CWTC

Alan Durham represented CWTC at this year’s Swashbuckler middle distance triathlon which comprised a 1.9km Swim, 80km Bike and 22km Run. The event was held at Bucklers Hard, with an open water swim in the tidal Beaulieu River and multi-lap bike and run sections on the open roads and tracks around the New Forest.

Registration and race briefing took place in glorious sunshine on the Saturday, in what must surely be one of the most picturesque race locations in the country. Warnings were given about the strong current, jellyfish, cattle grids and the forest ponies and cattle who with their young wander across roads at will. Thankfully the jellyfish failed to put in an appearance on race morning!

Overnight the weather changed dramatically and I was greeted by rain and strong winds buffeting my caravan when my alarm went off at3:10am. Transition opened at 4:00am and was a slightly surreal sight with 400 brave (or perhaps mad) souls stripping off and then trying to squeeze into their wetsuits in the dark and wet. After racking and setting up transition I joined my fellow competitors for a stroll down to the quayside. After another briefing we were soon in the water for the mass start (or starts as it had become with the ladies due to set off 5 minutes after the men). With a couple of minutes to go before the hooter, however, there was a degree of confusion as we were all asked to swim back the way we had come briefly as the current was sweeping everyone over the start line!

At 5:15am we were off on the first of 2 laps of a straight forward out and back course. On each lap we had the benefit of the current helping to sweep us to the first marker buoy, but on rounding, the current was strongly against us and for a brief moment progress was all but halted as the mass of bodies tried to make the turn. I had planned to try and stay out of the melee at the start but soon found myself surrounded by thrashing feet and arms. Bodies appeared either under me or over me and at one point I had to stop to rearrange my dislodged goggles. Rather than taking the most direct line to the lap marker buoy down the middle of the main channel I, like many others,headed for the slacker water by the river bank. The second lap was uneventful and I exited the swim in a time by my reckoning of 40:24 to then be faced with the 400m uphill run to transition.

The bike route was a very enjoyable 2 laps on an undulating course (described in the race details as flat). Once safely out of T1 and on the bike there was a compulsory foot down stop after 2 miles as we joined the main road at Beaulieu. This was followed by some gorgeous scenery as we headed towards Beaulieu station and on to Lyndhurst and Brockenhurst. Fortunately by now the rain had stopped, although there was still a strong headwind at times. Having safely negotiated wet cattle grids and dodged ponies and cattle I was relieved to head back into transition in one piece, and without having suffered flats or lost water bottles.

I felt strong as I headed out on to the 2 lap run along the lanes and river footpaths, although as I did so the leader was just starting his second lap! Early on in the run I managed to pass a few competitors who had been ahead of me from the swim and I was feeling confident that I could achieve my pre-race goal of going sub 6 hours. After mile 5 though my mood was to change as my ITB became very painful. From that point on it became a mental challenge to keep on running and count down the remaining 9 miles. The end felt like it was never going to arrive, but at last the finish line was in site and after a final 400m uphill hobble during which I was cheered on by my family I was across the line. I was elated to finish my first middle distance race and would thoroughly recommend The Swashbuckler as a well organised, friendly, local event in a superb setting.

Official result:

Out of the 402 to start the race, 370 finished

My position overall = 189^th

Category = M45

Category position = 30^th

Official race timings:

Swim (inc T1) = 44:38

Bike (inc T2) = 2:28:11

Run = 2:10:17

Total = 5:23:07

My “unofficial” timings:

Swim = 40:24

T1 = 4:22

Bike = 2:27:38

T2 = 2:31

Run = 2:08:00

Total = 5:22:55

Gareth

In Dartford 11 members competed in The Bridge Triathlon, a Beijing qualifying race consisting of a 1500mtr Swim, 42k Cycle and a 10k run. Unfortunately results for this race are unobtainable at present due to an error with chip timing, however it is believed that our athletes did very well with some qualifying for Beijing!

More to follow as soon as the problem has been rectified.

Gareth

Arundel hosted 2 Triathlons on what can only be described as a very blustery and cold Sunday morning:

The Standard race consisting of an 800mtr Swim, a 37k Cycle and a 9.25k Run. 10 members entered this competition.

Persephone Hagan had an excellent race and came 2^nd in the Female Vet category.

John Bullard ran the race in aid of the British Heart Foundation in remembrance of his father in law who passed away in December up to now he has raised over £300, email donations can be made at http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/johnbullard

Full results are:

The Sprint race consisting of a 400mtr Swim, a 19K Cycle and a 5.26k Run. 7 members entered this competition.

Andy Matthews won 1^st place in the Male Vet category which is a great achievement considering he has not run since Sept due to injury.

Gareth

The Slateman route comprises:

• Open water swim – 750m (shorter 200m swim option available for those who prefer).
• Road cycle – a classic 51km circular route taking riders over the Llanberis pass, via Capel Curig and descending the spectacular Ogwen Valley to Bethesda, and on to the transition at Llanberis village.
• Off road run – an incredible 11km trail run through the world famous Dinorwig slate quarries and Padarn country park. “

This is the course description from the race website and the reality of the beauty of the route lived up to the hype. Snowdonia is awash with spectacular scenery and so I was more than happy to sign up for the first running of this event along with about 450 others. It was always going to be a challenging course; the lake temperature was a shade under 12C, a 250m ascent over 2 miles out of the valley (800m ascent in total) on the ride all followed by a trail run that included a 200m climb/1 mile…but then the weather made it really challenging!

Saturday saw the arrival of a weather front that most meteorologists would class as ‘un-seasonal’ but most of the potential racers would term ‘grim’. Torrential rain and wind with gusts of up to 60mph made the prospect of attempting the course the following day somewhat unappealing, so much so that the start line on Sunday was over 100 entrants short. The wind was still blowing hard and gusts were a bit nasty but at least the rain had passed which meant that there was a great atmosphere amongst the supporters and that helped to keep spirits up ahead of the starters horn.

The lake swim was a frantic melee as all but 14 (who set off on the 200m swim 15mins ahead of the main start) went in a single wave. It took me the first of the 3, 250m legs to settle into a stroke that resembled crawl. The second leg was spent trading blows with someone who seemed to be glued to my shoulder irrespective of any tactics that I could employ to shake him off. Finally, I managed to find some clear water after the 2^nd marker bouy and I found a rhythm where I could actually swim. Exiting the water in 49^th position, I wasn’t feeling brilliant and the prospect of the bike, my weakest discipline by far, filled me with apprehension.

After a rolling first couple of miles along the valley floor the gradient began to steadily increase towards the valley head. Getting increasingly steep, my legs were burning by the time I reached the top but at least we had been protected from the wind. Turning left towards Capel Curig and out of the lee of the mountains, it was awesome to have a decent tail wind for the next 5 mile section. After turning left again at Capel Curig, the course entered another valley with an initial 4 mile climb followed by what should have been 10 miles of aero awesomeness and super speedy descent. True, it did follow that profile but the wind was funned into a head wind and there were some vicious side gusts as it rattled off of the mountains. It was all I could do to keep moving forward, even on the descent. By the time I turned off of the A5 road and into the final 7 miles or so of the course my legs were throbbing and I was glad to get onto the aero bars for a while.

The ride into T2 was full of mixed emotions. On one hand, I was glad to get off of the bike. On the other, I knew that there was a tough climb ahead on the run….but at least it was out of the wind. The climb up through the slate quarry was as expected, tough. It was worth it though as we were rewarded with an amazing view from the top across the lake and town and to Snowdon itself. Then we were into the woods and the descent began. The rain had turned what had been an ankle turning rocky trail into something altogether more muddy and ‘interesting’. It even turned into a stream at one point, which made navigation fun. I was in my element! I hooned it!

An overall time of 03:04:13 and position 90/287 and my race was done. I had lost a lot of pace and places on the bike but felt happy with my performance. The Slateman had been tougher than the majority of athletes had anticipated but it had been an excellent, well managed, marshalled and supported race. Definitely worth making the trip for.

Dave Cunningham

Gareth

Five CWTC members pitched up at Salisbury Triathlon on Sunday 15th May to compete in the 400m swim, 19 mile bike and 4 mile run sprint event.  The five were Steve Hasler, Trudi Cunningham, Gary Webster, Mark Mills and Jo Donlan.    

It was a good day weather wise, slight nip in the air for the early swimmers but did warm up a little later.  Triathletes were warned at the race briefing about the state of some of the roads, yes, a cyclist’s worst nightmare – pot holes!  What they failed to mention were the hideous cross winds on Salisbury plain, definitely not a day for a full disk wheel.  The bike course was quite tough, hilly and fast in some sections. Out on the run the course was also undulating, with a mixture of tarmac, trail and a couple of stiles to negotiate. Steve managed to exorcise a ghost by completing the run course on which he got lost last year!

Everyone finished safely and seemed pleased with their results and enjoyed the event.  There were some good performances on the day including Trudi Cunningham who finished 2nd in age her group and 9th lady overall.  The rest of the results are as follows, Steve Hasler 17th overall, Trudi Cunningham 92nd, Mark Mills 179th, Joanne Donlan 199th. Gary Williams result has not been confirmed yet. A total of 250 competitors took part in the event.

Del

Gareth

Please read this message forwarded from Aidy:-

We have the WHOLE POOL on a Tuesday as of the 31st May

What does this mean, well two things
1) Much more capacity as we are moving from 4 lanes to 6 lanes. In the short term, I am planning on writing 5 sets and see how it works. I will chop and change people over, but primarily lanes 1 and 2 will have their own dedicated lane.

2) We need you. Yes that’s right. Obviously with the increased lanes there is an increase in costs which is where you guys come in. There are plenty of us, so please do come along as there will be much more room to accommodate everybody.
With the new lanes there are loads of different configurations from swimming widths to open water swimming to video swim analysis which we can put in place once we know that we can afford it.

Gareth

The Adult race consisted of a 250m swim (14 lengths of a 18m pool) followed by an up and down 16km bike and finishing with a 3m run with a nasty hill at the end. Registration was from 0600hrs, the rain coming down with the transition area being literally underwater, but as the first competitors went off at 7.00am the skies magically cleared and the waterlogged transition had been pump out!.

3 members of CWTC entered the adult race, including Harry Leleu who at aged 14 took part in his first adult race and Steve Long who was in his first Triathlon carrying a nasty chest infection.

Harry Leleu had by far the race of the day, who at aged 14 came in 5^th place overall from a field of 150, having the fastest swim of the day, made all the more impressive as 2 of the first 4 finishers were GB Athletes warming up for Bridge at end of May!. A well deserved result for Harry, which sets him up nicely for the season.

Despite the chest infection Steve Long had a good race, but did not enjoy the swim experience. The small school 18m long pool only had 3 narrow lanes, with 4 per lane this took on the feeling of a Sea Swim with a 1 metre swell! For those taking part in the Club Series event on 12^th June you have been warned, so bring you Sea Legs!

The adults quickly had their bikes moved aside as the Junior race registration started at 10.00am. The sunshine now out for a what proved to be a fantastic days racing for the Junior Club.

With 9 Juniors from the Club involved and hearing the result posted by Harry earlier in the day they were out to follow suit. The Parents and Junior Coaches ( Liz and Mike Pillans and myself ) were offering some fantastic support and encouragement – not forgetting Aidy ( how could you? ) who after his extensive Coach warm up routine of several coffees and several bacon rolls was in full voice!

The Tristar 1 category saw Harry Dridge and Adam Long in a great race, Adam leading off the Swim, Harry coming back with a great bike leg, and the two of them in a sprint finish to the line with Harry just nudging it for 2nd on the line. Rosie Sloane had a good race coming 3^rd on the day.

Tristar 2 were up next; Abbey Pillans coming in 2^nd with a great run, and Samuel Pink coming back from a tough swim with a fantastic bike leg and a swift run to take 3^rd Place.

Tristar 3 category involved some questionable marshalling, individual counting of laps and some small fitting Trisuits . Jake Pillans came in 2^nd despite wearing one of Mikes current Tri suits, which did hamper his performance as it was too small across the chest restricting Jakes breathing! Sam Pillans ( despite wearing another one of Mikes tight fitting suits ) and Tom Maynard were involved in an intriguing cat and mouse on the 5 lap 2000m run, with Sam just taking it on the sprint. Although the official results say something else.

The Youth event saw Emma Maynard, taking on boys twice her size. After a strong swim and bike Emma was in the lead with just her favourite run discipline to finish. With complete focus she ended by lapping the other competitors to finish well in front.

Looking forward to the first South East Series event on 4^th June at Wildern.

Gareth

The Gallery has been updated and now has links to the Ringwood, Steyning and Pyrenees trip albums. And a special video by Mike Pillans filmed whilst out in the Pyrenees.

Gareth

I recently got invited to a bike fitting session with the latest Retül 3D system. This system tracks and measures your every move whilst riding your bike on a static turbo trainer. This information is analysed by the trained fitter, who can then guide you in any adjustments necessary to achieve the perfect fit.

Read about my fitting here

Gareth

You can now keep up with the latest news and info via Twitter. Just follow the link http://twitter.com/#!/ChiWestgateTri

Gareth