Ironman Austria: day 1 - arriving in Klagenfurt

The fun and games from the airport continued a little once on board the plane - let's just say Austrian Airlines won't be winning any awards for luxurious facilities or sufficient leg room in the near future - which meant I got a few minutes' sleep here and there. From Vienna Airport, a couple of trains got me to the main station and then it was a relatively pleasant and extremely picturesque four hour train journey to Klagenfurt.

view from the train

I'm going to blame tiredness over stupidity but, at the first time of asking, I sort of snoozed past Klagenfurt and it was only when I saw the Ironman village that I realised. So I had to get off at the next station and catch another train back. 

not Klagenfurt

This did allow me to see the Worthersee lake and the top part of the run course and, I have to admit, the bright turquoise waters of the lake totally took my breath away.

Eventually, I got to my hotel, unpacked but couldn't be bothered to put my bike together so I went for a wander around town and decided to go down to check out the Ironman village and register before it got busy - usually on Friday. 

view from the hotel

The town is lovely - sort of small, traditional city with lovely architecture that is joined to the Worthersee by a several kilometre long canal which is also where part of the swim takes place and part of the run follows. The walk was much longer than I expected but gave me the chance to recce that section of the run course.

the canal

optimistic graffiti artists

Registering was straightforward, and the expo was impressive. It was, as predicted, still quiet but there were loads of stores, some selling brands I've never heard of. I looked around for 10 minutes and bought a couple of CO2 cannisters I needed, then had an ice cream down on the beach overlooking the lake. Beautiful.

Back to the hotel, bike together and it was time for a ride. I rode the first 15km or so of the 90k loop (it's a two lap bike course) and it's fair to say that it's anything but flat. But the rolling terrain is lovely, continually asking questions and forcing you to concentrate. A road block on the way back meant I had to divert inland and tackle a couple of decent-sized hills. I span up very easy but I don't think a couple of hills will have done me any harm. It was a really enjoyable ride and the road surface is almost as good as in Dubai.

more Worthersee views from the bike ride

After a shower, I went to the town square to wattch the Germany v Italy match with several hundred others but only lasted 20 minutes. 

imagine if Austria were actually in the Euros!

may need one of these for my bike come Sunday

streets of Klagenfurt

I was too tired and wasn't in the mood - home for pizza and a glass of wine was a much better idea. All in all, a good day here in lagenfurt with the only downside being that organisers are talking of temperatures reaching 37C on Sunday. I may have the advanatge of coming from Dubai but I still don't like or race well in the heat, so I'm about to say a little prayer for clouds before going to bed.