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Gael Rayes-Dominguez was competing in his first full Ironman Triathlon in Ottawa on Sunday, when his bike seat suddenly “exploded.”
He had just finished the swimming portion of the race and was roughly 30 kilometres into the 180-kilometre bike ride when the saddle seemed to crumble beneath him.
“At that point I was like ‘I might actually not finish,’” recalled Rayes-Dominguez. “That was a little heartbreaking.”
The athlete figured there wasn’t much he could do. The next aid station a couple of kilometres away and walking that far in his bike shoes seemed impossible.
That’s when two local cyclists, Frank Hamel and Eddie Palco, stepped in to save his race and get him across the finish line.
‘This would not be approved by a bike shop’
The pair had been cycling along the canal, tracking a few friends on the race app, when they noticed a distressed Rayes-Dominguez being tended to by an Ironman volunteer.
The cyclists quickly realized the competitor’s bike was out of commission.
“As we rode past I turned to Eddie and I said, ‘I’ve got tools, I’ve got spare tubes,’” Hamel explained in an interview with CBC’s Ottawa Morning. “If it’s mechanical maybe we can help them out.”
LISTEN | How two Ottawa cyclists saved a local racer’s Ironman:
Ottawa Morning5:41Local cyclists help fix Ironman Ottawa athlete’s bike mid-race
Frank Hamel recounts the story of how he and his buddy helped get an Ironman racer back on his bike mid-race.
When the men arrived, they found one of the two bolts that held the bike seat in place was gone. Without it the seat wouldn’t stay secure.
“You can’t really do another 150 kilometers without a functioning saddle,” said Hamel.
But, all hope was not lost. The Ironman volunteer went out to find the missing bolt and instead came back with an abandoned bike toolkit.
Inside was a spare inner tube and Hamel realized he could take the metal valve stem from the innertube and “MacGyver” it into a makeshift bolt.
Then he used the rubber part of the tube as a bungee cord to strap the saddle onto the bike frame.
Frank Hamel temporarily fixed Gael Rayes-Dominguez’s bike using on old inner tube as a bungee cord. (Submitted by Frank Hamel)
“I’m terrible with bike repairs,” said Hamel. “This would not be approved by a bike shop. It’s a pretty gross bodge for sure.”
The repair was good enough for For Rayes-Dominguez and he set off again.
‘I owe my race to them’
Even with a fixed bike, he knew his race was far from over. Also, because the repairs took about 30 minutes, he worried about making the cut-off time.
However, as soon as he hit the 140-kilometre mark, Rayes-Dominguez said he knew he could finish.
He ended the bike leg with 15 minutes to spare and was later cheered on by his friends while crossing the finish line after the running portion.
Hamel and Palco, who had been tracking the rest of his race on the app, were happy to see him finish.
“He later on reached out on Instagram and told us that the seat was surprisingly solid, so it was a non-issue after that,” said Hamel. “It was good to help him along the way. We were proud of that for sure.”
Rayes-Dominguez said he’s grateful to Hamel and Palco for helping him find a way to keep going.
“They’re awesome. [I] literally could not have finished without them,” he said. “I owe my race to them.”