap had opened up and the job was more difficult. I was all in effort and managed to claw back through the technical section. I dived into the turn with the pack and was finally switched on and ready to race! Unfortunately this was very short lived and as we accelerated out of the same turn I was again left behind and this time for good... I rode solo for about half a lap and started to pick up remnants of the main field to form the second chase pack. Despite my errors and the time we lost each lap, I was starting to enjoy the race more and more as it went on and relished the opportunity to be racing against such a strong field. I had no expectations on the run after a modest preparation but was pleased to get through it as I did. No land-speed records or PBs, but a solid 5km to take into the next round.

I finished the day well back in 60^th position, which is about where I deserved to be. On a brighter note, we had some good results from within the STP team and we are safely ahead of the relegation zone for now, with plenty of room for improvement… We promptly packed our bikes away and once again loaded the Minibus for the trip back to Paris. I left the STP fellas at Charles de Gaulle where I met Declan Wilson (from my other team) for a train or two across the city to Greg Rouault’s place in Poissy where we spent the night!

Greg and his fiancé Steph were kind enough to take us on a tour of Paris, which was nothing short of spectacular. Every building seemed to have some historical significance and we enjoyed the obvious tourist attractions including the Champs-Elysees and the Eiffel Tower! For me, the most spine tingling of sights was to see the tunnel where Princess Di was killed! It was definitely a day I will remember for a long time...

The next day Declan and I rekindled our passion for the rail and set off for Morzine in the Alps, which will play home for the next three months. We managed to avoid any unwarranted destinations throughout the day and became more impressed with the scenery as the day went on. Upon driving up the mountains to our new home we were surrounded by 360-degree views of snow capped mountains and postcard views across the Valleys. We have a nice place to call home and we are within walking distance of everything we need. Training is getting back to normal and we have found some pretty cool places to ride and run. For now, we have snow on both sides of the road but the sun is on its way and I’m looking forward to being here when it arrives…

Mitch’s Next Race:

French Grand Prix Race 2, Les Sables D’Olonne (June 8^th)

Mitch’s Pictures: 

Mitch in the ice...

   

Mitch waiting his turn...

The New Balance Run Leg!

The Tour Guides!

The Tourists!

The Tower!

The view from our balcony...

Col du Ramez!