Triathlon Internazionale di Bardolino 2015 – Eamon McGinley
Triathlon Internazionale di Bardolino 2015
Have you got a “body”?!
It’s probably about time I did a race report on the Olympic Distance Triathlon in Bardolino on Lake Garda in northern Italy. This was my eight year to complete this race! The triathlon in Bardolino is the oldest and biggest triathlon in Italy. It started the year before Kilkee and has over 1500 participants and attracts a lot of top triathletes from around Europe as it has a prize fund of €20,000.
This year was a bit different for me as two fellow pulsers decided to join me – David Adams and Darren Hughes. A few others had expressed an interest during the year but in the end it was just the three of us. The plan was to go for a week’s holiday and take in the triathlon on the Saturday. We met in the airport on Wednesday and the tone was set as when we teamed up with Darren he was finishing a pint of Guinness!
We arrived in Verona airport wondering if we would be able to fit two bike boxes and the three of us into our hire car. We picked up a Fiat 500L and we and the bike boxes fitted like a glove. No problems. We arrived in Borghetto sul Mincio where I am fortunate to own a holiday home and treated ourselves to Pizza and Prosecco!
The next morning the boys went to build their bikes whilst I headed to the pool. It seemed to take ages for these two experienced triathletes to get their bikes sorted. It transpired that Dave had the wrong sized chain. This meant a trip to the local bike shop where we got sorted straight away. We then went for a training spin to the village of Custoza.
On Friday we headed to Bardolino, a short drive away, to have a practice swim in the Lake and to register for the triathlon. We returned home for an alcohol free home cooked meal. When we checked the race website we discovered that Darren was in the Elite wave. This news was followed by some last minute panic foam rolling, stretching and early to bed!
Race Day: We arrived in Bardolino in plenty of time for a civilised 12.30pm start. We had our bikes and helmets numbered and headed into transition. This is where we encountered our first real problem. The Fitri (TI equivalent) Officials were checking if each athlete had a one piece trisuit. Dave and Darren didn’t! No one piece trisuit (or “body” as they called it) no race. We quickly ran through our options. Drive home where we had trisuits – not enough time. Buy a trisuit in the Expo – too expensive. Race and get DQ’ed – not after travelling all this distance. I asked the race announcer to ask if anybody in transition would have a trisuit to loan for the race. In a flash three people came forward, including a lady.
Dave went off to tri the ladies trisuit and Darren took another. Just when I thought we had overcome this hiccup Darren discovered that the zip on the front of this trisuit was broken. Frustration was starting to set in at this stage. Not ideal preparation for an Elite triathlete! Darren decided to turn the trisuit around and have the broken zip to the back. This led to an interesting sunburn pattern on his back! Despite Dave’s best efforts he failed to squeeze into the ladies trisuit but the other trisuit fitted fine. Therefore I was the only one of the three of us to race in the Pulse colours!
Darren was in the Elite mens wave, Dave in wave 6 and I was in the last wave. There are only 2 minutes of a gap between waves, so we were all in the water in no time. I didn’t see the two lads during the race. Mind you I might not have recognised them in their Italian club gear! My own race went well. I had my best swim in the eight years of doing this race. The cycle is a hilly one lap. The big difference is that the race is draft legal. Only road bikes allowed. Almost all races in Italy are like this. I managed to join up with a few others for various sections of the bike route. Darren wasn’t so lucky and after a tough swim ended up doing most all of the bike course on his own. David fell into a big group and they stayed together for the entire route. The weather was kind to us even though Darren might not agree with me! It was hot but the temperatures were in the high twenties rather than the high thirties of previous years. This meant that the run was manageable. It is a flat two lap course that runs along the lake and through the centre of Bardolino. There are plenty of water and sponge stations and we certainly needed them.
By the time I had finished my first lap of the run, the two boys had finished their race, changed into their Pulse gear and were there to cheer me on. I was thrilled to finish the race in a personal best time – 2.49. I jumped into the lake to cool off. When I looked at the results flashing by on the big screen I was delighted to see David Adams name appear just outside the top 100 in a time of 2.16. An excellent result in such a high calibre field. Darren was only a matter of minutes (2.19) behind him. Of the three of us Darren suffered the most in the heat. We had a team photo taken before going to collect our race Gilet and enjoying some post race pasta, risotto and a glass of vino.
When we went to collect our bikes Dave remembered that he lost a shoe coming into T2. There was no way he was stopping to pick it up. We all know how proud he is of his T2 times! Following a bit of a search we found the missing shoe. We then treated ourselves to one of the most delicious icecreams in Italy. Mind you, I think the boys eyes were bigger than their bellies!
When we got back to Borghetto we showered, went for dinner and ended up at a local Beer Festival until all hours where we met some interesting locals!
The remaining days of the holiday were spent sight-seeing, training, meeting friends along with lots of good food, Prosecco, beer and grappa flavoured coffee!
There are many many photos and videos from the week but they are still being edited.
If you ever fancy trying a race abroad and might prefer an Olympic Distance to a long distane race Bardolino is well worth considering. Those of you who were thinking about going this year (you know who you are!) but didn’t – you snoozed!
Ciao