We are back on the road again and season 2011 is underway! Wednesday we arrived in the United Arab Emirates for this weekends Abu Dhabi International Triathlon. We landed in Abu Dhabi very early in the morning after a looooong 14.5 hour overnight flight from Sydney so by mid afternoon I was already struggling to keep my eyes open trying desperately to sync with the new time zone. Yesterday (Thursday) I felt slightly better but again was searching for bed by late afternoon. Waking up at 3am this morning I was hanging for 6.30am to come around and for the sun to rise so I could get out and ride my bike! I guess I won't have any problem being ready for the race start at 6.20am tomorrow.
I am really excited to be racing this event for the first time and it's going to be a cracker of a race with most of the top guys in the world lining up. It's rare we gather such a quality field so early in the year and it's definitely going to be interesting to see what form people are in given half the of the field has flown in from Australia and the Southern Hemisphere summer verses a lot of the top European and US guys who have come out of winter. We are all staying at the Khalidiya Palace hotel and I have to say it's been a great, relaxed vibe amongst all the competitors. Usually you would only get a field of this calibre in Hawaii and the tension and nerves of racing the world championships see's most people keeping to themselves. I'm enjoying catching up with everyone outside of that more intense arena. No doubt we are all here to win and come Saturday morning the niceties will be forgotten but for now we all enjoy catching up and dinning together at the hotel buffet.
Riding in the U.A.E. is in one world "scary". I guess it's to be expected staying in a city but the lead footed locals are obviously not use to having cyclists on the road and so it's made for interesting bike riding. Luckily we have discovered a short but safe loop close to the hotel that keeps us away from the busy roads (which are all basically 4 lane highways). I am looking forward to having the huge roads shut down just for the race on Saturday. We are riding from the Emirates Palace out to the Yas Marina Circuit (where Formula One races are held) and that is going be a new and fun experience to ride around a race track.
The first few days in Abu Dhabi we were greeted by relatively cool weather for this part of the world but I have just returned from racking my bike and it must be 34-35 C out there at the moment at 4pm. So I think we are going to cook tomorrow?!
It's a little over 12 hours till the race so hopefully next blog I can write of a successful first race back for 2011. Here are a few pix I have taken (I haven't been my usual snappy self these past few days, but look out for more after the weekend).
It looks warm but the water in the gulf is a little cooler than usual this year ay 21c
Sunset off our balcony looking over the gulf
Our next door neighbors US$3 billion shack! Emirates Palace
Morning ride on the streets of Abu Dhabi. Look out for lead footed locals!
Bike racked and ready to roll for 200km tomorrow
T1 is located on the grounds of Emirates Palace (in background)
