Hi Mel
Just thought I'd say well done in the race on sunday - you really blasted that bike course! I was also very impressed with the professionalism and friendliness that you showed whenever I saw you at the race site - always ready to say hi to anyone.
The whole experience of the race for me sounded much the same as in your report - the people, country and food (especially the pre and post race parties!) was just brilliant. My race went Ok - had an alright swim but found the bike mentally quite challenging - all that climbing with only a little downhill to show for it! Will definitely be back for more next year!

So Alan, where did you stay, how far from the airport was the race site and howmuxh English was spoken? I would love to do this race but my Italian is non-existent so far.

I would be travelling from England so the flights would not be that far but the language could be a problem.

Villacidro is about an hours drive away from Cagliari airport. I flew from Stansted with Easy Jet into Cagliari. The race venue is about a 2 minute drive from Villacidro. Last year I made a bit of a holiday of it in Sardinia so didnt actually stay anywhere near the race (I was on the coast), but am going to stay in the town this year as i'm only there for the weekend. I went through the accommodation _link_ on the race website.

The language is no problem - my Italian is quite limited but the people at the race are so friendly and helpful that you can easily get by.

I would reccommend doing this race to anyone but make sure you do some training in the hills and you try and get some heat acclimation done (oh and get ready to do some eating and drinking - the hospitality is fantastic!!)

Thanks for the information Alan, I shall be visiting Xterra Italy either 2007 or 2008 for sure now.

Julian