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 Hell of the West Triathlon, Kilkee 2010
26 June 2010 (Report by Dave) |
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The story of my fist triathlon in Co. Clare begins the day before the race, Friday. A 3.5 hour drive from Athy, I packed up the better half (Sinead), the other better half (my daughter Rebecca) and the gear and headed for Portlaoise to take the new motorway to Limerick.
 Paid my €1.80 toll only to find that the motorway only goes to the far side of Mountrath. (What a rip off!!! Typically Irish). Long old hike down on the old road, but it was a pleasant surprise to find a motorway between Limerick and Ennis. It is not finished and of course it will be tolled when it opens. Surprised the NRA didn't chance their arm like they did on the M7.
We were staying in Doonbeg with friends from Cork and my friend Ivan was competing. In fact it was he who introduced me to triathlon. Doonbeg is on the bike course. Beautiful landscape scenes on the drive to Kilkee. The sun was shining and it looked fantastic.
Got our first view of Kilkee after the only hill worth speaking of. Kilkee is in huge contrast to its surrounding landscape. It just does not fit in and has been over-developed like everywhere else in Ireland. 1800 live there in the winter I was told and 25,000 in the summer. Effectively Limerick moves out there.
For all that Kilkee has a lovely beach and horse shoe shape bay with massive cliffs on each side. We headed south to the Diamond Rocks and a cool restaurant overlooking the bay. Spotted Niall Kavanaghs Jeep on the way. Decided to go and register that evening and joined the queue. Signed in and got our caps, numbers and chips and the best goody bag ever. Outside Rob from Wheelworx had a sexy trek tri bike for 8,500 but it had ultegra. What no Dura Ace? Met Willie Fitz and Elaine. Also met Alan Cussen and Joe Farrell from Tri CW. A few of the guys had not travelled down as the Europeans were the following weekend. Sorted out our kit and hit the bed at 11pm.
Saturday - Race Day
Got up at 7am. Reasonable nights sleep; thankfully my daughter had slept which meant I did too. Porridge, Toast and Coffee hit the spot nicely. Packed up the gear and we were on the road at 8.10. Another beautiful day. Thankfully there was no sign of the rain which had been forecast. Got parking right beside transition. Ivan loaded his new HED wheels onto his bike. Bike check was straight forward. Met Peter Dobbyn. Ivan knew the TD. Went to set up and start soaking in the atmosphere. Bumped into Joe Farrell who said he had a mare the last time he did Kilkee and had some issues to resolve. Sounded serious. Alan Cussen was in transition ahead of me and other guys started appearing. Willie, Shane, David Murphy, Niall, Mark, Brian Bonham and Stevie. The bike spaces seemed to be allocated by club which is nice.
Went for a short run with Ivan before the race and lubed up with suncream, baby oil and bodyglide. Tide was out and the course looked long. Wave 1 went off in the usual rush. I was in with the old fellows. The water was clear and warmer than Dunmore East. Open water start near the Pier. The current pushed me to the right but rounding the buoys was fine. Did a bit of drafting but still too slow. Breathing and sighting was good. Did not go astray. Never got out of breath. Still not pushing hard enough. Two ladies pulled away from me in the last 150.
Hit the beach at 37.5 minutes which was better than Joey Hannon. There was a big inflatable arch to show you the way to transition. Caught the two ladies before T1. T1 was tidy. Mounted the bike at pace and got going well but had trouble getting the front derailleur to derail to the big block. Must look into getting a helmet like Ivans. Much more comfortable than mine.
Started picking off the cyclists. It was lovely on the bike. First hill was the only hard one. Big block all the way from there. Shifting was good. Road surface was pretty good except for 5k north of Doonbeg. Very uncomfortable in the saddle. Roads were open so got held up in traffic every now and then. Bit of a cross wind and a headwind combined with a slog around the 20k mark. Met Peter Dobbyn about 7k from T2, he was having a long day. Lot of knob heads who would not stay on the left. Cars and tractors were becoming an irritant and some overtaking had to be done. The motorbike nearly hit me at one stage, the rider seemed to think he owned the road just because he had a draft marshall on board. Lucky for them that I was on my bike and not in my jeep! Last hill was the only real hill worth speaking about. Small block and high gear. Good spin after but again held up by traffic. 45k in total.
Hit the Dismount line very nicely and into T2. Pulled on the socks in T2 and hat for a change. Was a good call. Need to consider racking the bike by the handlebars. Runners went on smoothly. A little bottle of water would have been a good idea.
Started the run feeling good. The run in Kilkee is pretty much all up hill for the first 5k with slight dips (for respite) and then back down hill. Its as tough a run as I have done in competition so far. Good legs out along the flat and then the slog started. The leader passed me coming the other way as I made the turn up the hill. He was flying and the chasers were a long way back. First hill was a long climb. Picking people off and maintaining a good pace. The first klick went fast. Met Brian Bonham just before 2k and we exchanged a bit of encouragement.
Shane Delaney passed me in the other direction and was looking comfortable. Next up was Willie. Stevie must have passed me without me seeing him. There was a lovely breeze in your face all the way out. Next up was Ivan just before the water station. I was not going to catch him but maybe I could get the gap down. The water was most welcome. It was very hot. David Murphy gave out to be for not saying hello and I remembered my manners. Niall and Alan came bounding down together not far from the 5k mark.
Had a good battle with a chap from Athlone all the way around the turnaround. It got very hot when the wind was not in my face. Lost him between 6 and 7k but he was replaced by another chap who was content to breath down the back of my neck. I hate that. Either pass me or bugger off. The feet were very hot and uncomfortable but I kept at it, pushing on. Got down the hill and hit the flat and should have kicked. I could see Niall and Alan about 100 metres ahead. The neck breather decided to make his move so I said "f@*! this" and kicked. He didn't come with me.
Tried to catch up with guys to hit the line together but they kicked too and finished 5 seconds behind. Alans first Olympic and he lives only 5 miles up the road. Great occasion for him. Forgot to stop the stopwatch. Caught the breath quickly and handshakes all round. Sat down to take a drink and into the recovery zone for chocolate cake, apple tart and lots of drink. The amount of food and drink available was amazing. This is a very well run event. The Pulse boys even brought their own tent and champers. Food for thought for next year guys!
Most of the guys were in including Mark who I didn't see at all. Peter Dobbyn called it a day after the bike. He was wrecked. Went for a soak in the sea for ten minutes. Cooling. Met my friends from Cork on the beach on the way back up and went looking for Sinead again. No sign anywhere. Did a couple of laps of the area before my name was called out on the tannoy. This was not good. I thought I was in trouble with the better half but it was much worse than that. Sinead had got too much sun and was in the back of an ambulance. Becca was fast asleep 9for a change) and under the watchful eye of the ambulancemen. Everything was thankfully ok but it was time to head back to the house for some rest. Bumped into Danny Slavin with his better half. Got a text while watching Shrek with Becca (or vice versa if you like) telling me my splits. Excellent. Should do that at every event.
This is the best away event of the year so far. Great location. Scenery is breathtaking. Weather was superb and the sea was kind. Add wind and rain to this one and you are going to suffer. Nice sea swim in clear water and a nice bay. Nice bike course. Made for overtaking. Neat transition area. The run is the feature of this event, an out and back course that would test the best. Liam Byrne would enjoy this one. You certainly could not argue with the name.
Kilkee of course has a big party afterwards. The pubs were buzzing and there was a great atmosphere in town. Most of the crew stayed on for the weekend. Pretty much everyone ends up in the Hotel for the disco. Bar was six deep and it paid to buy in bulk. If you thought swim starts were congested then think again. Great craic was had by all and yes I will be back next year to pull the devil by the tale.
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