The day before a big race day is always very busy, a strict timetable has to be kept. The first event was the bike recce. The roads were closed at 10am for all the triathletes to ride the course. It looked like mayhem as they all set off but all went well. I spent the time exploring the park . It's an enormous park with gardens, water features and lots of walkways which are used for recreational use. It always surprises me how many people are walking, running and cycling on a weekday morning. This wasn't a holiday region so I couldn't work out why these people weren't at work, but I have since found out that today is one of the many public holidays.
I walked up passed the 17 Km Vasco de Gama bridge across the Tagus River. I have only just realised that water front is a river and not the sea. On the way back I took a gondola ride which was a bit random but gave some nice views of the park.
I had arranged to meet Graham after his briefing at 1pm and I watched them all assemble for their team photo. The next event on the schedule was the racking of bikes at 4pm and Graham spent a long time memorising the bike location, after losing his bike in transition in the last triathlon, he was was determined that wasn't going to happen again. We had a few hours to chill before the parade of Nations.
The Parade of Nations is always a bit bizarre as the GB athletes rather dominate as they outnumber all other nations. The parade was just a short walk to the stadium where the pasta party took place. Hundreds of athletes queue for a plate of pasta and a drink and get entertained by opening speeches and formalities. Once the very loud band started playing it was a signal for all the older athletes to depart for an early night before the big day.