2006 Jindabyne Multisport Classic

Bruce and Shanyn from my Triple Tri team both expressed interest in competing in the event when we discussed it last November. Bruce was keen to a large extent because the run legs were a lot shorter so we would not be pulling a marathon distance out of him in one day. Shanyn was keen as Lake Jindabyne sounded like a good place to swim and she has had fun at the Triple Tris she has competed in with us. I am keen because any time I can convince a kick arse team like this to race with me must be good, oh and because I had heard the mountain bike legs were a heap of fun (especially the first leg).

In need of a paddler Shanyn said she may be able to talk her partner Randall into doing the Kayak legs on the team. However Randall was competing in the XPD multi day adventure race in Tasmania on team Entropic a few weeks prior to this race so there was a chance he would be too worn out. I had been paddling with Randall on Lake Burley Griffin so I knew he was a damn good paddler so thought it would be fantastic if he felt up to joining the team for the multisport race. I also knew Randall grew up paddling a lot so was not as surprised as some people that he is in fact a good paddler. Fortunately for us Randall completed XPD in fine form and was still keen to do the Kayaking in the multisport race. Woohoo we have a complete team, and even managed to line up a boat thanks to Alex loaning us his adventure racing boat.

Race day was fun, we had good weather all day, all of us enjoyed the legs (well Bruce was upset when he went the wrong way for a while in the first run, and Randall was upset at going the wrong way in the final Kayak, however we can blame the poor trail marking or signage on the organisers as many other teams went the wrong way in both those places (Run and Kayak)) and on the whole we agree it was a fantastic location for a race. Shanyn loved the water, unlike Lake Burley Griffin in Canberra, you are able to see your hands, heck in some cases you can see the lake floor 15 metres below you the water is so clean so it was lovely to swim in. Bruce liked the variety and length of the run legs. Randall had fun in the Kayak (and enjoyed not having to transition onto some other discipline and keep on going all night).

I loved the first mountain bike leg, technical and challenging riding, absolutely brilliant fun. More mountain biking should be this hard I think, you really need to stay on the ball and concentrate to keep upright and moving. The final mtb leg was also pretty good, the 8KM bitumen climb was done at tempo and once that was over there was a ripper of a downhill from the main road down to Island Bend and from there down the river for a while followed by some undulating terrain to the finish. The second mtb leg was not too bad, it simply paled in comparison to the other two.

In the end we finished 3rd overall out of all the teams and 2nd in the mixed division, out of 47 teams that is pretty good.

1600x1200 The team swimmers getting underway in Lake Jindabyne for leg 1 at 7:15am. 1600x1200 Shanyn approaching the shore, the second team swimmer in. 1600x1200 Shanyn running up to tag Randall for the first Kayak. 1600x1200 Randall getting under way as Bruce exits the picture.

1600x1200 Randall, Bruce and I waiting for a Swim to Kayak transition (end of the second swim, start of the second kayak) with Shanyn approaching shore over Randall's head. 1600x1200 Shanyn almost at the shore. 1600x1200 Randall getting underway on the second Kayak. 1600x1200 Bruce finishing the second run up at Sawpit Creek.

1600x1200 Bruce recovering after putting in a fast second run. 1600x1200 Randall finishing the final Kayak leg, you may just be able to see steam rising from Randall's ears here as he was annoyed with going off course for a while. We did not lose a place or really have any other team near us so it did not matter to the rest of us. 1600x1200 Bruce after finishing the race off for the team in around 8h20m. 1600x1200 Team photo Randall, Shanyn, myself and Bruce just before collecting our trophies.