I’m borrowing this off a friend and apparently it’s an original Alan, look like they’re about 11kg without the bike. Not taking the beast otherwise the plane would struggle to take off 
2 Likes
Mines a B&W v1 box think its about 10-12kg on its own. Got it off FB marketplace for about £70. Didn’t fancy putting my expensive gravel bike in a soft bag, which subsequently only JUST fits in that box.
1 Like
You should scrape in around 20/21kg
2 Likes
Castle Series Hever Gauntlet took place on Sunday. This was my “salvage 2022” race after a DNF at the NDW50 (due literally to just not having the mojo after a long business trip and red eye flight that got me home the day before) and a DNF at Ironman Wales two weekends earlier.
I raced this before in 2018, but during the Festival of Endurance, which is the July running of the event. The September version is obviously much colder and only gets about half or even a third as many competitors, but the actual event is really busy due to Olympic, sprint, and kids triathlons. It is a real party atmosphere all day given the constant stream of racing.
The Gauntlet goes off first in the morning, so a 6:30am turn up, registration, and bike racking routine got me all wet suited up and raring to go by 7:20. I made a last minute decision to switch from my summer wetsuit to my brand new thermal one which I just got for about 40% off on HUUB. It is definitely not as fast a suit, but it felt really cold in the morning so I made a judgement call. Thank goodness I did. It was bloody freezing out there.
We gathered at the Italian Logia for the briefing (and to freeze our feet off on the cold stone), and found out the swim had been shortened due to the air/water temp differential. They handled it really well, and seemed to have removed the excess bouys to make the revised course super easy to follow. 1900m reduced to 1500m. Went over the course with us three times, nice and slowly.
The water was cold, and so heavily silted you cannot see your hands. The swim went well enough for me, and I was out in about 36-37 minutes. I know that is crap, but that is where my swim is at this year. It felt super comfortable though, and it was great to finish it feeling relaxed after the personal disaster at Wales.
The bike course is brutal. One of the competitors joked to me at the end that there just wasn’t any flat bits, and he is sort of right. I am local so I know it really well, and I know what I can handle. Despite that, I think I maybe over cooked it a little - just the enthusiasm of the day over ruling my better sense. I was a few minutes faster than my time in 2018. Like 2-3 minutes faster, which is nothing really. What I will say though was that I found sections of the second lap intensely frustrating. The Olympic athletes share part of the course with us, and they were there on lap 2. The issue was that cars would sit behind these athletes waiting for a chance to pass, and I would thus get stuck behind those cars. At times I was sitting up, freewheeling, for minutes, and I have to admit I swore under my breath a few hundred times.
Out onto the run and I could immediately feel my right leg wasn’t right. I have been nursing a repetitive use injury between the ball of my big and second toe for about 3 weeks. That didn’t flare up (well, two sharp pains as I trod on stones on that specific point, but nothing chronic to interfere with my run), but it felt like my right ankle had both a very tight tendon, and some muscle tightness at the base of the calf. My only guess is that I have been walking gingerly for 3 weeks and may have caused some tightness.
Regardless, it moved the run from being my hoped for charge to glory (glory for me is a top quartile finish), and shifted it to survival mode. It is a horribly tough run. Largely on trail, the first third has quite a bit of elevation gain, and it is just a slog. Two laps. Survival mode. DO NOT WALK!!!
I did have two stunningly enjoyable long pees in a portaloo, which is not something I would likely have bothered with if I was really pushing for a good time.
In the end I finished well. The leg tightness eased a bit with 1-2 miles to go and I could open up my stride.
Final times were comparable with when I did it in 2018. I had a great time and really enjoyed the comradeship between Gauntlet competitors.
Bike marshals were fantastic. I always felt safe and well informed at each junction or tight bend. Race directions were super clear. Atmosphere was great. Post race village was good. Free meal for Gauntlet athletes was a tagine with couscous, and a flapjack that could have floored an elephant with the amount of calories in it. They do put on a good race. This was my fourth with Castle (also did an Olympic I think, and definitely did the half at Castle Howard a few years back), and I have enjoyed each of them.
Recommended for all, but it is a really tough course!!!
19 Likes
Usually they can’t weigh your bike box at check-in and it has to go to oversized baggage. If they ask you how much it weighs then it ALWAYS weighs just under the permitted limit 
.
It’s only if you get a really zealous check-in clerk who follows you to oversized baggage that they actually check the weight. I still wouldn’t take the pi$$ too much with the weight though, just in case
1 Like
Couple of times I have taken a bike box I never gave any thought to the weight, loaded it with stuff. They just give you a sticker and point to the oversized area where the put through a big scanner and thats the last you see of it till you watch the handles throwing it from the plane onto the tarmac and Lanza
3 Likes
When I got back from IM St George, I opened the (locked) bike box and inside was a “while you were out” card from airport security at Las Vegas airport saying that they’d opened it and checked the contents 
Make sure you don’t smuggle any contraband in your bike box on the way home
2 Likes
Well done @Hewligan , I hope it salvaged your year a little?
2 Likes
One whiff of my bike shoes or other kit in it I’m likely to get charged with attempted manslaughter 
2 Likes
Anyone tracking Ironman Barca?
I have an old club mate who has swum 1:19 then put in a 5:03 bike to give himself a chance of a decent finish. Just finished the first run lap clocking 5 minutes kms - will see if he can keep it going
5 Likes
I know a lad that’s there but it says he didn’t start which is odd but because I’m sure he posted about it yesterday or Friday, unless he woke up feeling bad today or something.
1 Like
Yeah I have three club mates have finished the 70.3 and one dude on the IM run leg now.
Makes me tired just thinking about it.
2 Likes
Paces don’t seem that quick tbh, either less drafting or conditions aren’t great?
Unless M50 is just having a weak day.
1 Like
Top three of M35 have finished in under 9 - bike splits around 4:30-40
Ran~3:08s, so solid running off of those bikes
Looks like my mate is on for a 10:15 if he can hold pace
3 Likes
I think conditions are better than last year. Full swim on, less wind, not so hot.
I assumed the 70.3 was one loop of the IM route but it looks like they didn’t do the C-60 inland bit? Or maybe the course changed?
Looks like they skipped that but and went further along the coast past the usual turnaround point into Montgat. Eyeballing it is t anywhere near the section they missed out though.
2 Likes
The course for the full doesn’t looks the most inspiring, massive out and back - although on the coast so presume the views are nice?
1 Like
The original 70.3 route was completely different and went into the hills, can’t see them having two bike routes though.
Adam, those times are good enough, maybe M50 isn’t as competitive this year or they’re going to hammer the run!
2 Likes
I liked the coastal ride which is most of it. But the wind was deafening.
Taking the motorway inland wasn’t exactly picturesque.
Barca full 2021:
70.3 2022:
2 Likes
It was a bit of a bastard though…particularly because you got to watch the pelotons not just as they passed you but also as they came back x mins later.
2 Likes