One word: Wow.
The fact that this was the last Nice Triathlon, if in fact it is, is a big loss for the sport. That was a very nice race in a very beautiful place filled with very fun people.
I needed that trip to get back in the writing mode, and that is the place to do it.
The race: Swim is very nice but not well enough marked for my own personal preference. I had a very difficult time seeing any buoys. In about 2.4 miles I saw 3 buoys. Most of that is becasue my eyesight is pretty rotten. I think this race experience convinced me to look into lasik more.
My swi split was 1:25 :10 I think. When I stood up and read my watch I was like, “Wow, game over… this just became a tour.” I just couldn’t find the swim course. By comparison my Ironman swim splits range from 1:04 to 1:10 at New Zealand. I bet I swam nearly 2.9 miles. At one point a Zodiac had to turn me around- I was headed toward Africa I think.
Anyway, the water was nice. Pretty morning too. About a million spectators. Very fun.
Transition area is much more orderly than U.S. races. Excellent bike racks and ironclad security. Interesting little plastic boxes you put your stuff in like the ITU races. Cool.
The bike course- Absolutely magnificent. The best ever. Very tough, but very, very fun. The second descent was very attention getting. Mistakes meant you fell pretty hard. I saw two ambulances scraping guys up. Aid stations on the bike were also superb. Just a fantastic bike course. No problem saying it was the best I’ve done in well over 200+ triathlons.
I will argue the best part may be the final 10 miles. check it out, in one of the richest cities in the world they closed down an entire freeway leading back into Nice for us. We were just flying down this French freeway at 27 mph going back into Nice from the Alps. It was so cool. Also, I wager this race held a record for the longest underground bike segment- 2.5 km undergound in a freeway tunnel. Nice and cool with a strong tailwind. Now I know what a rifle bullet feels like. That was incredible. Then, coming out of the tunnel, a wall of spectators. Spectacular.
The run- ouch. I twisted my ankle four weeks before and it just kept getting worse up to race day. I was on the bubble for racing at all for a few days there. I kept it wrapped and did the R.I.C.E. thing. That seemed to work to a large degree. It held together just fine the first 10 miles, then it started to hurt pretty bad. Eventually it did slow me down a lot. It just boiled down to how much pain I could take and how much I was willing to do something that might turn into a real injury. It feels OK now, but pretty sore. I think I ran 18.6 miles in 2:56 and change. Thats a lumbering 9:27 pace. Not so good.
Overall I was in the back half of the field, in the tourist section. Hmmph. but at least I did it. It really was a beautiful race. If that was the last edition, that is a terrible shame. That bike course was magnificent. Best ever.
Notes:
The French people in Nice, everyone in fact, is very, very nice. A lot of fun to visit and a lot of new friends. There is a lot of money there. A lot.
My Cervelo R2.5 with the FSA compact cranks was the perfect equipment.
I didn’t wear the racing flats I bought becasue of my ankle injury.
-Lots of great restaurants. What a beautiful coastline. Shopping is great too.
actually close to 12000 feet of climbing (3600m)
