Holly was scheduled to depart July 10^th and I asked her to put the missing items (spares) into her carry-on. When she called the next day I expected her to be in Vienna waiting to board her flight to Klagenfurt. Not so, she was still in Chicago, having missed her flight the day before because of bad weather.

Now I started to get antsy. I needed bike shoes, nutrition, etc. Fortunately I had received my old running shoes so I did get a run in and also biked in them. I had one day to somehow round up the missing items. Fellow racers offered me various items but I couldn’t find Speedplay cleats. Meanwhile I bought nutrition stuff, Body Glide, race belt, etc. The day before gear check-in, my small duffel finally arrived (four days late) and all was well. Holly arrived the next day with my spares, but without the rest of her luggage. She looked cute in my shorts and shirts. I had enough stuff now for a yard sale.

While there:

We again had joined Ken Glah’s Endurance Sports Travel which took the hassle out of getting to the expo, pasta dinner, race day and post race activities. Ken had folks staying in four different hotels, all in walking distance to where we stayed, which was across the street from the Woerthersee. With shuttles running all day, it was easy to get to Klagenfurt for shopping, dining and sightseeing.

Race day:

After dropping off my bike special needs bag I headed to the swim start. There were more people than last year. In fact, 2463 started and 2291 finished.

Getting Excited

Swim Entrance

At 6:55, the sky showed the first glimmer of sunlight, it promised to be a perfect day. Last year I had problems with sighting, blue buoys, blue sky, blue water, (it didn’t bother Nina). Why blue I asked? I was told “that’s the color of Hypo Group, one of their main sponsors”.

This time the buoys where blue and orange, no problem, except they didn’t stay upright. Swimming at Lake Woerthersee is a pleasure. Water temp felt a bit warm for wetsuits, (they must have found an appropriate “cold spot”) but the lake is considered one of the cleanest in Europe.


This is a one-loop swim. The first turn was a straight 1500 meters out, than a left towards the canal. The last 900 meters are in the Lendt Kanal with many enthusiastic spectators lining both sides. I had a good swim (for me) and finished at 1:28, six minutes faster than last year.

Bike:

I’m always happy to get onto the bike. After about 5 minutes it started to rain, first a drizzle, than a downpour. After all that water for 1 ½ hrs, I really felt wet. The bike is a two-loop course and after a while the rain stopped and continued to drizzle on and off, perfect because it kept the temps down. Going into the race my goal was sub 13 hours (no Fox, not the bike leg) and having a negative split for bike and run. I finished the first loop at 3:15 hrs feeling great.

Faakar See Climb

Where’s the Bratwurst?

The second loop started out well, as in the first, I passed many folks and got up the Faaker See climb, average grade 6.8% kicking up to 10%. Holly was there for the first loop and took all the pictures of the day. It was going towards the last climb that the sky opened up again, this time it got dark with thunder and lightening bolts. It came in buckets but fortunately the road surface was good. Going up Rupertiberg, average grade 5.9% maxing out at 11.7%, was actually pretty cool, literally. I was told afterwards that some competitors had stopped there for 40 minutes to wait out the storm before descending. I knew what was in store going down the backside of the mountain. There’re three 90 degree turns, one left and two rights. Last year I almost wound up in someone’s flower box since the houses are set very close to the road and the turns come fast after hitting 40+ mph. This year someone had a bright idea and placed mattresses in front of the houses. Well, I got passed the mattresses OK. The next turn came up quickly and I saw someone crashing ahead of me and another rider was already lying against the curb. I gently squeezed my brake levers and nothing happened, too much water. I kept pumping the brakes, afraid I might lock up a wheel. Before my trip I had all3sports check the bike and Alex took a look at the brake pads and suggested they be replaced (thanks Alex).

Finally they grabbed and after a minor skid I eased around the turn. Man, was I ready for “Ein Grosses” (that’s a laaarge beer). Soon thereafter the rain stopped and I was moving well again. I finished the 2^nd loop in 3:10 for a total bike of 6:25, 10 minutes faster than last year.

Run:

While the bike has spectacular scenery and spectators who really seem to embrace the event, the run adds another dimension. Throughout the two-loop course there’s tremendous crowd support, second to none. Many have noisemakers, ring cowbells, dress up in all sorts of costumes and yell constant encouragements of HOP HOP, one big party. Klagenfurt was one of the host cities for the Euro Cup (European soccer championships) the preceding two weeks and I thought they might be partied out. Not!

The two-loop run course goes four times past our hotel Schuberthof. About 30 minutes into the run I felt pretty good and started to settle in. It was still cool from the earlier rain. Running thru the plazas’ in Klagenfurt was something else. There were masses of spectators, standing and sitting outside of restaurants and along the narrow roads cheering loudly. As with the bike, I was going for a negative split but after a while the sun came out again, got into the 80’s with high humidity, and I forgot to check my watch. I finished the run in 4:16, 23 minutes faster than last year.

The volunteers were again fantastic, aid station for bike and run were well stocked and the sponges and watermelon brought great relief.

Last years’ 13:07 prompted me to come back to Austria to give it another try. So, I’m happy with my 12:32.

Post-race and awards banquet:

Entertainment, an OK buffet and free beer made for a nice evening.

In case you wonder: What’s the guy in the green pants doing on the podium? Well, that’s local legend Franz Knor who’s usually on the podium in the 75-79 age group. This time he crashed on the bike and fell on the run, unable to finish the race. He was scheduled to go for x-rays the next day. But hey, there was a podium….

Afterwards we continued to party at the Schuberthof with friends and fellow competitors.

We finished our trip to Austria with great evening at the Gipfelhaus (Summit house) at Magdalensberg about 30 minutes from Klagenfurt. This is a family-owned business since 1856, offering local cuisine, lodging and banquet facilities. It’s truly a gem of a place, and the food, ah.

Celebrating my 67^th birthday with our Austrian friends Karin, Christian and Tanja.

Auf Wiedershen,

Karl