I was excited to participate in the ITT held yesterday to see how far have I improved since the last ITT in September last year. After some trainings and few upgrades done to my Roubaix I was expecting a good result. I was not alone this time, as Hani was also took part for the very first time. She just bought a Specialized Amira three days ago and rode just twice before the race.
The race was held around Losail sports complex and it was a better venue than Ceremonial road as it was flat and closed to traffic. I forgot my bike computer and without it I was clueless and just rode by feel and the windy condition was not helping either. When the result came out, I was a little disappointed to see myself ranked 20th of the 22 finishers in the Open Male category even though my average speed was 32.8km/h which was a lot better than my current record for that course segment in Strava which was 30.2km/h. Hani did very well finishing at 14th of 18 finishers in her category considering she only started riding less than a week and rode the bike in running shoes.
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| Hani with her new Specialized Amira. I think she will start training for triathlon soon too. |
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| Loving my new Zipp 808 aero wheel |
The event ended up on a high note when I finally got the chance to meet my triathlon idol, Ryan Christian who won the race in a mind boggling average speed of 46.4km/h. He just qualified for Ironman World Championship after finishing 4th in his division in the Ironman Asia Pacific Championship recently. That was his first Ironman too after making his mark among the world's top triathletes in 70.3 distance. So if I want to swim bike and ride like Ryan, I better start training like Ryan too.
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| When I grow up I want to be like Ryan Christian |
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| The Malaysian contingent, L-R, Najib, Me, Hani, Lolyta, David and Yusry. Congratulations to all especially Lolyta for finishing 10th in her category in her first ITT. |
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