On the day I arrived I had quite a strange and random experience. I was checking out San Salvador which is the climb on the bike course and I saw a group of cyclists with a van so decided to ask them if they had a pump. They said they would pump my tyres if I would be part of their photo shoot. I actually thought they were joking. I agreed and was handed some lovely clothing and a bike and was told to cycle up and down the hill while they shot photos with me and some Professional German cyclists. One of the cyclists in the shoot was Marcell Wust, ex world champion cyclist! A very random afternoon.
Then Tristar 111, my first race as a pro! I was quite excited about racing especially with the thought that I was standing on the start line with some great legends of the sport (the male pro field was amazing). In the swim I remained calm and stayed steady. Then on the bike I pushed a reasonable pace and enjoyed the big climb going steady up it the first time and pushing a little more second time round. As I was cycling I could see Tamsin at the turn points I was able to judge roughly how far in front of me she was. I started to get excited when I realised that I was closing the gap a little at a time! Coming in to transition and I could see Tamisn leaving, so I tried not to get too excited. My legs felt ok for the first 500m and after that they started to feel the work on the bike but I just told myself to stay steady and not go too hard. The gap was closing and when I passed Tamsin just after the first turn point I just told myself to keep running at the same pace and stay steady. The there it is. I won my first race as a Pro athlete! Amazing, I couldn’t believe it. Tristar was a great experience and I’m looking forward to doing some more of their races in the future.
Looks like I really was enjoying that climb!!