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Becoming a Norseman – The Race Report – Bike

In Ironman, Norseman triathlon, Races, Simon Ward of TTC (August 14, 2009 10:42 am)

It was remarkably still as I left T1, with no sign of the wind that had been so apparent in the fjord. Maybe the forecast was wrong. After 5km the first climb started and went on, and on and on. You climb from sea level to the top of the Hardanger plateau which is approximately 1200m. But you don’t stop there. The real top is Dyranut. It would take me about 2hrs of hard slog to reach the first mental check point. Before that I had top contend with 30k of uphill with the first 20k at approximately 7-9% grade. A long chat with my friend and Norseman finisher Craig Maude persuaded me to make a late change to a 27-12 cassette to go with my compact chain-set. Thanks Craig, you are a lifesaver! I’m sure I could have struggled up on the 25 I had before but having the option of a 27 now seems like a “no-brainer”.

One problem with having a great swim and being an average cyclist is that average swimmers who bike well are always going to catch you at some stage. I didn’t expect it so soon but after about 10k they started to pass me. I did have to do a double take and check my position against the rocks to see if I was rolling backwards. No I wasn’t, so I guess they were just a lot stronger than me. Now in this situation you can do 1 of 3 things – 1) stick to your plan and ignore them, 2) start thinking your rubbish and go home, 3) give thanks for being a good swimmer and start a campaign for the IM swim to be 10k long. #3 isn’t going to happen anytime soon, or ever, so initially I went for option 2. Well the first part anyway. I couldn’t really go home. After a few minutes of thinking I was rubbish and making a check list of things to do better next time, I came to my senses and remembered the “Black T shirt strategy”. Finish the bike in around 8 hours! It was a little childish to throw the toys out of the cot this early on so I just got comfortable with 34 x 27 and got spinning (no, make that grinding).

Finally I got to Dyranut and met up with my support crew Andy & Fiona who handed me a gilet and leg warmers and top ups of food & fluid. The I set off for the first descent to Geilo… except that it wasn’t much of a descent. Remember the wind that I thought had disappeared. Well it hadn’t. It was just hiding up high on the plateau. I stayed nice & relaxed, enjoyed the view and tried not to get lulled into “Tommy tourist” mode. Eventually I reached Geilo by which time the temperature had started to rise so it was off with the arm & leg warmers, gilet and on with more fluid.

Next we were faced with 3 hills all of about 20minutes climbing at 7% and each with an equivalent descent. There weren’t so many passing me now and I did start to feel a little better. I’d been “chicked” several times now so I didn’t worry when a GB girl called Claire passed me but I did get excited when I caught and passed her back. “Yes I’m moving back up the field”.. then she passed me again on the next descent. “Stick to your own game Si” I kept reminding myself and so i went back to spinning. I kept seeing signs for elk and then I passed the sign we had noticed on the drive to Eidfjord – Kort & Kont – a gas station of some sort. I had a few chuckles as I twisted the name around (I’m sure you can guess!). Finally a long descent and not into the wind. The drop down to the start of the final climb is fantastic and I got my head down and just turned the pedals over ready for the final push.

Imingfjell is a 7k climb at an average of 10%. I picked up more food & fluid and set off for the top. Some kind soul had marked the km’s and I kept up a good rhythm passing a few more riders until we reached the summit. There was quite a bit of headwind and as I wen round one of the corners I noticed someone sat on my wheel. At the Norseman you are allowed to ride up the hill together but NOT drafting. I was a bit pissed off that he was sitting on my wheel (He was called Popi – I remember that bit – either that or he’s lost some letters from his kit!) but I was too knackered to do anything about it “Kort & Kont!” ”That was quick. So now we must have that 30k descent” then I saw the 140k marker. I didn’t want to believe that they had marked the route correctly but then a kindly Norwegian said we still had the Telemark Plateau to get over – “Kort & Kont!!!!”.

You’ll recognise this plateau if you’ve seen the film “The Heroes of Telemark”. There’s a scene where the British agents ski across the bleak snow covered terrain to meet with the Norwegian resistance at a safe house. Let me tell you that even in the summer, into a 30kmh gale it’s just as bleak. This was the missing 10km and it certainly kicked me for forgetting me about it. At this point I got totally demoralised. I wasn’t making and headway (at least that’s how it seemed). I was in the 34 x 27 again on a 1% incline. To the mind games – make it to the next crest then you can have a rest (I didn’t), make it to the next crest and the downhill must start and so on through a never ending series of false hopes. 100 pedal stroke on the drops, then 100 on the tri-bars, 100 on the hoods, take a drink and repeat.

Eventually I caught up with Andy who was waiting at the side of the road. I was quite cold so along with the fluids and gels I took my gilet. “Andy – I think this is the top, Simon. The descent starts just after that crest; 20k downhill all the way to T2″ “Me – Ha,ha – yeah. Nice one (Kort & Kont)”. I set off with my hopes high and…… “blimey, he was right!” “Here we go, but don’t forget the warning about the new tarmac on the hairpin” Here it is, so nice and slow and whoosh on my inside a blur of white. Popi had obviously forgotten the pre-race warning about the greasy tarmac. It didn’t seem to matter affect him as he sped off down the hill. Right then! Andy Schleck descending position; sit on the cross bar, extreme tuck and go, go, go! Another white blur and Popi was history – What goes up must come down! ”ha that’ll teach you to be skinny!” Anyway they weren’t kidding. It was a great descent, but as with all things enjoyable it came to an end far too soon. I rolled into T2 just before 2pm – 8hrs45minutes into the race and 15 minutes inside my target. Now I felt better about my pacing! Only 1 thing left..42km of running

Comments (2)

2 Comments »

1
Great report mate… if I hadn’t seen the pics I’d be on the edge of my seat!

Looking forward to the run!

Tom

Comment by Tom Williams — August 14, 2009 @ 3:18 pm
2
Great read Simon, Keep it coming. I could almost be tempted…….Come on bring us the run!!

Ove

Comment by Ove Indergaard — August 14, 2009 @ 5:50 pm