IM Austria 2009

[Philippa Crocker]

From Eric :
This is incredible 44 athletes on the final Austria 2009 List

Though some of you have yet to enter - please can you confirm your entry to Eric as there are others wanting your slot if you don't want it!

Its going to be a great Party!

Those on the list at the moment are:
Andy Bromley, Dave Meikle, Derek Johnson, Duncan Taylor, Eric Downey, Fiona Flower, James Eastwood, Kes Alekanvicius, Kevin Buttle, Lee Francis, Rich Coleman, Mark Chivers, Matthew Robinson, Michael Kirley, Mike Williams, Matt Langdon, Nigel Cox, Paul Shepherd, Philippa crocker, Rich James, Robin Howe, Ross Campbell, Steve Penman, Louisa Andrews, Steve Sheppard, Steven Light, Vic Newman, Jan Melichar, Gary Snailham, Andy Hodges, Andy Gussey, Mike Flower, Simon Williams, Tom Fisher, Helen Hardwick, John Scanlon, Raj Soni, Ross Hale, Chris Glover, Sean Lancaster, andy page, Jer Dale, Mark Dunstone, Colin Pemble

[the eel]

Dear All,

The Kingswood Tri Club priority entries have now all gone - so you will have to enter at Active Europe www.activeeurope.com/ on the 13th July - be quick they will be gone within 10 hr's!

You would be more than welcome share in any of the travel/accomodation arrangements we have - once entered just let me know and I will put you on the circulation list.

[richcoleman]

Managed to grab one of the last remaining slots ! Hoping to meet up with a few old ( Rich James, Andy Bromley ) and new faces. In the process of joining KIT - may even purchase some club gear.
Planning to come up ( from Bleadon ) for some training sessions. If anyone fancies coming down this way for a change, please let me know. I work at Churchill Sports Centre which is great for Mendips, running and road/mountain biking. We've got a couple of ( free ) open water training venues down this way which are proving very popular - even had Spencer Smith turn up the other week ! Austria's a year away - but the clock is ticking !

[Philippa Crocker]

Hi Rich

so what are your "( free ) open water training venues" like and when could we use them?

and is the Churchill Sports centre near the ski slope?

thanks

p

[richcoleman]

Hi Phillipa,

We've a few open water options down this way:

1. River Huntspill at West Huntspill - Really taken off over the past couple of years. A 1000m straight section. Non tidal so always swimable. Usually people in on a Friday evening throughout the summer. It's a river so nowhere near as clear as Lake Worthersee but you will appreciate it even more on race day !
2. Axbridge Reservoir - Only to be swum early mornings or late evenings when sailing club members are not out and about. Water tower to water tower is around 3/4 mile. Not officially permitted and the sailing club members throw a wobbly if they spot you. Very clear water - some big fish !
3. Clevedon boating lake on sea front. Actually possible to do a 400m triangular loop. Several swim / run events have been staged here. Nice one for family as they can watch and have a drink in the adjacent pub.
4. Woolavington Water Park. Somerset Tri organise swim sessions on a Monday evening at 7pm. Large shallow lake, anyone welcome. cost £ 5.

Yep, Churchill Sports Centre is close to Ski centre. We've a 20m pool. Great base for mountain bike ride on Mendips though. Safe parking and close to Rowberrow, up past The Crown. We even offer a hose that riders can use after. A couple of us who work there regularly ride so can offer advice on routes etc. We occasionally get out for night rides - great fun !

Rich

[richcoleman]

IM Austria filled up in just 92 minutes !

[the eel]

WE ARE IN THATS THE MAIN THING!

[Philippa Crocker]

From Eric's email

IMA Crew…. 

Bev is currently looking at accommodation for IMA but please see Matt’s e-mail below….

Not wanting to start a panic, but hear that all the popular hotels close to the iron village and even the campsite are already full. Demand for hotel rooms far exceeds supply in and around Klagenfurt during the Ironman weekend and a lot of hotels are also only taking bookings for 7 nights or more!
 
If you look on the IMA website there is a link to the local tourist office who can help find hotels, but with 40 or so athletes plus all our support crew, that's an awful lot of hotel rooms required. I recall there was talk of renting villas, but I don't know what (if anything) came of this. If we can't get something like this organised (someone needs to jump on it now), I think people need to be made aware of the situation so they can sort out their arrangements.


Matt

I think due to the size of the operation it may take more than one person to sort out – It would be great if we could all be close but I think we may have left if too late!!! Any offers from people to assist Bev?

[Philippa Crocker]

Well done and many thanks to Eric, Jer, Rich and Bev for sorting out the accom.

From Eric's email:

Dear All,

Sorry for the delay in sending the accommodation e-mail out but there has been a great deal of work done by Bev, Jer, Rich and myself to negotiate a number of different options:-

Hotel Gasthof Jerolitsch
Familie Schönfelder
Homepage: www.jerolitsch.at

www.caravan-interland.nl.
 
Caravan Interland
Ellen Baaijens

Nirvana Europe option

The accommodation comprises of a beautiful lakeside holiday village some 12km from Klagenfurt and the event site, on the edge of the National Park,

: [e-mail]
phone: [phone]

If you are already sorted please let me know so we can keep tabs of where people are staying.


Please note that the awards ceremony/ IM Hawaii roll down is on the Monday evening 6th July –so you will need – to check out on the Tuesday 7th July. I believe there are no cheap Ryan Air flights out on Monday any way! 

For confirmation of the proposed programme see below or go to www.ironmanaustria.at/en.htm

·  The athlete's band is valid as:
·  entrance ticket for the official swim training in Strandbad Klagenfurt (Thursday - Saturday from 8:00 - 10:00)
·  entrance ticket for the PastaParty (Friday 18:00)
·  entrance ticket for the transition area
·  entrance ticket to the awards ceremony at the lakeside stage (Monday 8:00 p.m)
·  entrance ticket to the awards ceremony banquet (Monday 6:00 p.m)


For details see below……

My preference is Hotel Gasthof Jerolitsch located 20 minutes walk from ‘Iron City’…it is relatively cheap at € 42,-- (2008) per person/day with breakfast: (maybe prices will rise in 2009, but only a few €. The hotel is Iron friendly and has been used by a buddy for the last three years he has gone to IMA! Check out the website it has its own swimming pool.

Hotel Gasthof Jerolitsch
Familie Schönfelder
Jerolitschstraße 43
9201 Krumpendorf/Wörthersee
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
E-mail: [e-mail]
Homepage: www.jerolitsch.at

I have managed to negotiate 9 single rooms, 13 double rooms, 8 triple rooms i.e. 59 beds at the same hotel…

Currently, we have a provisional booking at the above hotel subject to them receiving €4,000 from KIT –

To cover this amount we urgently need a £50 deposit per person to reach our Treasurer Jer Dale by Saturday 2nd August

If you are late with your deposit you will have to make your own arrangements with the hotel.

I have received the following room requests so far……..

Dates – arrive Friday 3rd July – Monday 6th July (4 nights) depart 7th July
Michael and Helen Downey – Double

Dates – arrive Thursday 2nd July – Monday 6th July (5 nights) depart Tuesday 7th July

Single
Eric Downey – single
Nigel Cox – Single
Andrew Tamblin –single
Shaun Lancaster – single
Matthew Langdon - single
Ross Hale – Single
Louisa Andrews – Single

2 singles left…..

Double
Rich James/ Steve Penman – Double
Lee Francis/Alex – Double
Jer Dale/Chris Glover – Double
Paul Sheppard/Stacy Sheppard – Double
James + Zoe Eastwood – Double
Kate Tamblin + Steve Sheppard  - Double
Michael Kirley + Kate - Double
Ross and Bev – Double
Mike and Philippa Crocker – Double
Mark and Claire Chivers - Double
Elle Sansivieri + Partner - Double

2 doubles left

Triple
Steve Light/Jess Light/Duncan Taylor – Triple
Vic and Claire Newman + Trish Wright - Triple
Fiona and Mike flower/ Rob Howe –Triple
Maggie, Andy and David Bromley – Triple

4 triples left

[richcoleman]

If anyone want's to see what the race is like, I've copies of IM Austria's race coverage from 2002 to 2006 ( sad I know ! ). Can burn off copies and stick in post. 2006 is probably the best as it's using the current 2 lap bike course ( it originally was a three lap cycle ).

Krumpendorf is a nice location, the IM run course goes through it. There's actually a surreal moment at Krumpendorf when you run though one of the public lakeside "beach" areas where there are hundreds of sunbathers laid out cheering you on whilst basking in the sun ( weather permitting ! ).

We usually stay the other side of the lake at Maria Worth. Easy to get around all the lakeside villages and Klagenfurt though, large lake boats/ferries/water taxis cruise around the Worthersee. You can purchase a weekly lake travel ticket really cheaply.

This will be our fourth visit to IMA so I'll try and put together a list of hints and tips / places to visit etc. It really is a fantastic event ( and beautiful part of the world ) - hence the reason we keep going back !

[the eel]

Rich I lookforward to the hints and tips cos I have to beat my coach in this race! He has experience I have youth!
See ya

[richcoleman]

IM Austria - Getting there.

A number of options to consider:

Driving - Never done this but apparently it takes around 15 hours ( to include toilet stops ) to drive from Calais to Klagenfurt. If you are looking for a route, check out some of the Ironman Austria threads on www.tritalk.co.uk.

Flying from Stansted - Ryanair fly directly into Klagenfurt airport which is probably around 20 minutes drive from Krumpendorf. The advantage of flying directly into Klagenfurt is that it's a tiny airport so you don't have to wait long when arriving and departing. On the other hand Stansted is a major airport so expect delays, especially when waiting for bikes. We've flown from Stansted and parked in the Pink Elephant car parks - you can pre book saving money and they have regular shuttle buses that run to and from the airport. I believe the flights are early afternoon.

Flying from Stansted - Easyjet fly to Ljubljana which is across the border in Slovinia. We've not done this but apparently its a couple of hours drive. There is also a train.

Flying from Bristol - Easyjet fly to Venice. From Venice you can either drive or catch the train to Klagenfurt. It's a nice drive straight up the motorway to Klagenfurt. You're meant to pay a toll ( you pull off the motorway to purchase a ticket ) as you enter Austria. However, Klagenfurt is one of the first exits in Austria so we did'nt bother. The other year some of our group caught the train, you can pre-book tickets. The only negative regarding flying from Bristol is that it's currently a evening flight so you either get off the plane and drive up in the dark or stay overnight in Italy.

Car Hire - I tend to use www.auto-europe.co.uk, if you book early their prices are hard to beat. The only negative is that you have to pay up front as opposed to when you collect the car. You never know who you'll be actually getting your car from but it always tends to be from the major operators. It pays to shop around when booking cars, you even get price differences between avis.com and avis.co.uk.

How to pack your bike - Bike box, Bike Bag or cardboard box ? Bike boxes are strong and secure but because of that, airport handlers tend to throw then around. I can recommend the Scicon model. Bike Bags are lighter and offer a fair degree of protection, they tend to get treated with a little more care. Neil Pryde models are regarded as possibly the best. If you add enough protection a cardboard bike box will do, airport staff seem to take more care when handling something that looks fragile ! The going rate for a bike on a plane is around £ 15 per flight, some airlines take the weight of your bike box/bag into your total weight allowance - check the terms and conditions and book your bike at the same time as you book yourself.

[Ed Stevens]

Drive... is the fuel cheaper in France, and en route? Might decide to CYCLE! It dont sound so far...

[the eel]

Rich,

A great summary of options - we are planning to send bike and kit over in a HGV - Matt Robinson /Nigel Cox have got a mutual trucker who comes with first class recommendations to take stuff there and back for about £90! - Final details not confirmed - not sure if we turned up with 50 bikes at Stanstead Ryan air might freek!

e

[richcoleman]

Certainly solves the problem of how to take your co2 cannisters !