Finished!

Yesterday was a long, hard race for the competitors of the ITU Long Course World Championships. They had elite and age-group (aka non-pro) athletes from 30 countries. I saw competitors from Germany, Austria, Italy, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Switzerland, Portugal, Slovakia, Croatia, Poland, Bulgaria, Great Britain, Ireland, Spain, Russia, Brazil, South Africa, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. A Frenchman won.

It took Casey a little over 9 hours to complete it, and I'm really proud of him. Lots of people dropped out or couldn't finish in the 10.5 time limit, which was really tough. But this was the World Championships, so it was supposed to be tough. Many people afterwards said that they had done full Ironman races that were easier, though despite being longer, mostly because of the incredibly steep, hilly and windy bike course. Several Americans crashed on the bike, including a pro that won last year. He broke two bones and his bike. I was talking to another American competitor that had to drop out in the middle of the race because it was so tough, but the manager said that more of team USA finished than didn't. And these people were all hard-core, committed endurance athletes. That includes my own Casey, who is napping now, despite the noise outside our hotel in Munich. He's sun-burnt and sore, but otherwise in very good spirits.

He said it was a tough, but really fun race. He was biking up and down hills, but through beautiful countryside and through towns filled with spectators cheering madly, no matter nationality. It really gave them a boost. And Casey literally did get a boost from one fan!

This morning, we took the bus from Immenstadt to Munich and went straight to our hotel, which is very new and nice, and super-convenient for our train tomorrow morning to Paris. We've walked around a little and this afternoon, we're going to the famous Hofbrauhaus with folks from Team USA.