2014 - Brevet (long distance >200km..) Road Bike Races in Greece

PLEASE, CLICK ON THE TAB AT THE TOP OF THIS BLOG (titled:
' 2014 - Brevet (long distance >200km..) Road Bike Race Calendar in Greece  ') FOR THE MOST RECENT UPDATE OF THE BREVET ROAD BIKE RACE CALENDAR.
THE  POST BELOW IS NOT UPDATED ANYMORE AND IT IS ONLY KEPT HERE AS A REFERENCE. THANK YOU!

Thank you all..

..for visiting my blog! I thought it is a good idea to share with you some of my blog's statistics to let everyone know where visitors were mainly coming from during 2013. This is shown on the map below:

 

The countries shown in blue are those who have visited this blog. The darker the blue colour the more the visitors. However, what matters is that I write this blog for fun and I like sharing with you freely my sports experiences and news. I hope there is something useful in this space for everyone. Thank you again!

What has happened to my 'rowing' blog space? The start of a new season.

As the name of this blog suggests, it includes topics about triathlon and rowing. But, the title of the blog has now changed into 'Triathlon and Cycling in Greece'. Why is that?

Firstly, I would like to say that I am a huge fan of rowing. The sport of rowing fits me exceptionally well. I have the right body shape for this sport and it's a perfect exercise too, as it's a sport that trains the entire body (one rowing stroke uses about 80% of your body muscles! Which other gym machine do you know that can do this?). In addition, I have performed pretty well as a part-time rower: I've participated in 4 Greek indoor rowing championships, I've managed two first places and two second places, plus a national record that I set in 2009. I also raced in the European Championship in 2012 finishing a respectable 7th place between top rowers all across the continent. I loved and I still love rowing a lot, it gives me a complete satisfaction and fulfilment when I train, race and improve my conditioning on this machine.

But, the main obstacle is equipment provision. Indoor rowing is not popular in Greece. I really straggled a lot to identify a gym near my home, which can provide an indoor rower. Between about a dozen of gyms, only 1 of them had an indoor rower - just one machine and yet that was an old make model that did not give correct and accurate readings anymore.. On top of this the subscription fees to this particular gym were exceptionally high - I was paying around EUR 180 for a three month subscription..back then (to give you an idea, an annual gym subscription in Greece costs on average around EUR 250). But, I didn't mind, as I was so excited about it and I was willing to take off cash out of my pocket for indoor rowing.

Now this has changed and it's a kind of luxury for me to keep doing this. In addition, I couldn't find any partners interested to share training sessions and keep myself motivated. I was fine training on my own during the first 2 years about 5 times a week, but I gradually realised that I needed a kind of a team to keep my excitement going forwards. Furthermore, there were not many (only 1 actually..) indoor races organised in Greece. Apart from the main indoor rowing championship held every December in Athens, there wasn't anything particularly going on around this sport in general. I was training hard and consistently for 5 months only to race a 3 minutes event once a year. This wasn't what I was looking for. I wanted some more action and competition around me, which I couldn't find.. I had huge reserves of energy to put into rowing, but there was only one event every year that gave me the chance to release it. Not enough for me.

So, during this year ( Aug. 2013), I decided to switch into different sports with the hope to involve myself in races all year around and in addition to find some training partners. In these terms, triathlon was always a very exciting idea at the back of my mind. I was racing triathlon events during my indoor rowing season, as a means to cross-train and refresh my mind. I soon realised that triathlon provided more or less what I was looking for: Action, competition, many events, chance to meet other athletes easily, train with others, direct access to commonly found equipment/facilities (bike, track field, swimming pool), challenges and a very variable mixture of three different sports all in one...etc .etc...

So, 2013 has been the turning point for me in terms of sports. I leave indoor rowing behind (sadly) to welcome triathlon and cycling too! Both sports have exploded in popularity in Greece especially during the last 2 years. There are now more than 30 annual race events in Greece all together for triathlon and cycling. Every time I take my bike and cycle out, there would be at least one person that I will join or know from somewhere. My training and fitness have also improved dramatically since August, when I finalised my decision to make the change into triathlon and cycling.

I feel refreshed and motivated now. A nice way to welcome 2014 too!

See you out there and wish you all a happy 2014 with plenty of sports action, health and race events! :)

 (my bike dressed up for Xmas! On the background: the shiny cover bag of my windsurf race board)

The 2014 Triathlon Race Calendar in Greece (updated as needed)

PLEASE, CLICK ON THE TAB AT THE TOP OF THIS BLOG (titled: 'The 2014 Triathlon Race Calendar in Greece (updated as needed)' FOR THE MOST RECENT UPDATE OF THE TRIATHLON CALENDAR.

THE  POST BELOW IS NOT UPDATED ANYMORE AND IT IS ONLY KEPT HERE AS A REFERENCE. THANK YOU!

207km Brevet Road Bike Race - The Epic Event that changed the sport of cycling forever!

Some photos from the event

Map of the race course: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/393767916 -

Road Wheelset Review: Pro Lite Bracciano A42 Alloy Clincher Wheelset

Hello there! Thanks for visiting my blog.

Ok, reviewing a product is a tiring process, as it requires many things to be carefully explained and have them all well described, so that they are well understood to others. But this time, I felt it was worth going through a review for two main reasons: The first is that I've nearly spent 2 months searching for a new pair of road bike wheels, so this article might save others' time to take a decision or give them a brief guide to wheelset purchase. The second reason is that there are many nice interesting points to be mentioned about this product!

The review, as the title suggests, refers to the Pro Lite Bracciano A42 Alloy Clincher Wheelset (product page: http://www.pro-lite.net/road-wheels/bracciano-a42#page ) . This is Pro-Lite's a new product model on the market. It's a 42mm deep alloy rim (from edge to edge inc. braking surface) and it accommodates clincher type tyres. The comparison below is set against my existing Shimano WH-R500 standard wheels that came with my bike (Orbea's top of the range alloy Aqua T105 road bike). I am also into regular cycling and triathlon training for about 3 years now, so I believe that my experience plays some role too when reviewing this product.

The 2013 Athens Classic Marathon, Greece

Photo Album

Video of the first runner at the 32.5km

The Marathon race through a short road bike ride!


For a complete list of my videos, please join my YouTube channel here: http://www.youtube.com/user/glaros0

From no training to achieving a PB finish time in Olympic triathlon distance: My quick story for the 2013 tri-racing

A recap of the last and major triathlon events of the year: my story

I know that I've been pretty quite this year on my blog. If you see the new posts uploaded during 2013 you will notice that you can count them in the fingers of your one hand. Well, there are many reasons for this, mainly because I've been too busy with my full-time job and on top of this I've been dedicating almost my entire free time towards a potential job hunt all across Europe (applications, interviews, travelling, CVs, calls..).

It's the first time after many years that I realise my active participation into sports is at its minimum. In 2013, after 4 successful years into indoor rowing and systematic training, I decided to shift into triathlon. I have changed many sports in the past from basketball, into windsurfing, into rowing and now into triathlon, I like trying new things! However, for 2013 it was only during May-June and September-October when I managed to follow a rough training schedule - and still during those more active periods I didn't perform athletically in a structured manner. So, all in all, 2013 was a kind of 'time off-sports' for me as I had to sacrifice my sports for the things I mentioned above.

(shown on the left: Jan.2013, London from London-eye tourist attraction)

However, sports, training and racing has always been something inseparable from my life. I believe that sports must be integrated within everyone's routine, regardless how busy or free time you have available. Sports have always helped me to organise my mind and put things of life into an order.

In May 2013, after 4 months of complete absence from any real training due to an intense preparation of an important business trip to Ireland, I signed up for 2 Sprint distances and 1 Olympic distance triathlon races, which were to take place within a 5-week period! This sounds crazy, as everyone knows that triathlon in particular requires significant training in terms of volume and intensity. I will never forget my first ever tri-race in 2010, which left me with a huge surprise as to the amount of effort and pressure it is required to complete even a sprint triathlon race. But, for some unusual reason, this time I felt it was possible to go through this time-squeezed 3 race schedule - probably I've missed racing for triathlon and I felt that I was full of energy (mainly mentally) to accept the challenge.

The first ever Ironman Event in Greece - scheduled for the 20th September 2014

So far, the existing Triathlon Races in Greece have been for distances up to Half-Ironman.
This is a huge achievement, considering that triathlon in this country is still a relatively new concept for the majority of sports people.
To have an Ironman event being organised seemed an impossibility , until recently.

The first ever Ironman even in Greece is to take place on Monday 20 September 2014 (correct at the time of writing) by 3 Level Power. For more info you can click this link: http://www.threelevelpower.com/index.php?lang=en .

On Monday 14 October 2013 the Three Level Power organisation will initiate pre-event summits for the technical side of this event.

Well done guys, keep up the good job.

2013 Triathlon Race Calendar - Greece

Triathlon Races in Greece have exploded in number the last year or so.
Normally, competitors had to pick up races between from a number of 4-5 triathlon yearly races. Now, the sport has received so much attention that many organisers have taken the initiative to setup tri-races in various locations all around Greece (on main-land and islands) and throughout the year (i.e. dualthons).

The races below do not require any subscription with the Greek (or any other) triathlon federation or triathlon team, etc.
From my experience, most organisers are requiring you to bring a medical certificate from cardiologist (issued the last 6 months or earlier) to provide a proof of your ability to race safely and have a declaration form signed up prior to race (each organiser uploads such form/s on his/her website for the race under consideration). I am stating this as a general guidance, for those who might be coming from abroad to Greece to join a race.
Please, contact the organiser to check the essential documents needed every time you want to take part in any race. Everyone speaks English in this country, even if they have never learned it before!

(dates below correct at time of writing: 1 May 2013. Check the link at the end of this page for updates, but I will try to make sure I keep the list below updated too!)

Tri-regards!

2013 Race Calendar Greece

(last update: 3 September 2013)

• 12.05.2013, Sprint & Olympic Triathlon, Astros (Peloponesse), www.threelevelpower.com
• 19.05.2013, Sprint Triathlon, Schinias Bay, Athens, Attika www.transitionsports.gr
• 26.05.2013, 2nd Saronic Triathlon Race- Sprint Triathlon, Munipalicy of Saronicos, Anavissos (South Athens), www.triathlonworld.gr
• 02.06.2013,*** Sprint Triathlon, Psatha, Attika
• 02.06.2013,*** Aquathlon, Rodhos Island, http://cup.apollontriathlon.gr
• 09.06.2013, 3rd Metropolitan Triathlon Race – Sprint Triathlon, Elliniko, ,Munipalicy of Ellinikon, Athens, www.triathlonworld.gr
• 15.06.2013, ΧTERRA,Plastira Lake, www.xterragreece.com
• 29-30.06.2013, Sprint & Olympic “Glafkos” Triathlon, Karistos, South Evia (1 hour by boat from Rafina Port in Attika), www.glafkos.org/portal/
• 6-7/7/2013, X-EVENT LADONAS, Ladona Lake, www.mountain-sports.gr
• 13.07.2013, Sprint Triathlon, Doksa Lake, www.transitionsports.gr
• 21.08.2013, Aquathlon, Schinias, Athens, Attika, www.transitionsports.gr
• 25.08.2013,  Sprint, Tiros, Arkadia, www.run4green.gr
• 08.09.2012, Sprint, Tiros, Arkadia, www.run4green.gr
• 08.09.2013, Sprint & Olympic distance, Chania, Crete Island, www.threelevelpower.com
• CANCELLED: 22.09.2013 Messonghi Corfu Triathlon, Corfu, www.trisportshellas.com
• 15.09.2013 , Olympic & Half Ironman, Kalamata (South Peloponesse),  www.threelevelpower.com
• 29.09.2013, Sprint & Olympic Triathlon, Schinias, Athens, Attika, www.transitionsports.gr
• 20.10.2013, Sprint & Olympic Triathlon, location: to be considered,  www.threelevelpower.com

*Attika: County, with Athens its city.

(sources: http://www.triathlonworld.gr/hellenic-calendar-2013/ and https://www.facebook.com/groups/118822331562700/doc/253658668079065/ )

(above: Olympic Distance Triathlon Race, Schinias Bay, Attika)