Blowing Winds

Hello to all readers, if any. I haven’t been too active updating my blog lately but now as the racing season is once again just behind the corner, I’ll continue sharing what’s up in this triathlete’s life.

I have yet to publish this year’s race calendar but can you guess my current whereabouts? An astute reader might remember me mentioning coming here in a post over a year ago. Ring a bell? Didn’t think so. I’ll give a few hints: It’s warm. It’s by an ocean. There’s not a lot of trees here, or any vegetation for that matter. And it’s WINDY! 


Yes! You guessed correctly. I’m in Lanzarote for the Ironman race on this coming Saturday.

Let me rewind back a little. I said it’s windy here. What actually counts for windy is of course relative and subjective to every person. I’m born and raised by the sea and spent most of my summers in the outer archipelago in the Gulf of Finland so wind is not exactly a new acquaintance for me. I didn’t ride a triathlon bike with high profile wheels back then though. Today I did. Here in Lanzarote.

So, for me it counts as windy when you ride a slight grade of about 3% and you’re only barely moving, yet your powermeter reads 350W (when you set out to ride an interval at ironman race-power of 265W). And you really know it’s windy when, while riding at maybe 10km/h you don’t dare to let go of the handlebars to wipe your nose and just have to let the snot run down your face desperately concentrating on just staying on the road. Just for comparison, the wind here today occasionally exceeded the crosswind limits of my normal equipment at work, the Airbus A320-series aircraft. If safe operation with a 70-ton showcase of engineering is not demonstrated in these conditions, who are we kidding with a 9kg tri-bike? How about the sea then? Let’s not even go there! On Saturday, I’m afraid I’ll have to, though. Oh why do I do this again?

We’re in for a long day on Saturday it seems. Based on today’s ride I might struggle to average even 30km/h. For 180km. Of course it’s the same for everyone and conditions like these tend to favour bigger and stronger riders like myself, so I haven’t lost all hope just yet. And in addition, there’s really no pressure for me in this race, since I’ve already got my slot to the big dance in October. This one’s supposed to be for “fun” and to enjoy the experience of a truly epic race.

Follow the race unfold here on Saturday. Just maybe better not to expect any heroic performances by my part.