Race Coverage

A New Fire Lit...

Tuesday, 12 May 2015 00:10

By Cathy Yndestad (trigirlcathy.blogspot.com)

Paix D'Aix 70.3 Race Report - With the off-season prioritized by moving my life across the Atlantic, I knew it would be a stretch to be race ready in May. Regardless, I’ve never been afraid to race myself into shape, so we kicked started the 2015 tri season with the Ironman 70.3 Pays D’Aix. With such a beautiful backdrop for a race, there’s no surprise the race filled to capacity with 2500 athletes on the start. It had the typical Ironman brand hoopla and it felt like a championship event with racers from all over Europe.

Pay’s D’Aix is roughly a 7 hr drive from our new city, and this was our first euro road trip. After 42 euros of road tolls, we finally made it to our hotel in the heart of Aix en Provence. We celebrated the majestic city and enjoyed walking through town and having dinner at one of the many outdoor...

restaurants. I just love that vibe and could sit and enjoy it all night. It was music to my ears to hear french again and finally be able to understand and communicate with locals.

With a point to point bike, there’s a lot of organization involved with this event, so Saturday was a day filled with pre race logistics. We checked out the swim venue then drove the 90km bike course back to town. The course is highlighted by five significant climbs with the Col de Cengle coming at 70km. I loved the the climbs, but compared to those around me, I lost WAY TOO MUCH time on the descents. In the US I considered myself to be a good bike handler from all my years of racing road and mtb, but here, I feel like a rookie navigating the steep switch backs, roundabouts and tight hairpin turns.