Race Report Kansas 70.3

Generally the first chore to do when racing is the travel.
I hate travelling, especially flying, and it is not just because I am one of those individuals who likes to be in control of every moving object I happen to be strapped to. It is the fact that there are so many hassles involved in the process.

Generally a journey to a race involves the drive to the airport and finding a car park in the long term parking lot. Then the luggage, including bicycles, has to be lugged all the way to the terminal and then on to the check in counter.

Recently there have been changes to the airline luggage policy in most of the airlines operating in the US. Originally, there was a single oversize baggage charge for the carriage a bicycle and it varied between $50 and $85 (one way) depending on the airline.

The recent changes have meant that the carriage of a bicycle, one way, can be as much as $225. The break down for United Airlines is as follows – if the bike is your second piece of luggage this attracts a $25 fee, as it is oversize, that attracts a $100 fee and if it is overweight also (greater than 50 pounds) that is another $100.

I believe Frontier Airlines, which is based in Denver, still charges $50 for a bike one way (not 100% sure about that, but it would be easy enough to find out). If you plan to travel in the US in the near future and have a bike, then maybe Frontier is the airline to consider first.

I must add that Frontier recently applied for Bankruptcy protection, but at this stage, is still operational.
We are aware of the charges involved, but still feel discriminated against when we have to hand over the $125 (we make sure the bike box is under 50 pounds). In our eyes, it is hard for the charge to be justified.
Is it because they treat the box with more care?

No - at check in, a damage release waiver is autographed and I have witnessed, from my aircraft seat, the treatment afforded to various bike boxes over the years. It has not come under the “handle with care” description I can assure you.

Is it because of the extra handling required and better service as a result?
Debatable - we had to wait two hours for our bikes to be delivered to the oversize baggage collection area at the end of this journey between Kansas City and Denver. The flight had already been delayed a number of hours, we had both been up since 3.30am that day, had raced a half and we finally got our bikes at 1am. It turned out the bikes had been left in the aircraft in the haste to move it from the arrival gate to its docking position for the night.

Suffice to say, we were not happy.

Is it because of the extra weight? No - not if it is less than 50 pounds.

The new charges are a result of the increase in the price of jet fuel, and there are articles devoted to the explanation of how reducing the weight of even the paper that is used for the in flight magazines can save thousands of dollars in fuel charges over a year.

After perusing the majority of passengers at the airport, we thought that a FCFT would be a more fair and appropriate way to account for the shortcomings in airline revenue due to the soaring cost of fuel. The mass of luggage and passenger should be taken into account when assessing overweight charges. We often point this out at check in to the chagrin of the customer service officer. Probably not doing ourselves any favours there.

The only problem with this scheme is the dilemma in dealing with the 6 foot 5 inch lean and fit individual that is already, through no fault of their own, discriminated against by the size of the seating. You’re right; it just isn’t going to work.

It doesn’t end there.

After arriving at the race destination, Kansas City in this case, there is the chore of picking up the rental car. It is even more of a chore if the rental facility is a distance from the terminal itself. This means the dragging of luggage to the Shuttle bus and then on to the rental car counter and finally to the rental car at the far end of the lot. By the time the final destination is reached (Jason and Kassi Robinson’s lovely home in the town of Lawrence) it feels as if the race has already been completed.

We took the time to try and locate what we thought was the swim start and transition area on the day we arrived with the view of having a training swim. It was not the correct area at all as we were on the exact opposite side of Lake Clinton that we were supposed to be. While we were driving around aimlessly looking for the phantom race site, we noticed that there was a large amount of debris in the area. On closer inspection, we noticed a lot of the material strewn about the place was camping equipment – tents, fold up chairs etc. It was clear that there was a big clean up in process.

Just as we were giving up the idea of finding the transition and about to drive back to our home stay residence, Jason called to inform us that a severe thunderstorm was on it’s way and we had better come back asap.

Over dinner, which Jason had so meticulously prepared for us, we were informed that it was not unusual for there to be thunderstorms at this time of the year. What was unusual was the severity of the storms. The debris we witnessed driving around the lake was the result of a storm that decimated a music festival in the area and there had also been recent fatal tornados not long from where we were staying.

The storm that evening didn’t seem to be that severe, but we later learnt that a tornado touched down about 5 miles from our base. We were relatively safe because Jason and Kassi had a concrete tornado shelter built into their basement. We understood why Jason and Kassi’s best friends visited that evening - they didn’t have a tornado shelter and were slightly concerned about their safety. It was pretty spooky I have to say.

Despite having a horrible preparation, I was looking forward to the race.

Rob Pickard said to me once that the name of the game was to “train to race” and not the other way around. In this case, it was definitely the former scenario – the asthma like symptoms I was experiencing (probably caused by an allergen here in Boulder) prevented any structured, specific training, and I was going into the race underdone.
I was hoping that the fitness gleaned from the Kansas race would stand me in reasonable stead for the Ironman the following weekend.

The course was one of the better ones I have experienced.

We swam a loop of the swim course (Raija was racing as well) on the Friday, completed the whole of the bike course over two days (Friday and Saturday) and ran a third of the run course on Saturday.
Although the water was a bit murky, there was plenty of space, the water temperature was good and the course was well marked.

The cycle course, known as the “Iron Cross” to the locals, was - funnily enough - in the shape of a cross.
From transition, the course headed southwest to an intersection that served as the centre of the cross. There were three out and backs to be completed that represented each arm of the cross before a final right hand turn at the central intersection back to the transition area.

The course was undulating and challenging and presented the opportunity for the stronger cyclists to gain an advantage, which was refreshing after experiencing the Florida course.

The run was the “jewel in the crown” of this course. It toured the many camping grounds in the vicinity of the lake and consisted of a mix of gravel and bitumen and was twisting, turning and undulating. It represented a significant challenge it it’s own right.

The strongest athlete was definitely going to be the victor on this course.

I was hoping I could pull off a similar swim to the one I managed in Florida and stay with the lead pack for the duration. I was aware, however, that this was going to be a tough ask due to the lack of training completed in the preceding month.

I knew I was in trouble not long after the start, it didn’t feel as “easy” as it did in Florida and I was struggling to hang onto the pack from the start. I would have been unhitched earlier if not for the fact that I was dragged back to the pack by an athlete that must have been held up at the start.

Despite this bit of good fortune, I was spat out the back prior to reaching the first turning bouy at about 800m into the swim. I then flew solo for the balance of the swim, losing time with every feeble stroke I took.

Simon Lessing and Paul Mathews led the field out in 27.05, followed by Terenzo Bozzone, Craig Alexander, TJ Tollakson and Paul Ambrose in 27.25. Richie Cunningham exited on his lonesome in 28.14 while a group that included Leon Griffin and Daniel Bretscher hit solid ground in the vicinity of 28.45.

I was out in a pedestrian 29.53, not good enough in this company and put me in a disadvantageous position right from the start. Unfortunately, my fitness was not likely to change much within a week, especially as I was going to be in recovery mode in the lead up to IM CDA the following weekend.

Under the circumstances, I felt I was cycling ok for much of the 90km, but I was still losing time to everyone except Richie, whom I passed at about the 50km mark, and one other. Kirk Nelson passed me with less than 5km to cycle.

I wasn’t quite sure where I was lying in the field as I started the run, but I knew I wasn’t feeling all that strong. I didn’t have the same pep that I had the 4 weeks before in Florida that is for certain. I knew that the prize money only went 6 deep, so that was my immediate goal 10 minutes into the run, after I had developed some rhythm.
The most striking thing I remember about the run was the margin that Terrenzo enjoyed over me. The run course had the odd out and back section that gave the opportunity to view just where the opposition was.

I have to say that I wasn’t all that confident of finishing in the top six after realising that I started the run in 9th place and Richie was just behind me off the bike and traditionally a strong and determined runner.
I caught and passed TJ Tollakson relatively early into the run and had a windfall when Simon withdrew after the first lap of two. I didn’t know it at the time, but that put me into 7th position. I was holding off Richie for most of the first lap and then started to put time into him on the second lap, so the threat from behind was negated.
My next surprise was seeing Paul Ambrose, who got off the bike in first place, not far in front of me at the first out and back section of the second lap. At this stage there was still about 8km to run, and, judging from his posture, I knew he wasn’t going like a winner.

I eased by Paul not long after the out and back section and, although I never knew exactly where I was lying, I thought there was a chance at that stage that I was lying in the top six.

I ran by Simon who was lolling about on the sidelines at about the 18km mark of the run and he informed me that I was in 6th position. I was quite sure I was in no position to catch anyone else, so it was a matter of holding off any threat from behind to retain my place and at least win some money to offset a portion of the capital invested to race.

After crossing in 6th, it was then my duty to cheer on Raija as she completed her race. I saw her pass by on the first lap of her run and she was pleased to hear that I scraped into 6th. I would have lied to her in any case if my race didn’t go so well to keep her spirits high for the last lap of her run.

Raija ended up finishing third in her age group and was fortunate enough to cross the line prior to the fast approaching thunderstorm that caused the cancellation of the race for the later finishers. It was chaos there for a while.

Raija’s third placing was achieved despite losing 5 minutes to a mechanical at the start of the cycle leg. Her tyre was jammed up against the frame when she took her bike off the rack to start her cycle. In a panic she took it to the onsite mechanics and they sorted out the problem for her.

I can’t understand how this could have happened as when we wheeled the bike to the transition area the evening before, there was no such issue.

We failed to determine that there was a problem when we pumped up tyres in the morning and should have been more thorough in our pre-race bike inspection.

Let this be a lesson to you all.

Our flight was set for 7pm the Sunday evening, so it was straight back to the ranch after the race to pack everything up and get ready for the 60 minute drive back to the airport in Kansas City. When we arrived at the airport, as stated in the first paragraphs of this report, we learnt that our flight had been delayed a few hours. I had computer work to do, so I was not too unhappy.

Leading up to boarding time, it was obvious that a large storm was moving into the area. I was particularly nervous when it was announced that we were going to board the aircraft anyway. The storm looked very ominous.
We waited on the tarmac for 20 minutes before takeoff. I was relieved to see some blue sky as we were ascending and I assume that under no circumstances would an aircraft take off if there was any doubt about safety. I did see footage of the aircraft trying to land in the crosswind in Hamburg though, and this incident makes you wonder about the validity of the previous statement.

We arrived in Denver at 11pm and finally got our bikes at 1am – we were not happy – but too tired at the time to kick up too much of a fuss (we have followed up on that incident now though I can assure you – it was unacceptable).

We still had the 60 minute drive to Boulder from the airport to complete and the onerous task of unloading the luggage when we did arrive. It was nice to go to bed after such a hectic day.

Results at www.ironmankansas.com

Take care all.