Lindy excels at Xterra World Championships

Late in September, one of our incredible Gravity Girls members, Lindy, travelled all the way to Molveno, Italy to race the Xterra World Championships! The event is an off-road triathlon, consisting of a 1500m swim in Lake Molveno, 32km mountain bike ride with 500m of climbing, and a 10km trail run.

Lindy Loose on the podium

This event had over 1000 participants from over 55 different countries. The weather was not kind, and it was definitely a case of surviving the difficult conditions. The temperature was a chilly 11°C in the morning of the race, and the water temperature only 17°C. Lindy said that despite the wetsuit, she was cold by the end of the swim, and some athletes had to be pulled from the water with hypothermia.

Lindy put extra clothes on for the ride, and it took her over an hour to warm up. The ride was a mudfest thanks to heavy rain for the two days before the race. Lindy ended up walking 10-12km of the 32km course as her bike was so full of mud the wheels were jammed, and it was too slippery and thick to ride.

When she finished the ride, she was very surprised to only see one bike in her age category’s area, as she didn’t feel as though she was having a good race! She enjoyed the run, passed a woman and got passed by another, however when she crossed the finish line, she did not realise that the fast women was in a younger age category, and she had won!

We are all super proud of her, particularly as it was such a tough race. Enjoy your well-earned rest Lindy, and we look forward to seeing what you conquer next.