Wildflower Long Course Triathlon
Saturday 4th May, 2007

I had heard about the Wildflower Half Ironman in the US and that it was one of the most challenging Half Ironman courses anywhere.  Definitely the toughest Half Ironman I have competed in.  I have never ridden or run over so many steep hills in a half.

Wildflower certainly lived up to its reputation!

And what a race it was!  It felt like I was at an Ironman event, with 1800 competitors and 19 wave starts.  The bad news my wave was No 18 and my start time was 9.25am.  But at least I didn’t have to get up at some ungodly hour like 4am to eat breakfast!

The day before the race I had heard that there was a “naked aid station”.  Naked, what could this mean?  Well, it meant that the volunteers were stark naked.  The boys and girls were simply handing out drinks and gels with it all hanging out, not that I was looking!
I placed 1st in my age group.  I felt great the entire race.  I actually set a new course record by 3 minutes, and placed 2nd amateur overall.

A few Aussies placed in the top 10.  Mirinda Carfrae placed 2nd and Kate Major Third.  On the men’s side Joe Gambles (4th) and Leon Griffin (9th) with the kiwi Bryan Rhodes placing 10th.

For me, Wildflower was a pre Ironman Brazil warm up (27th May).  Perfect timing, I am always keen to do a half ironman 3-4 weeks out from an Ironman race.

The beauty of racing overseas is that you get to see so many other beautiful and interesting cities.  Therefore on the 8 hour drive it took from Palm Springs, CA we drove through the County of San Luis Obispo beautiful wine country and midway between Los Angeles and San Francisco.  One hour North was the city of Paso Robles and that is where Lake San Antonio was set.

Another beautiful area was the County of Santa Barbara, an area I would live in tomorrow, but sooooo expensive!  However, it was here we discovered a little town called Solvang, a Danish look-alike city.  The best part is we learned that it is where Lance Armstrong and his Discovery team hang out every January to train.  We actually had a cup of coffee in the Bulldog Café where photos of the owner, Lance and his team were spread across all the walls of the Café.

A little piece of trivia, Solvang means “Sunny Field” in Danish.  Oh in Solvang there is a restaurant which makes the best Danish pancakes!

If you ever get to go to Solvang, I highly recommend you try Paula’s Pancake House, 1531 Mission Drive, Solvang, CA 93463.

Next Ironman Brazil, an encounter I am looking forward to.