On our 5th day here in Kona we were busy with the bike check-in for the 2013 GoPro Ironman World Championships. And it was a long hot afternoon.

One thing that stuck out was the massive amount of aero road helmets and regular road ones. There were still plenty of tailed helmets around, but it seemed that even those were mostly of the short tailed editions.


All images © Herbert Krabel / slowtwitch.com

Once the athletes managed to get through the entry gate they were welcomed by an army of volunteers.

About 20 minutes to 12 it started to get busy with folks lining up.

At times the line was quite long, but other times a little lull came in.

A massive number of bike counters were ready for a long day.

This custom painted Cervelo P5 was quite a looker, and the athlete had a nice matching kit.

Horst Reichel and Timo Bracht checked in relatively early.

Clayton Fettell seemed to be in a great mood.

As Mark Andrews from Trek looks on, James Cunnama and Jodie Swallow checked in.

A bit later in the afternoon Jordan Rapp rolled in and was able to cruise in.

After a brief stop to pose for the paparazzi Mirinda Carfrae was finally able on the way to check-in.

Mary Beth Ellis looked very good when she rolled by.

The very distinctive Trek Speed Concept of Dirk Bockel. It though seemed that he took off the draft box before he went in.

Amanda Stevens is likely to be one of the first females on the bike.

Sebastian Kienle and Luke McKenzie came to the check-in at the same time.

Caroline Steffen shared a laugh with the Cervelo crew and looked very relaxed.

Forum member Ken Rideout was selected and agreed to ride with a GoPro camera during the race.

Here Bevan Docherty was having fun with us.

German Pro Kristin Möller at the bike check-in.

Faris Al Sultan is a very popular athlete no matter where he shows up.

And the stream of athletes continued until late in the day.