3rd Division Bosbaan Triathlon by Gijs
Last Saturday, the 3rd division final was held at the Bosbaan Triathlon in Amsterdam.This was a team relay race in a wet and very cold (15.8ºC) 250m swim, 5km cycling around the Bosbaan and a whole kilometer run. Julian was our starter. He was fortunate that he was able to start and could adapt to the water to cool off , but continued with a good swim time. Two quick and clean transititions and a dashing run he came in 6th position in the relay area, where I (Gijs) was ready to take over the proverbial stick. In good spirit I started my very first triathlon and I dived a little reluctantly into the cold water. Immediately, thanks to my not-too-graceful dive, my goggles came off, however I continued and five minutes later I was already happy on my bike. The cycling went pretty smooth, and I even overtook two participants who had flown past me in the water. At the end of the cycling part I got cramps but fortunately 1000m away Maarten already was ready to relieve me. Maarten continued his race as we are used to a good lap time and then send Gaston on his way. Gaston began with a superb dive to a fast swim followed by a rapid bike leg and then he sat the extra loop section including heroic 200 meters towards the finish. We finished in a stunningly beautiful 13th place, best result of the season in discipline in which we weren’t too comfortable with.