By LACHLAN MOORHEAD
AS IF being a council CEO wasn’t time consuming enough, add an international triathlon to the mix and you have a very busy schedule.
Instead of putting his feet up during his time off last month, Casey CEO Mike Tyler used it to represent Australia in the International Triathlon Union (ITU) World Championships in London.
Selected as part of the national team, Mr Tyler competed in the event for the second year running. He raced in both the Sprint Distance and Olympic Distance triathlons, the latter of which involved a 1500m swim, a 40km bike ride and a 10km run.
Mr Tyler said it was a buzz just to be in London wearing the Australian uniform.
“We competed on an Olympic course from 2012, not that you actually saw much of that in the race,” he said.
“It was chilly, quite cold. The air temperature was so cold that they reduced the swim length.”
Competing on part of the former Olympic course, Mr Tyler had the opportunity to traverse a number of iconic British landmarks, including Hyde Park, St James Park, Buckingham Palace and then along the Thames River to the Tower of London.
And if that wasn’t enough exercise, Mr Tyler stopped by Trento in northern Italy after London to compete in the final of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) World Cycling Tour.
As part of the tour, Mr Tyler rode through La Marmotte, a 174km race with part of it running across four mountains – Col du Telegraphe, Col du Glandon, Col du Galibier and Alpe d’Huez.
“They had a very late winter in Europe, and there was plenty of snow left,” Mr Tyler said.
“The Col du Galibier was in the Giro in May this year and they had to truncate the stage up the Galibier four kilometres below the summit because of heavy falling snow.”
To prepare for the intensive competitions, Mr Tyler had increased his training over the last few years, riding at least 45 kilometres on most mornings.
“The amount of exercise I try and do and the intensity has increased,” Mr Tyler said.
“Hopefully, it can lead to bigger possibilities.”
Asked if he would compete in the events again next year, Mr Tyler said he would definitely like to try.
“That’s the benefit of ageing, every five years you go into a new age category.”
