Away by Sea to Bintan

The weekend of the 26th of May, found us taking a long planned for trip to the Holiday Island of Bintan for the running of the Bintan Triathlon.

Bintan is a 50 minute Ferry ride to the South of Singapore and is a very nice holiday destination for the good folk of Singapore. 

We set out on Friday afternoon at around 2:00 pm as I thought that I would be able to get on my way before a majority of the triathletes started making their way to the island.  I also thought that it would be OK for the girls to get away a couple of hours early from school, or even not go at all, because, well they are so far ahead on their school work, right?  I did book the whole trip back in February, so I was pretty optimistic at that stage, with the whole year ahead of us.

Well, the ferry was absolutely jam packed with competitors travelling to the island, all skipping out of Singapore for a P.O.E.T.S Friday.  As for the girls getting away early, well there were a number of school assessments planned for both Gabriella and Sophie the Friday that we planned to take off.  They had to go to school until lunch time and race like crazy to get to the ferry terminal before the gates closed for the scheduled ferry.  Fortunately I had been able to get there early and check in the bikes before the big press that came as the girls were arriving from school.  As it turns out they made it with but minutes to spare.  Not as relaxed as I'd imagined it, but we soon started to get that long weekend feeling and the anticipation of our exciting adventure began to grow. 

Even back in February, all the reasonably priced rooms at Nirwana Resort Hotel, the host venue for the event, were sold out.  Other accommodation in this complex and those nearby was pretty expensive for the four of us.  So I booked at a remote hotel on the North East Coast of the Island called Bintan Cabana Beach Resort.  This was about 30 km from the Ferry terminal but proved to be very accessible by hotel shuttle bus and taxi.

The resort arranged for us to be picked up at the Ferry terminal in Bintan and there were quite a few fellow travellers with us on route to the East coast of the island.  Among our companions on the bus were a party of Singaporeans who seemed to be intent on letting their hair down.  After a couple of the girls spilt beer all over themselves and the floor of the bus, and one of the young men nearly fell out the door as we drove out of the car park, I felt that I could have been on a bus with a bunch of Aussies and Kiwis in London's  Earl's Court in the1970s. 

The Resort was perfect for us.  The staff were deligthful and very helpful.  The food was delicious and inexpensive and the accommodation was comfortable. As it was a little bit out of the way, most of the other guests were Indonesian residents and not international tourists, though we as english speakers were well catered for. So it was a great base for us during our stay on the island.

Shivering on the Equator!
And the rain tumbled down.

Saturday we travelled by local taxi back to the Triathlon venue.  The triathlon was lots of fun.  Although, for a while we were not sure if it would ever get underway.  Half an hour before the scheduled race start the skies opened and the island was deluged.  This was OK, but with it came some pretty serious lightning.  So the race start was delayed, initially for 30 minutes.  Some 45 minutes after the scheduled start the rain had moved on.  By this time however, every one was shivering with cold.  Fortunately, the sea temperature was unaffected by the rain.  It was much warmer in the water than out, so I used a quick swim in the ocean to get my body temperature back up.

About an hour after the scheduled start, we were off.  It was a relatively small field, so all the males doing the Olympic distance event started at the same time.  All 410 of us.  For the first 350 m I don't think I swam so much as climbed over the bodies of my fellow competitors and they over mine in turn.  But for all that it was relatively quick swimming because one could gain a very big drag from the surrounding swimmers.

The swim leg was 2 laps, allowing a short rest at the half way mark.  I swam OK until the last 300 m when I started to lose my way a bit, started zigging and zagging across the course and consequently dropped my speed.

My first transition was fast.  I have developed the technique of strapping my bike shoes on while ridding so I don't spend time pulling on my shoes and trying to run in the bike shoes which is a bit awkward.  To do this I bought some new bike shoes.  It is impossible to achieve this feat if you are wearing a pair of shoes with a tongue.  This shoes I have are Shimano TR-32s and they feature a design that is fold over enabling me to slip them on while on the bike without too much risk of ending up, face first, on the road.  Using this technique I was able to take about a minute and a half off my normal transition time with a small drop in my speed for the first 300 m of the bike leg.

The bike leg at Bintan was quite a challenge.  Not for the usual reason in the equatorial region, heat, but for the hills.  Don't get me wrong, the hills were not exceptionally tough, but there are no hills to train on in Singapore, so any small slope is a challenge.  This took the sting out of quite a few competitors' legs, mine included.  For all that it was a fun course.  Particularly nice was the route we took through one of the local villages.  The citizens of Bintan gave us a lot of support when we needed it at around the 30 to 35 km mark.  It was great to see the families lined along the course to cheer us on as we sped past.  And speed we did.  It was a nice flat section of the course, and with the crowd support I got a bit carried away.  I tried a bunny hop over one of the speed humps in the road and had to remind myself to calm it down 'cause it would be tooooo embarrassing to throw the bike down in front of the spectators, no matter how much fun I thought I was having.

My second transition was nearly as quick as the first and took 52 seconds.  This was the 5th fastest transition for my age group and I am very happy with this part of my race.

Competitor 1809 finished and officially medalled

The run was really nice.  Two 5 km laps in cool, overcast conditions.  A few sharp hills but all in all a pretty good course.  This is a very tough part of the triathlon.  I noted a lot of competitors having trouble at this time.  One guy tripping over his own feet, another runner going along quite smoothly and then making a sharp grab for a cramping hamstring.   There were a number of casualties.  I was closed to cramping for the last lap but was able nurse myself over the line.  Great joy and very happy did I feel.

We got back to a beautiful sunset that we witnessed from the privacy of our hotel room balcony.

Sunset, Bintan Cabana Beach Resort



Gabriella powering out of the water after the swim leg



The next morning was the girls' turn to compete.  Sunday we were up early again and back across the island for the Youth Triathlon.   The course was a bit shorter than the Olympic distance and sprint distance events held the day before, and the weather was wetter.  Great for keeping cool, but absolutely treacherous on the bike leg.  Many parents were displaying maximum angst as we watched the youths and kids attack the final corner that led to a steep and very slippery decline to the transition point.  Fortunately, no one dismounted unintentionally, and we all breathed a sigh of relief when the last rider made their way safely onto the run course.

After the race we spent the afternoon having lunch and chilling out at the Nirwana Resort.  The pool at the resort is pretty impressive, so hopefully, next time we travel to Bintan for the annual triathlon, we get to spend more time in the pool then around it.

All in all, we had a great weekend.  The triathlon was very well organised.  The transfer from the ferry to the resort was all taken care of by the ferry company and the bikes stored securely at the resort.  I would definitely recommend this event to anyone who wanted to compete in a triathlon in this wonderfully tropical location.



Sophie powering out the water after her swim leg 





Local Iguanas at the lizard zoo in the Nirwana Resort Hotel