Ironman 70.3 California Triathlon

This year I decided not to do the usual Sprint and Olympic distance races when I spend time in USA over the summer for work, but opted to go up to Ironman 70.3 which is made of of a 1.2m swim, 56m bike and half marathon. I knew I had no chance to podium since there was 47 pros entering. 2500 signed up for the worlds most popular 70.3 event, which got sold out in 1 hour. (amazing when you think the event cost is a MASSIVE $250ea...). The event was held in Napa Valley area, California which is where a ton of wine is produced and as you would expect the scenery is fantastic.

The swim started well and luckily not all 2500 people were not starting at the same time, so they broke it down by age and set the groups off in 6 min intervals. It was a bit crazy when we started to swim past the slower groups which meant a lot of zig zagging with the usual kicks and punches to the face (cant see people that well when swimming..). 28mins went by quickly so happy with that as the average pro man did 22-29mins (29min seems a bit slow for a pro, not sure what happened there to him).

Next section was the bike and as the airline charges $400 round trip for each bike, I could only justify taking one bike for this trip and went with the road bike. I tried to make it as much like a TT bike as possible, so added the aero wheel, bars & helmet. Over the rolling hill 56m course the average was 22.8mph, so cant complain with that, cant see having my TT would have made a massive improvement, maybe another 1mph I guess ? (I was trying to keep telling myself don't push it too hard as you have a stupid ass long run after, so that was worrying me in the back of my dumb head). Completed it in 2hr 27min - pros did between 2hr 7min - 2hr 22min

The run was mainly on flatish roads, with a few annoying drags here & there, part of the run went through the vineyards, which was a nice change. The feed stations unfortunately were only giving out water & Gatorade (so no free wine samples). The goal I gave myself was to do a sub 5hr for the whole event,  and as the run went well (for me) I did a 1hr 42 half marathon (pros 1hr 11min - 1hr 25min) which gave a finishing time of 4hr 44mins.

Overall I came 116 out of 2300 which turned up, so taking out 47 pros, I was very happy with the final result. No prizes / no podium, but I feel it was my best result of the year.

Half Way There

The trail centre didn't know what hit them!

 

 

Kieron who had left Steyning at 2am and met us at Meon

Robin repairs a puncture he picked up descending Butser Hill

The Gruppetto

Well done to everyone who rode Saturday, I haven't heard of any crashes or of anyone who is still stuck out on the SDW. Many thanks to James for getting us from Winchester to QE Park definitely saved us time, as navigation on this section is a little tricky.

Really impressed with everyone's bulldog spirit to get them to the finish, we will have to re-visit the barbie next time.

Not to sure on final puncture count, I know Glyn and Will had 2, Kieron's friend and Robin had 1. I can't think of many mechanicals other than adjusting Mandy's brakes which considering the conditions is pretty good.

Eastbourne to Storrington next, looking forward to it.

A club organised event set off from  Bramley and Wonersh the start of the 36.7 mile Downs Link  to Shoreham.

The usual unreliable British weather forecasts was for heavy rain but luckily this didn't materialise and light drizzle was all we encountered for the first few hours and then sunshine with a strong headwind. The route is well sign posted and apart from a few punctures we  got into a steady pace and arrived at Southwater Country Park for lunch where we joined by another 11 riders.

 
After some well deserved food and a couple of brews we were on our way again heading along the trail towards Shoreham. Just after Henfield the path opens out onto the floodplain of the River Adur where the views of the South Downs are spectacular. From here we followed the river on it's relentless march to the coast to Shoreham and some well deserved burgers and a beer or 3.

Thanks to Sharon and Mark for their support and a well organised day.

Erlestoke Enduro

I had only heard positive things from those who entered last years Erlestoke Enduro. I have raced at the venue before – but only through the mud, snow and ice of January's Salisbury Plain Challenge. With the weather forecast predicting the week long heat wave to continue into the weekend I was keen to see the venue in a different light! At 8.30am the temperature was already rising nicely as we struggled to wrestle three 29ers into Ian's car. I would be riding the 6 hour solo while Ian and Fay were entering the Mixed Pairs.

It was great to see a large turnout of South Downs Bikes riders to greet us in the car park, all sporting new 29ers!! There was just time for an early lunch of ham and jam sandwiches before joining the huge starting grid that formed for the Noon start. Numbers were undoubtedly swelled by the glorious weather – with 80 riders in the Solo male category alone!

There was a short starting loop to spread the field and then it was out onto the course proper. After a flowing descent into the wood the course emerged onto an undulating, strength-sapping grassy traverse across the fields to the foot of the hill. The climb started as wooded singletrack but then opened onto a steep gravel road. Having reached the top there wasn’t time for a rest as the route headed out across the open hill top into a strong headwind. The field was well spread by now but I was still riding close to the front and slipstreamed a group of riders onto Ian’s wheel and then followed him down the descent back to the arena.

As we rode past the campsite Ian took his eyes off the trail for a moment to check his watch and missed a little depression in the path. From my viewpoint it looked like somebody had tossed a doll into the air! When I reached the scene Ian was a bloody mess with road rash on arms and legs. He slowly made it back to his feet while I retrieved his bike and then uncomfortably remounted telling me to continue. He handed over to Fay and was patched up by the medics and rode another 4 laps. But I bet he was sore this morning!

The descent from the top of the hill was a belter. It was fast and flowing, twisting and turning between the trees on the chalky soil we're all familiar with at home on the South Downs. Even after 6 hours I was still really enjoying myself, throwing the bike down the switchbacks! 

I managed to keep the laps ticking over just under the magic 40 minute mark, completing my 9th lap with a couple of minutes to spare. My favourite race of the year  - a combination of sunshine and great trails!

Solo 6hr
4th	Ben Connor	9 laps
5th	James D'Arcy	8 laps
21st	Damian Redman	7 laps
24th	John Davies	7 laps
50th	Andy Goodyer	5 laps
Mixed Pairs 6hr
1st	Ian Petherbridge  Fay Cripps			9 laps

Hove Crits & Steyning Tri

Hove crit road race cat 2/3 was held on 18th May. I did the first of the series a few weeks prior and came 4th on this short 1km circuit, including a leg sapping mini climb in it. From our cycling school teacher (aka Steve Calland) he gave me some useful tips on racing from Tuesdays Goodwood race (did crap) and basically kept my eye on one of the stronger riders Mike Coyle. When he jumped I went with him and we did about 6 laps together before he pulled away from me, leaving me to do about another 8 laps on my own with the pack hunting me down. In most races I nearly always feel sick with pushing hard, but this was the first time I have actually thrown up during a race and was reaching a few times on the final lap. Managed to get 2nd so that will do. Full race report is posted here (luckily no mention of me being sick ha);

http://www.velouk.net/2012/05/19/report-george-samuel-memorial-hove-park-crits-2/

Steyning Triathlon on 4th May went better than I had expected, despite the grim rainy 6'C weather. (if you think riding in this weather on a normal ride is bad, try doing it straight after swimming in a nice warm pool and run out bare foot in a tiny trisuit then hop on the bike and deal with the cold air blasting on your cold wet body (i.e no warm kit / water proofs). My arms were cold but DAM I thought my bits and pieces had frost bite, I was in some serious discomfort!!!!

My 800m (32 lap) swim was not very fast  by my normal standards, but not terrible to compare to others at 4/83, 36.5km Bike 3/83 and 8km run 7/83. I finished up as 2nd Snr male and 3rd overall. So got a nice pair of shades from Bloc plus a weee trophy.

Plans for the next tri's are another couple of local races before my Half Ironman (1.9km swim, 90km bike, then just to make things fun a half marathon to end) in California on 15th July. It will be frigging hot and it will be more of a tick box as there will be many pros doing it along with Joe average like myself. Then in Sept the London Olympic plus, which is a 1.5km swim, 90km bike and 10km run.

                             

http://www.southdownsbikes.com/news.php?articleid=219

Gorrick 100

The Gorrick 100 is a tough event and after two weeks of rain I feared it was going to be a long day. Luckily much of the course was on the all-weather trails of Swinley Forrest and there were only a couple of slippery sections to spice things up. Naturally the course included the infamous Surrey Hill cliff face and a couple of other tough little gradients. However, these were loaded towards the beginning of the lap allowing you to enjoy the rest of the course which was a maze of serpentine switchbacks and singletrack.

 

I was up bright and early for the 7 lap start. It was chilly and damp underfoot but the rain held off. Learning the lessons of the previous 10 years I started slowly. Others raced off only for me to catch them again a few hours later, looking pale as their energy reserves hit zero. The other trick is to keep eating and drinking throughout the event. A packet of fig rolls, a couple of energy bars and two bananas were scoffed during my 7 hours in the saddle. 

 

As riders tackling the shorter challenges joined the ‘real’ men (and women) later in the day I was caught by Matt! We had a quick chat and he kindly provided a nice tow on one of the long fireroad drags. Having proudly conquered the climb on every lap I was able to hold off a strong challenge from behind to finish 18^th on a day when only just over half the 90 strong field managed to complete the distance.

 Well done to Fay who was the only lady to complete the 5 lap race. Doddy came charging past me on his way to 2^nd in the 4 lap event ahead of Matt who finished 18^th. Steve was first home in the 2 lapper and I saw Will a few times during his 3 laps – unfortunately one of these was while he was wrestling with a tyre trying to fix a puncture!

 

Year after year this continues to be one of my favourite events. It doesn’t stop it hurting though! I was so knackered I had to stop for a nap on the way home! Luckily it was a bank holiday so there was opportunity for a lie in the next day. 

Check out this amazing video! American Paul Basagoitia lands the world’s first natural terrain double backflip… but has to endure some pretty rough treatment on the way!

Haywards Heath Triathlon

Sunday 29th April was my first "Triathlon" racing under SDB and boy what horrible weather it was (many other events had been cancelled, so we got lucky). Strong wind and rain with twigs and leaves all over the road. The race was a 400m pool swim, 25km bike then a 5k hilly run.

I only entered earlier in the week as wanted a bit of a "pick me up", as felt frustrated with some recent road races where I wanted to position better than I did (no change there then). The TT course was tough, what with the winds and rolling hills, but posted the 3rd fastest swim, fastest bike time and 6th run in the male category. I finished 1st out of 96 overall, but unfortunately I could not claim my goodies as had to shoot off to watch my 4 year old's first football "match", which was highly entertaining...... Next week I have Steyning Tri (800m swim, 36km bike & 8km run), which even though is a local event, it attracts a lot of good triathletes around the South East, so lets see if I can continue my luck - cant see I will position top 3 but a top 5 would be respectful.

A weekend of rides starting at QE Country Park on the 19th/20th May.
The weekend kicks off on the 19th with the Garmin Road Sportive with a choice of 60km or 80km routes and the MBUK Royal Rumble 4hr Enduro Mountain Bike Race in the Park.

No entry on the day, online entry first come first served.