Hemel Hempstead Cycling Club

As some of you know I have recently returned from Australia where I competed for the GB Age Group team at the World Triathlon Championships.

As I hadn’t visited Australia before I decided to go over a couple of weeks before the event and see a bit of the country. I flew into Melbourne and my plan was to spend some time there, drive over to Sydney and spend some time there before driving up to the Gold Coast for the event.

I arrived at Melbourne Airport, collected my car and found my hotel – very conveniently placed just opposite Albert Park (this is the area where the Melbourne Grand Prix takes place). It is a beautiful park with a lake in the centre – great for my running training as it is a circuit of 3 miles. The 2006 Commonwealth Games Aquatic Centre is also on the park perimeter – amazing pool where I did a lot of training swims (see pics).

Melbourne is a wonderful city and I thoroughly enjoyed my 4 nights there. The way the city embraces the Yarra river, the cosmopolitan blend of cultures and old and new architecture were particularly striking features for me. I did so much there and was fortunate to take in the Dali exhibition too – thanks to Genelle Horkings and Sarah Nyberg for all the excellent recommendations of things to do and visit. Personal highlights were my visit to “ACDC lane” (see pic) to honour Melbourne’s greatest export - sad I know but I am a lifelong fan! Also my visit to the MCG (see pic with my tour guide Laurie) which has to be the finest stadium I have visited, and also houses the Australian Museum of Sport which was fascinating.

AC/DC?

All too soon I had to hit the road for Sydney. I stopped off at 3 places en route – Lakes Entrance, Eden and Bateman’s Bay. All were very beautiful but Eden was probably my favourite – quiet and unspoilt and with an interesting history based around the whaling industry (no longer active now of course).

Eventually I arrived in Sydney and my first impressions quite literally took my breath away. Everyone has see the iconic photos of the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House but nothing had prepared me for the impact of my first sight of them in reality – truly stunning.  I found my hotel which was well situated on The Rocks just underneath the Harbour Bridge – thanks to Graham Crane for the recommendation it was excellent. I made the most of the good weather and the sun terrace (see pic)! I had a memorable time in Sydney and did so much – I have 100’s of photos if anyone is interested! I used the sports facilities (as I had in Melbourne) including the historic Milson’s Point open air pool built around the time of the Harbour Bridge (and right underneath it) – I was inspired by the many World Records set there over the years.  I also got into the local indigenous music scene (see pic)! I made numerous trips on the Sydney ferry system to Manly, Bondi and Watsons Bay and thoroughly explored the city and all it has to offer.

Again all too soon it was time to move on en route to Surfers Paradise and the business end of the trip. I spent 3 days making my way up there, again stopping in some interesting places. The first was Port Macquarie, originally the first penal colony in Australia but now a picturesque harbour town which hosts Ironman Australia each year (one of the reasons I wanted to see it). Next I stayed in Coff’s Harbour which was a bit more lively. Finally I stayed in Byron Bay which was a really attractive surfing town with a “hippy chic” feel to it. It was definitely one of my favourite places and also has a lighthouse which is the most Easterly point on the Australian mainland and was good to visit.

I got to Surfers Paradise on Tuesday 8 September. It is an interesting place – lots of bright lights and high rise hotels and a truly spectacular beach which runs the whole length of the resort – several miles. It has a series of inner waterways and islands just back from the main strip and I was staying on one of those, Chevron Island, not far from the GB team hotel. I went to meet with the team managers and to get all the information needed for the events. I had decided to do the World Aquathon Championships too on Wednesday 9 September. I had never done an aquathon before and thought it would be a good warm up for the main event.

There was a real buzz about the place as the transition and spectator areas and the exhibition centre were being prepared. There were 8,000 competitors and 60,000 spectators anticipated over the race weekend. I registered for the Aquathon early on the Wednesday and started my race at 3pm. It involved a 2.5K run, 1K swim and a further 2.5K run. It was very hot but I felt ok on the first run. Coming into transition I missed my spot entirely and took about a minute trying to find it. I had forgotten that there was no bike to mark my spot! Eventually I found my cap and goggles and raced into the water for the swim leg. I felt very good on the swim and accelerated past what seemed like dozens of swimmers which pushed me up the field. I had a good 2nd run and came in 5th overall in my age group – a very encouraging start to the week. Shame I messed up transition or a podium finish might have been an outside possibility. However I was pleased to have completed it and felt that it reduced some of the tension  leading into the main event on the Saturday.

Mike and Harvey

The next 2 days were spent attending race briefings, ensuring I knew the course well (including practising the swim and bike routes) and generally soaking up the atmosphere and enjoying the company of fellow team members. I even managed to get my photo taken with Emma Snowsill, Beijing Olympic Gold Medalist (and local Gold Coast girl) and Jan Frodeno of Germany, the Mens Gold Medalist. One of my colleagues from Hemel Cycling Club, Harvey Bennet, was out there too. Saturday came round pretty quickly and it was an early rise to get down to the transition area for 8am to check my kit and ensure the bike tyres were at full pressure etc. My wave (50-54 age group) was due off at 9.05.

Mike and Jan

The race referees declared the swim “wetsuit optional” based on the water temperature. Effectively this meant that virtually everyone elected to wear a wetsuit as they give (on average) a 2 minute plus advantage for your swim time. Walking down to the swim start in the wetsuit was very uncomfortable however as the land temperature was pretty warm! There were around 95 who made the start line in my category – one of the larger groups and a much bigger field than for the Aquathon.  The start was from the beach and a run into the sea. There was a real sense of tension in the last two minutes before the start horn sounded.

At the signal it was a mad dash and plunge into the ocean. I am used to the “ruck” that characterises triathlon starts but this was worse than usual! The 1.5K swim is generally my strongest discipline so I fought hard to get some clear water to the first buoy, ignoring the inevitable kicks and elbows. At the turn of the first buoy I was well placed and able to slipstream a couple of swimmers in front. I made steady progress up the field though sighting of buoys was difficult in the sunshine. Having swum the course already this was not a major problem and I exited the water in a time of 21:38 well inside the top 10. I had a quick and trouble-free transition and got straight into a fast pace on the bike on the flat two lap 40K course. Drafting (i.e. using the bike in front to pull you along in its slipstream) is not allowed on the bike and the draft-busting motorbikes were out in force to enforce this rule. Lots of riders were being “yellow-carded” which meant an enforced stop and time penalty. A second offence could result in disqualification and in such a crowded field (with earlier and subsequent waves merging on the two lap course) I had to be careful not to be seen to be drafting even if it was unintentional.

I pretty much held my own on the bike and had a great ride – my time of 1hr 1min 18 seconds was my fastest ever. Again I had a good transition and was quickly out onto the 10K run course over 2 laps. By now the heat was pretty intense and although I started well and felt good in the first 3 kilometres I started to feel the effects of the bike ride and wilted a little in the heat. I was conscious that I was losing a few places but I couldn’t really do much about it. I dug deep though and didn’t fall apart and ran a pretty steady second lap. As I approached the finish funnel the British fans were out in force and in good voice. One of them thrust a mini-Union Jack into my hand so that I could milk the glory as I crossed the finishing line. I could see from my watch that I had done a lifetime personal best of 2:09:34 – almost 8 minutes quicker than two years ago at the World Champs in Hamburg. I was delighted, though exhausted. I later learned that I had finished 14th in my age group (out of 92) but had the honour of being the first Brit home of our 15 man team. As an athlete you can always find fault with your performance (the run for me on this occasion!) but overall I felt I had done as well as I could, which was just as well having travelled to the other side of the World to take part! Later that day I watched the Mens elite race from the Grandstand and our own Alistair Brownlee won his fifth race of the World Series to be crowned World Champion – some of you may have watched it live on BBC2 at 6 am UK time. We had no voices left by the end of that one! We had a good celebration that evening, most of which was spent in an Irish Bar called “Landsdowne Road”!

Finishers

Sunday was spent relaxing before the official closing party and medal presentations in the evening. This was fun and a good way to bring the curtain down on a fantastic experience. I left Surfers Paradise early the next morning as I wanted to visit Noosa Heads (an hour or so North of Brisbane). So many people had recommended it to me as a place I should visit. I only had 4 hours there as I needed to be back to Brisbane airport by 5pm but I was so glad I made the trip – one of the most beautiful places I saw and a great way to spend my last day.

The flight home via connection at Dubai was long but uneventful and I arrived at a rainy Gatwick airport on Tuesday afternoon and was back in the office on Wednesday. Thanks to everyone who showed an interest in my endeavours and supported me from afar. I hope to compete again if I can qualify and maybe hit the podium next time!

Mike Orton