Triathletes have a repute for being obsessive relating to having the flashiest, most aerodynamic bikes obtainable, full with aero extensions, deep dish wheels and, after all, all-carbon every part.
And whereas the saying “aero is every part” may as effectively be the unofficial motto of triathlon, occasionally you’ll come throughout an athlete who couldn’t care much less about what bike they’re driving or their coefficient of aerodynamic drag (CdA).
On the Ironman 5150 race (1.5km swim, 40km bike, 10km run) in Mont-Tremblant, Quebec on June 21, such athlete lined up at the beginning with an upright, basket-equipped Bixi bike share bike — the type sometimes used for metropolis commuting — racked in transition, prepared for the 40-kilometre biking leg of the occasion.
The athlete? Nicolas Malguy, who competed within the 25-29 males’s division and completed the race in a complete time of three hours and 44 minutes, good for a division placement of 103th out of 118 starters.
Malguy, who’s at present primarily based in Montreal however hails from France, prefers basketball to triathlon however tries to do not less than one short-course triathlon each couple of years.
“I did my first triathlon in 2015 with my uncle and ever since, have tried to do one yearly or each different yr with my household,” Malguy advised Biking Weekly. “However for this triathlon, I barely had time to coach as I moved to Canada in December 2024 and needed to spend my weekends exploring Canada and the U.S.”
Whereas most triathletes observe a rigorous coaching routine to arrange for his or her triathlon of alternative, Malguy leaned on his health from pick-up basketball video games and a handful of visits to the pool earlier this yr. He didn’t do a single coaching trip forward of the race.
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In actual fact, he didn’t actually have a bike till three days earlier than the occasion.
“I used to be speculated to convey my Decathlon street bike from France to Canada after I returned residence for a bit in April, however that didn’t pan out,” Malguy defined. “Then I believed that I’d hire a motorbike for the 5150 race, however the weeks handed and shortly it was about two weeks earlier than the race and I nonetheless didn’t have a motorbike, so I believed, let me attain out to Bixi. I’m already utilizing them to get round city, so why not ask them for a motorbike to make use of for the race?”
Bixi was based in 2014 and now operates greater than 11,000 bikes in its Montreal-based bike share community. Intrigued by Malguy’s request, Bixi agreed to mortgage Malguy a brand-new Bixi bike from its Montreal headquarters.
Malguy picked up the bike on the Wednesday earlier than the Saturday race. When he wheeled it into the transition space on Friday —Ironman guidelines requires athletes to test of their bikes the day earlier than— it immediately turned heads. Parked between rows of modern carbon-fibre triathlon machines value 1000’s of {dollars}, this upright, heavyweight basket bike regarded wildly misplaced. It wasn’t lengthy earlier than images of the sudden trip began circulating on social media.
On race day, Malguy beloved the cheers he obtained from the group as he hit the bike course on his Bixi.
“It was loopy as a result of as quickly as I took off on the bike, all people was yelling and cheering like loopy for me,” Malguy mentioned. “I used to be not ready for that – it was so cool to have individuals motivating me throughout the race.”
With its hefty weight and restricted gearing, the Bixi was hardly constructed for the hilly course, forcing Malguy to spend a great portion of the trip out of the saddle. It was sufficient to make him want he’d educated just a bit extra, however he loved himself all the identical.
“The bike course glided by rapidly. As a result of I stood a lot to climb the hills, I didn’t get glute or low again ache. My greatest concern all the time was if my chain fell off, as a result of it’s not simple to entry the chain on a Bixi,” he mentioned. “However happily, all went easily.”
Malguy will return the borrowed Bixi within the coming days, however he’s already planning one other Ironman-branded race — and once more, on a Bixi.
“I feel that possibly subsequent yr I’ll prepare for the half-Ironman [in Mont-Tremblant],” Malguy mentioned. “I’ll attempt to try this race with a Bixi as a result of now that I’ve performed one race with a Bixi, I can not do a race with a ‘regular’ bike.”
