Noosa dreaming...

Where do you start?

Noosa is so legendary that no matter what I dribble about here I will miss pretty much all the best bits. But maybe it's better that way? Maybe the whole idea is that you have to actually get to Noosa for that first weekend in November and experience all that there is to offer for yourself?

Seriously though. Get the fuck to Noosa Multisport Festival.

Bondi Fit legends in our new kit

This year we had an extra couple of days which was great to hang out with some good friends just out of Brissy for a day before driving up the coast, catching some family and making it our sweet little pad in Little Cove in time to get out and enjoy a bit of mexican with some friends before crashing out.

Garmin Hill

The usual Friday morning course ride was a beauty, remembering that the sun comes up before you go to bed in Queensland which means by 6am it's freakin hot already, always nice. Looking back we made the mistake of caring too much about the race this day, as it was nice and sunny yet we decided that was the day to register and organise instead of soak up the sun and relax on the beach, rookies...especially considering that the rest of our time there would be cast in shadows... booo

Gatecrashing the Witsup Breaky ride

Saturday morning was played a little differently this year with Witsup holding their breaky today instead of Monday, not so bad. I gatecrashed the morning ride before breakfast and got to chat to a fair few people and hear some cracking stories that continue to make me laugh! Aimz came down and joined us for the breaky this year after a bout of food poisoning the night before ruled her out last year, good decision as she managed to win the Specialized helmet as well which means she is one step closer to getting on a bike... ;)
The panel was great; Blatchford, Granger and Snowy are a bunch of great people with a heap of experience and even more stories. You know it's a good panel when you have the likes of Mel Hauschildt and Jamie Jacobs sitting in the back row for kicks. Scored a kick arse goodie bag this year as well, Witsup flat caps? Well played Stef, well played!

Stef and the great panelists for the morning! Thank you all!
Photo credit to Korupt Vision

Saturday is the most awesome day of the weekend I think. There is just sooo much going on. Yes, yes the day before a race you should be feet up chilling out of the sun... But when you score VIP tickets to the Asics 5km bolt, the Legends race and the Women's and the Men's Crit then how could you possibly not go and watch?!?

Benny J from Noosa Bike Shop off the front of the Men's Crit

I did drag myself away long enough to jump in the water with the crew for a swim of the course. First time in my new Huub swim skin also which was good, surely this last minute purchase would dramatically change my race right? Haha. Rest assured that I have been thinking about one for ages as I race in a 2 piece suit, and if you have ever tried to swim in a 2 piece suit you will understand...! I liked it, felt sleek and fast and not restrictive, good sign!

Saturday arvo pre-race swim is always a good laugh!

Most nights before a race I like to sneak away and have a quiet diner to relax, although when in Noosa the race is just part of the trip, so what's a glass of wine and a meal with half the squad the night before? Love it.

Nothing new on race day = wine the night before

I'm not sure who decided to interrupt the weekend with a race (rude), but come Sunday morning I was with the masses setting the bike up for the day. Feeling relaxed and casual, which I'm never sure is a good or a bad thing? Either way my wave start wasn't for 2 hours again so I had time to go home, chill out and relax a bit.

Transition. Well not even half of it actually... crazy place!

Unfortunately my magic swim skin didn't save the day for me, I felt like I had a reasonably good swim to be honest, my wave must have been full of Poms as I'm almost certain that I was one of the first few out the water, as I don't wear a watch in the swim I didn't have any idea of how I actually swam (not great) which meant at least I was positive heading out on to the bike!
 

25-29 Wave start... Punch on lads

I love the Noosa bike course, that slow climb out of town to the bottom of Garmin Hill lets the legs warm up and the body settle down. We were lucky this year to not have the sun beaming down on us which I think made a difference, although it was windier than last year. I hit the base of the hill having no-one pass me which is always a nice feeling, keeping a solid tempo up the hill I let 2 guys go past who looked like they wanted KOM, all theirs... Across the top section I was caught by another 2 guys and couldn't quite hold on as they went past which was pretty frustrating, started to think that my Port 70.3 legs might be coming back to haunt me... From the turn I managed to pick up a TO for pretty much the entire leg back into town... They weren't watching me so much as moving from bunch to bunch up the road from me, although as I was moving quicker than the bunches ahead I kept catching and passing them... not really an issue until they decided to have a conversation with someone on the decent doing about 60km/h and I had to actually scream at them to get out of the farking way as clocked 85 on the way down (love that hill).

Love a bit of speed!

Off the bike in 1:04ish I thought was reasonable considering how I was feeling, 2mins slower than last year but that's cool. Really wanted to have a good run, so eyes up. Plus Tommy hadn't caught me yet where last year he got me as we came in to T2 so that was a good sign.

Telling myself I feel great heading out on the run

Hit the run and tried to settle down, running around 4:05-4:10's which I was comfy with as I just wanted the legs to come good so I could have a real crack in the back half. What's that saying about best laid plans? Hrmmmm.... Once again the few km's either side of the turn I struggled, slipping back to 4:20-4:30's for a while there... Someone always used to tell me to talk yourself through the run when you are tired and focus on form, so I was just going over and over in my head to run tall and have quick feet. Must have worked to some degree as I managed to come good (well better) the back half and run home reasonably strong. No where near what I wanted, but happy that I managed to dig myself out and come home strong, good mental win.

Anyway, that's enough race talk. Finish chute was amazing as always, over the line, grab a cup of water and flop back in the river. Done. Beer time.


Quick bite to eat and the first of a few vodkas for a mate who won't take no for an answer before heading to the Surf Club to enjoy the afternoon. Like every year th.... --INFORMATION MISSING-- ..r pizza which was delicious!

Epic party image

The next day in Noosa is usually beach day, but with the rubbish weather it was a let down... A quiet BBQ on our rooftop was about all that could be mustered. Pretty quiet night with some good people and not a drop of alcohol to be seen anywhere as we are all athletes.

Unlike last year, we managed to stay around for the Melbourne Cup this year. Excellent decision. Ended up a pretty good crew who stuck around for it.

Civilized and glamorous Melbourne Cup

It's a shame that the sun came out to play on the day we were dressed to impress. Really would have been a great day for an afternoon on the beach and a bit of a swim. I bet the water would have been warm and inviting... Shame that we will never know... Right?