Xterra Malaysia

Well blow my cotton socks off - what a great weekend. I discovered a new passion, met some amazing people, tested myself and amazingly finished 2nd in my category and 7th (non-Pro) overall.

PREP DAY
Sadly Shilpa and the boys had to stay at home as she had MBA classes on Sunday that couldn't be missed. I drove up to Kuantan early on Saturday morning and as soon as I arrived I went out on Shilpa's "cast iron" mountain bike for a bit of a course reccie.

The first 9k were on tarmac and then the first off road stuff seemed OK but then I got lost (the course was well marked so don't ask how that happened), as I doubled back I rode over a palm tree branch and saw the massive thorns; aggh too late - pssssst A PUNCTURE.

Not being a MTB chap I'd taken loads of advice from many quarters - one of which was something Marcus, my brother-in-law once told me - "You never get a puncture on a mountain bike with the big fat tires and hey I have my mobile phone anyway".

I hasten to add in his defense that he didn't offer me this as advice but rather it was a side comment about what he did as he rode around the tranquil roads and paths of the Black Forest in Germany. So, as you've guessed I had no spare, no gas, no tyre levers and no pump. So as the tyre hissed away I pedaled like fury for the nearest road and then headed at full speed (in the wrong direction to start with) towards Kuantan. Alas the air ran out and I came to a standstill. Then a couple of old boys turned up in a flatbed truck and stopped as I waved them down. They not only took me back to civilisation but all the way to the race start and clearly expected nothing for their kind help - needless to say they got my huge appreciation and humble thanks.

So the next day I'd be facing the bike course mainly blind as I'd not reached any of the tough bits. The good news was that I'd now ridden a mountain bike 3 times and this was the first time I hadn't fallen off!

I went to the briefing and then out to dinner with KK and friends - skipped the sticky bun fight of the carbo dinner. Met up afterwards with my old colleague Neil Ford for a quick drink and pumped him for a few more tips. Then off to bed.

RACE DAY
Got sorted, far later and far more casual than a normal tri - loads of coffee of course and as the hotel was meters from the start I sauntered down about an hour before the start. Set up the bike and transition area (having loaded up on spare tubes, tyre levers, saddle pouch, adapter, gas etc), got my head around the entry and exit points of transition then went off for a swim warm up 20 mins before the start.

SWIM
I got to the first buoy and then headed back but...Arrrrggghhhh jellyfish attack - BIG pain. Arms, face, legs and particularly feet. Staggered back to the shore and got hold of the medics. Just as I was getting some cream the gun went!!!!!!! 5 minutes early!!!! Bugger - span round and dived in chasing the pack. I got to the first mark about 10m behind Neil and then settled down for the two loops. The jellyfish were obviously hunting me as they got me again, this time really badly on my hand. Oh well it gave me something to take my mind off my lungs and leg pain later in the race. Swim time 27mins54secs

BIKE
A pretty swift transition saw me onto the bike course. Got into the groove and started reeling people in. As it started to get steep I caught a pack with Stephanie, Shahrom, Dino, Cecil, Iwata-san to name but a few. Great company to be in but likely to leave me behind once we went off-road.

As we hit the oil palm trails I was just behind Shahrom and Dino. I hung on fine through the big hills (going up) but as soon as it went downhill they were gone. I expected the other guys to come flying past but none of them did amazingly.

There were two huge descents that I'd been told by Shazly to get off and walk down. The first one was pretty scary but as it was dry (and I'm an idiot), I went for it - big fun like a roller coaster, no problems, up the hill the other side AND THAT'S WHEN IT STARTED RAINING. Within minutes the trails were fast flowing rivers and I was scared (more scared).

The second big decent came along and a guy that I had in my sites was dismounted and straightening his handlebars - at that point I muttered to myself KNOW YOUR LIMITS - normally I'd ignore that little voice and carry on - the reason I'm writing this from my desk rather than my hospital bed is because on this occasion I took my own advice and dismounted - ran down the "cliff" and got back on again.

At this point I have to thank all you guys that told me to invest in SPD pedals and not try to use my road pedals - it would have been insane and impossible if I'd ignored your sound advice so thank you. The mud was like clay and tar mixed with glue.

The course then came upon some more road for a few hundred meters and a Western guy came up from behind. A sign saying 5k to go and then we hit the beach section - within seconds the Western guy was minutes ahead off me (go figure that one out) - riding across the loose sand was lung and leg destroying and more than a little bit of technique was required.

Then down to the water's edge - my golly, even worse, ride a bit, push a bit. Cecil came out of nowhere and romped past me. Then some idiot had placed the course over some huge boulders where you had to carry the bike and then drop it over the other side about 12 feet to the sand and water below.

If that wasn't enough then we had a vertical climb pushing the bike through trees and roots until we could remount and get within site of the finish - MADNESS - I loved it. Along a wooden walkway and then down to T2. Bike time 1hr35min7secs.

RUN
Super quick transition and then off onto the run. I was feeling pretty good surprisingly and got into a fast cadence straightaway. A bit of track, then a bit of road and then off road and uphill big time. Roots and fallen trees everywhere. I leaped over a tree and almost fell - I made a mental note to myself that my legs were tired and not try that again CRRRRASH, I hit the deck immediately - oops, not hurt so off I went.

I'd spent so much time getting my head around the bike that I'd dismissed the run as being inconsequential - silly boy, this was going to be hard. Back onto the road for a couple of hundred meters and then up the side of a huge hill by the zoo. I went past Cecil who'd twisted his ankle badly and was trying to stretch it out (credit to him, he still finished). It went up, up, up, forever, my lungs were in overdrive and my legs like lead at which point I took an almighty fall, again no real damage other than cuts and grazes. Somehow I ran all the way to the turnaround at the top picked up my band and then headed down, down, down.

I am as nimble as ballet dancing elephant with 20 sacks of coal on its back so you can imagine how I looked trying to run down this jungle covered descent. Got down though with no more falls and then headed to the beach, ran to the start/finish ready for the second loop and was surprised to be redirected to those damned rocks at the end of the beach again. However, there was a shoulder high river to wade though first and then the rocks to climb - MADNESS - I loved it.

I headed round for my next loop which was pretty uneventful, hill by the zoo caused me to walk a little this time but then I saw Neil, so I gave him a little spank on his bottom to let him know I was there - he was on his first loop and suffering a bit but he was still at it and cheerful I'm pleased to say.

I then saw Razani coming down from the band pick-up/checkpoint and thought "Wow, if he's so close maybe I'm not doing too badly". I'd hoped for a top 10 finish in my age-group as it happened things were looking a lot better than that.

I grabbed my second band and had no illusions of catching Razani as there was no way he could be as bad as me descending. Staying alive and with all my bones connected to each other was my main focus. I made it onto the beach OK and then the finish. Run time 51mins3secs.

My overall time was 2:56:05 - I'd hoped for a sub 3hr and had achieved that. I can honestly say I haven't had as much fun in a triathlon EVER, mile for mile and dollar for dollar you cannot beat Xterra. However, I concluded on one descent on the bike and again on the hill descent that once I actually got to a point where I'd gained confidence and considered myself successful at this sport then that's when I'd start pushing the envelope and testing the limits just as I do in regular triathlon.

Trust me I'd break every bone in my body within a year. So I'm going to save the money I'd have spent on a super duper bike, stick to the road for now but consider me a definite entry for Xterra next year, it may be on the wife's shopping bike again (and I might even take the basket off this time) but I WILL BE THERE.

If you're not convinced then I give up on you. This is the most fun you'll have with your clothes on I promise. SEE YOU NEXT YEAR - AWESOME, WICKED, MAD, EXHILARATING, AMAZING - you get the picture - I'm enthused.