Xterra World Champs course preview
“Running rivers of mud and water” on the bike, says British age-grouper Leanne Hier
It’s the other Hawaiian triathlon world champs this weekend, with lots more mud expected for this one – perfect for the Brits!
With GB age-grouper Leanne Hier and her mum both out there right now for Sunday’s race, we asked her what the bike course is like…
“Wednesday was the official day to recce the full bike route,” she says. “Having done the first 5km and last 8km the day before, we were keen to check out the middle section and the famous razor ridge.
“We set off at 11am fully prepared with plenty of fluids ready for a hot day on the mountain. Two miles into the ride we had a welcoming drizzle which quickly turned into a torrential downpour. The 23% gradient climbs would be tough even on a good day but today everyone was sliding all over!
“Being typical road triathletes we had our tyres at too high a pressure, six months of mountain biking and we still haven’t learnt. We let out some pressure and felt a lot more confident with gaining more traction. This was short-lived, the downhill sections became running rivers of mud and water, challenging our skills and leaving me in some doubt whether I had what it takes.
“An hour and half later and after only achieving eight miles, we were met by Xterra Crew who re-routed everyone to the road below due to course integrity. I won’t say we weren’t pleased, it was a true mud fest, but we had made the most of it, seen the majority of the course and we were both still smiling and happy in the fact that the conditions couldn’t get much harder!”
Let’s hope the rivers abate for Sunday’s race! The action gets underway at 9am local time (8pm UK time), and there’ll be a live video stream and ticker here.
Are you racing the Xterra world champs this weekend? Let us know in the comments!
Jamie Beach
Former digital editor 
