Mont Tremblant Quebec #19
Headed to the my birth country for the first time this year, but I have never been to the Eastern part and was excited to visit and race there. I was a little nervous heading to the Inaugural race in Quebec after what just happened at the Inaugural race in New York City. But, I had faith in my Canadians. I was very happy Tri Bike Transport had my bike, as I was flying Delta (swear word) and was happy to not have to check my bike with them. My flight arrived super late into Montreal, so Jacques, from In and Out Development, booked my a one night stay at The Loft right beside the airport. This turned out great, as Delta (swear word) lost my bags again. The Loft is a trendy little hotel with rooms that are a little more modern. I took a shuttle to the hotel room and hit the sack! I took my time getting up, as my bags were not scheduled to arrive into the airport till 11:30, and sure enough they arrived safely... just a little behind when I actually arrived.
After getting my bags, I headed to get my car rental (thanks again Jacques). Apparently the account I was booked under has major VIP status. It was sir this and sir that. They escorted me to my car, pulled it up for me. I asked where a water fountain was to fill my water bottle. The girl escorted me back in and told me she wasn’t allowed to leave my side.... good thing I didn’t have to go pee. I thought about this experience and I don’t thing there should be VIP.... everyone should be treated like that.... just saying.
It was about a 90 min drive to Mont Tramblant from Montreal. I drove straight to the race site. This was amazing because I don’t turn on my phone when I am international. This leaves me with no GPS to get around. I found Tri Bike Transport and YES, my bike made it out of NY!!!!! And no need for assembly. I just put the peddles back on the bike and put some air in the tires and off I rode - loving this service! I checked in at the expo and toured the area a bit. This Mont Tramblant area is awesome. It is a resort type of area at the base of a ski resort. It reminded me of a Park City Utah, a Banff, Canada or a Hunter Mountain, NY. The people were super nice. This was unexpected because it is not what you hear about Quebec when you grow up in the Western part of Canada. Sorry for judging you Quebec!
I left the expo and went to find my home stay. In and Out Development had arranged for me to stay with a local bike shop. The front of the house was a shop and the back of the house was the home. It was like a mullet.... this was business in the front and party in the back. I found the shop and shop owner, Jonathan and Laura. Jonathan will now be referred to as Jo Velo from here on out (Velo is bike in French). They were SUPER nice and showed me to my room where I settled in for my few days stay.
I headed back to the race site to enjoy a pre-race meal and entertainment. Canada knows how to throw a party! The food was great, the entertainment was better and the energy was the complete opposite of that from NY!!! They had some great performances on stage and followed the entertainment with the pre-race briefing. Outside they had a live band on stage and this group knew how to entertain. The lead singer loved his gig in life and was a performer. Most of the athletes stayed, jammed with the band, danced in the streets and just had a great time. The evening concluded with an awesome fireworks show that was better than most 4th of July shows back home - go Canada! Thank you for making me feel like I got my monies worth and a WTC event. Upon arrival back to the house, Jo Velo had some friends over for some drinks. I sat down at the table with my water and enjoyed a nice chill last hour of my day.
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| View from the gondola!! |
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| BOOOM!! |
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| Outdoor Concert! |
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| Pre race entertainment! |
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| Chilling with JO VELO and the gang! THANK YOU!! |
Day before the race.
I try to do very little the day before a race, especially when I race every weekend and recovery for me is super important. Jo Velo offered to do a full tune on my bike, which it desperately needed. I have not had this bike home to my shop since Regensburg, Germany early in June and it won’t be home till after the Rev3 event mid September. Needless to say, it was in need to some major TLC. The shop ended up running all new cables and completely cleaning her up. This took most of the morning and into the afternoon, as the shop was slammed with customer who we all getting last minute repairs and things for their race. I was very grateful for the work done on my bike, so Thank You Jo Velo! After my baby was all clean and ready to go, I headed back to the race site to get my bags and and bike situated for race day. Once I had that all taken care of, it was time for a late lunch of POUTINE!! For those of you that don’t know what poutine is, YOU ARE MISSING OUT! It is fries with cheese curds and gravy on it. I haven’t had this in years and maybe the day before my 19th Ironman on the year wasn’t the best time to revisit the dish. But I didn’t care. I order the large and was told by the old man behind the desk, “The large feeds two and you should go with the medium.” CHALLENGE was all that went through my head. I calmly replied “I will take the large sir.”
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| Poutine Love! |
I conquered the dish and loved every bit! Sure hope I don’t regret this decision mid swim tomorrow ;) HA HA HA! I wondered around the shops looking for a cowboy hat for the run, but there was NOTHING! Once back at the house, the same friends had gathered for ribs, stead and fresh veggies from the garden. Ribs are my favorite and I do love a good steak! But having already made a horrendous decision with the LARGE poutine, I decided veggies would be a great dish for me to have. I enjoyed a nice dinner on the patio with my new friends, followed by Hunger Games and then bed!
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| Meeting Mike Riley |
Race day.
I woke up feeling relatively rested and headed out the door. I found good parking by the race site and walked into transition. After putting my nutrition on my bike, pumping up the tires and double checking my transitions bags, I headed towards the swim start which was 1/2 mile up the road. The swim exit was closer to transition, as the swim start and finish were different. The water was perfect! It was a beach start and the course was one loop. All the way out, across the top and all the way back in. I again went as far right as I could and didn’t have any issues with people. The water was fresh and super clean. It was super clear, of course because it was mountain run off. The water was a very nice switch from the poo filled swim last week (yep I am still bashing on the NYC race.) I swam nice and relaxed and was happy with my time. I exited the water feeling half-asleep still and was woken up by the long run from waters edge to the change tents. I don’t mind a longer run to transition... it is a good opportunity get adjusted from the swimming prone position and back into upright in a running or biking position. I find that by the time I have arrived at my bike, I am less dizzy, than had I had a closer transition.
The bike course was a 12 loop course on rolling hills. The first section took us though mountain resort golf course. Oh how I love and miss golf. This is one thing I plan to do more of with my good friend Garen next year. I won’t be very good anymore, but I still love the game! The course then took us to the far right in a main highway that was shut down for our use. The roads were nice and smooth. There were a few challenging hills but nothing like in Europe. So far it was a good challenging course. The middle section took us right past The Joe Velo bike shop. The guys at the store put on a free pancake breakfast to bring out the crowds. I was wearing my ASEA athlete bike jacket, as the morning air was a bit chilly. Once I got to the bike shop, I handed off my jacket and of course grabbed a few pancakes for the road! At the very end of the street, there was a steep hill and a turn around at the top before screaming back past the bike shop. Joe Velo could be found running up and down the hill shaking a noise making and cheering on every athlete. He was wearing a hilarious apron that made it appear that he was naked. He would run up and down the street beside the bikers climbing, cheering them on and trying to make them laugh. He was a pleasant surprise for many of the racers I am sure! The last 6 miles of each loop was tough! Big short rollers that were just big enough that you couldn’t maintain your momentum up over the top. It was A LOT of gear shifting. I was SUPER happy the boys at Joe Velo had done some much TLC on my ride before this one. My second time through this section, I left my gearing in the low gear up front knowing that even if I pushed down the hills I couldn’t make it up the other side. So I coasted down the hills and worked the read derailleur with success. I was pretty hungry nearing the tail end of the ride and grabbed a handful honey stinger gel packs to try to get something in my belly. These things were sweet and went down really well. I took in about 4 of them and they hit the spot perfectly.
I took off running feeling pretty good. The run took us through town with some good up and down climbs to start. We then hooked onto a trail system which I later found out was the old railway system turned into a recreational pathway for people enjoyment. This was a great surface to run on and my legs enjoyed it. I started running beside a great guy, Michael Ditolla, who was undertaking his first Ironman. I told him to stick with me and we would get this thing done. We chatted and past the time away. Michael is a motivational speaker and I picked his brain for his thoughts and ideas. Speaking is something that I would really like to give a try. I think I have some great stories and experiences in this that could really help, motivate and inspire some people who are looking for that. So if you are looking.... give me a call ;) I once again found myself with a cowboy hat! And wouldn’t you know, that very first aid station had a whole group of people in hats. A friend of mine had asked if in one of my races this year I would wear a pink cowboy hat in honor of her battle with cancer. One of the girls at this aid station had a pink cowboy hat with silver glitter all over it. It was the perfect opportunity to run in the pink hat. I told her why I needed to borrow her hat and she agreed! Needless to say, this hat got me the look of looks and plenty of attention. The first loop of the run ran you back around town and through the finish line area. The energy was incredible (like it was for the entire weekend), but this section was packed with people, all screaming and cheering and going nuts. I couldn’t help but pick up my pace with everyone screaming and yelling. Once through that section, we headed back out to the old railway tracks and some more softer running. I waited for my run buddy, Michael, and we chatted and made it through the rest of the run course. He started to struggle about mile 20 and I helped talk him through his hamstring cramp and helped him get in the right nutrition to get him through. With about 3 miles to go, it started to rain. It was a warm enough rain that it didn’t bother me. Once you are wet, you are wet, so you might as well have some fun in the rain. I smiled and ran through all the puddles. I hit the finish shoot and took in one of the best finish lines of the year. Despite the rain, the people stayed and cheered. Way to go Canada!
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| Wearing the pink hat for a friend with Cancer! |
The post race food included subway sandwiches and of course warm poutine! This is EASILY one of my favorite races of the year and I will be back!!! Congrats WTC for getting this one 100% right (or maybe it was the Canadians ;)!! What a breath of fresh air after the disaster NYC. These two races were the complete polar opposite of each other in every stretch of the imagination.... and it’s no wonder they have since pulled down registration for the 2013 NY race and have now cancelled it all together.
I headed back to Joe Velo’s place and enjoyed a nice hot shower. With a flight to catch, I packed things up and went to bed! Once again, I have really enjoyed Tri Bike Transport and the ease of bike shipping. I handed my bike off at the race site and will see it again in Louisville next week!
I had enough time to go out to breakfast with Laura and Joe before heading to Montreal to catch my afternoon flight. Thank you Joe and company for a great weekend! Hopefully we see you in a few weeks at the Canadian in Ottawa, where I will break the world record for the most Ironman races done in a single year!
Upon my arrival to the airport, I went to check in like normal. The kiosk seemed to be having a tough time finding my flight, so I went up to the agent to see what the issue was. Apparently I miss read my email and look at my departure time on my flight TO the race and not FROM my race. I had missed my flight by more than 3 hours and unfortunately there were no more flights out today. So the SUPER nice lady waived my transfer fee and got me on a flight out first thing tomorrow morning. I delivered the news to home and check into a hotel by the airport! Dumb Cowboy, dumb!
James Lawrence aka The Iron Cowboy!
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