Xterra UK
Pumped at Xterra
Andy Mitchell (Photos Martin Ennis/Sportysnaps) / 03.10.2007
After registering and chatting to one of the friendly marshals, I decided to ride out to T1 and start the bike course after another marshal said enthusiastically \'you really should ride the last 10km, oh and there\'s a fun bit of single track at the beginning - go right, then bunny hop left half way down ...\'
The pond looked calm and not too scary so I set off up the long climb to the first singletrack section. As I started the steep descent I was too busy calculating whether the rut was too deep for my pedals, caught a root and went straight over the handlebars landing on my head. Thankfully the bike and my head weren\'t too badly damaged so I cycled the rest of the course and headed back for the race briefing and pasta party.
Sunday morning was overcast and just as I was about to set off to T1 it started to spit with rain so I bottled my skinny tires and put some fatter ones on. The exit from the lake to the bike stand was freshly laid hardcore, so I planned to ride on the softer verge.
It was a mass start, but considerably less busy than my last experience in Austria, so I got into my rhythm and plodded round the swim, which seemed shorter than I was expecting as swimming isn\'t my strong point. I had a reasonable transition and set off on the bike only to curse my tire choice as the bike felt unbalanced. The first corner was nearly my last as I struggled to control a now completely flat front tire. I changed the tire but couldn\'t get my pump to work, in frustration I tried a bit too hard and broke off the plunger. Picking up the bike I started running hoping to find a supporter on a bike but thankfully a friend in the race came past and gave me her pump (thanks Kim).
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