XTERRA SWITZERLAND and MINI a adventure.

lake-geneva1We are back in one piece after an epic journey to and from Lugrin in Switzerland, well the French border of.. alas poor MINI Simonsig didn’t have such a good time and she suffered with a broken exhaust and power steering malfunction, her light nippy descents down the twisty turny beautiful slalom mountains were too much for her and she gave up. Now she turns like a German tank! £1500 repair bill, so the prize money didnt cover the trip after all….ah well.

lugrin-switzerlandWe stayed in the beautiful village of Lugrin in France overlooking the amazing lake Geneva, and 2,500 feet up. The air was like champagne and the peolple were too.The chalet was recently built with an upstairs bedroom and balcony. Gorgeous.

The journey took all of 16 hours to get to the village so we arrived late at night.. Once there a lake swim and a few runs in the hills was all I could do to prep  the race as we couldn’t pre ride the course it was on private land,I found some off road trails which turned out to be pretty technical and I had a bad spill so my  knee had yet another large bump.

The Race; What a beautiful day it was on race day , 23 degrees and no cloud. The atmosphere was buzzing. I was happy for it to be a 2pm start as we had 1/2 hour journey around the lake past Geneva to the ace venue. Tho very scenic.

The swim was in the calm cool and clear lake 19 degrees and the most refreshing swim I have had, I kept out of trouble on the right side but around the first buoy there was a squeeze and were lots of ducking under manoeuvres. This went on for all the turns as it was a 2 lap course and I couldn’t seem to shift anybody around me, we all seemed to be swimming at the the same speed!

I came out of transition and a kind soul undid my wesuit amd bagan to disrobe me…not sure why but then he wanted the same done to him sos I obliged.. first time that’s happened. Then a quick head over heals on the slippery grass before I donned my bike helmet ans shoes for the bike leg. I saw that Renata and Emma were in transition just before me so I knew I was on track.

The course was single track and it took  while for the congestion to clear. The river crossings reminded me of my Guam race and I loved it. Some were chest deep and you had to carry the bike on your shoulders. It was energy sapping work, there were no hills to speak of really but for one short sharp one. Then a few technical desents and a mud slide down on the bum with bike and a few obstacles to climb over and it wss into the run. I was feeling pretty good but wasn’t sure of my position. However I did manage to catch 3 girls on the bike.

I came in T2 with another pro girl and thought I may hold her off on the run. It was a flat fast run which doesn’t suit me, the run seemed to take a lot out of me and I was running as fast as I could with cramp. Unusual  in my XTERRA races. I normally feel pretty strong on the run . It was long 10.5 km and I felt every km of it. It hurt.

On the second lap about 2km from the end a girl ran past me whom I overtook on the bike and I couldnt catch, she ran like the wind. I was encourseg by a guy who thought he could help me catch her but no luck. I clambered over the large bail of hay and finished 5th pro. A good result for me. So very happy.xterra-euro-2010-top-6

A BIG thank you to my lovely sponsors especially Clif Bar for coming on board recently and giving  lots of great nutrition  for me, ‘Shot bloks’ rock! Bike and Run as ever, Sunnto, Craft, Shock Absorber, Bikeboxalan and Snugg.

I  came in 6th overall in the European Tour. This being my first yesar as pro, so really pleased.

In all a good year of racing.:)) BRING ON MAUI -XTERRA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2010!!!