2022 Random Race Thread

Sounds like a decent race to me. Olympic distance?

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Getting out and doing it is all that matters but a great result by the sounds of it

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Olympic Distance in the Cotswold Classic lake, same race @Sowler did. 22nd overall and 4th AG. 1st in AG did 2:10, which was me 3 years ago, but not now. Might have had a race for 3rd if we had been together, except he gapped me by 5min on the swim, so we would never have been together :rofl:

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Sounds like my perception of the weather conditions are bit different to @buzz :joy: I was in the 7:35 wave and there was spot of sunshine but mostly cloud, however I didnā€™t get rained on once.

I opted to go at the back of the mass start (there was also individual starts afterwards) in my wave knowing Iā€™d be over taking stacks of people later on. My swim started off alright (=too fast) then I started feeling blown and out of breath. There was a strange very shallow section mid way through which I waded through and got back to it. But kept getting in my head about how there was still so far to go and breaking my stroke and going back to breast stroke for a breather which was actually making me more out of breath. Got out not feeling totally awful and wobbly.

Got on the bike no drama. As per last year, I was constantly over taking people. And same as @buzz very few people on TT bikes lots bolt up right where I was i.e. the back :joy: Think I had 2 people overtake me, max and one of them I rinsed on the run later on. The mid lumpy section of the bike had a bit of headwind which definitely knocked my speed down somewhat. Towards the end my arse was really started to get sore and things felt a bit odd, I was hoping I wasnā€™t gonna have the same issue I did last year where my hamstrings had been mullered by my saddle which I have since changed. Jumped off into T2. Oh my saddle is very loose :man_facepalming: Iā€™d been making some adjustments the night before.

Got my shoes on with my arse already starting to feel better. Very quickly out onto the road and my Vapourflys were feeling super comfortable. I decided to aim to keep the km splits to 4 or faster. I was now comparatively flying past people. There wasnā€™t anyone doing even remotely my pace. The run felt pretty comfortable, could have given it more but injury wise I thought I was potentially pushing my luck anyway.

After digesting it. Iā€™m pretty happy with the result, considering the amount of running Iā€™ve been doing. I just really need to try and do something about my swim, even under 30 mins would be a massive improvement and get me placement a fair bit higher.

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Very nice work :+1:

I did the #51Fiver yesterday as well. Within a few seconds of last yearā€™s time but slower swim. Thought Iā€™d fixed my wetsuit zip but, no, broke as I was zipping in. Had to swim with the back open and stop a couple of times to stick the velcro back together at the neck - doh!. Calf cramp in T1 meant I had to sit down to take my wetsuit off but otherwise no problem. Bike was fine. Unhelpful wind direction so think a minute slower is okay. My run was quicker and made up for the swim time. Run course has changed (much better) but I also felt rubbish last year and fine off the bike yesterday. Worried about my achilles and thought it might be grumbling second half but it was fine after and today. Thatā€™s very good news. Pretty sure I could have pushed the pace harder but was definitely feeling very tentative.
2:20 ought to be possible if I can sustain some run training, swim more, and avoid cheapskate equipment failure. Not sure I can catch @buzz though. Also need to practice getting on the bike. Nearly went in the ditch (again).

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Also, that shallow bit on the swim. A few dolphin dives and I must have overtaken about 10 people trying to swim with their knuckles dragging on the bottom (although my wetsuit did nearly fall off as a result :rofl:).

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Just entered Weymouth Classic (Oly) on 5th June

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Thatā€™s pretty close, surprised itā€™s still open?

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Seems lots of the smaller events arenā€™t filling up. I entered the Oly I did at the weekend 3 days before.

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ā€˜Cos entry cost + petrol + hotel + faff = Nah ta mate.

ā€œLocalā€ events arenā€™t actually that local - people from a fair bit away will enter.

Like Iā€™d do Southport (40 miles away) but if I have to register the day before, or the start is 6-7am, itā€™s a FRO.

Iā€™m also not paying over Ā£45 for a one hour race.
My local triathlon is a 1.4km walk to the start line.
The bike course goes past my road end.
The run course is what I do a fair bit.
Itā€™s Ā£43 to enter. Plus Ā£5 day license.
So itā€™s a no from me.

I doubt Iā€™ll do Cotswold again either. Too far to drive, plus hotel, and the entry fee is steep.

Looking at EpicMan at Windermere. 29th May. Ā£114.
Thatā€™s Ā£114 for a middle distance :heart_eyes::tada::heart_eyes:

A Day In The Lakes? Thatā€™s 6 hours of properly hard racing in stunning scenery for just Ā£90.
Helvellyn? See above. Again, Ā£90.
Both have a respectable 0830 start time and on the day registration.

The Northumbrian?
Again - cycling around Kielder and Northumbria - yes please :heart_eyes:
Half distance for Ā£130.

Like Iā€™ve said elsewhere, Iā€™m crap at going uphill and downhill and canā€™t run up them either.
But next year, Iā€™ll be looking at EpicMan / ADITL for my middle distance fix. Nice and ā€œlocalā€ with a decent start time.
It also takes off the ā€œtime pressureā€ and becomes more about enjoyment.
Iā€™ll stick my run kit in a waterproof bag next year, so I donā€™t have a fit in T2 and rage quit ā€˜cos itā€™s wet and cold :face_with_symbols_over_mouth::joy::see_no_evil:

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North vs South innit. Stuffs cheaper up there!

Both the events you mentioned look lovely. Iā€™d be interested in the Kielder one but its a 5.5 hour drive. Would have to make a long weekend of that or something if I did it.

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I dunno - Sprints and Olys are still dearAF.
Itā€™s such a shame that the Peak District council blocked the Matlock Sprint Tri (august bank holiday - they cited ā€œincreased visitor numbers due to Covidā€¦ā€ even in 2022h
Thatā€™s Ā£10. Paper entry form, SAE and cheque :joy:

Podium winners get a MAHOOSIVE fruit and veg basket :heart_eyes:

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Itā€™s why I like my club. Monthly duathlon, stick your name down in advance, someone with a clipboard timing, cost Ā£2.

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Thatā€™s why Iā€™ve never done Swashbuckler, itā€™s only about 35miles away but required a Saturday packet pick up (although that might have changed now?)

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I know why they do itā€¦itā€™s part of the economic impact for road closures.
If they can say that X people are staying over, due to previous day registration, then itā€™s a positive and helps to gain approval.

Who wants ~1k people coming in and out of their town:village for one day without spending any cash?
Closing roads, leaving litter, polluting the air etc etc

On Sunday I did the Cyclotour of Lac Leman. This is one of the biggest Grand Fondoā€™s in Switzerland, with 3500 people riding from Lausanne around the lake and back to Geneva. It is relatively flat with 1000m climbing

Since bikes are not regulated, I decided to ride my TT bike as practice for Roth. I knew that quite a bit would be drafting, but also quite a bit would be solo. I went full aero, with speed suit aero shoe covers and aero helmet

Starts were in waves of 40 people and I was in the first wave. basically the first 60km was flat and riding in a pack of 40 people. I was probably on the front around 20% of the time, trying to maximise my TT practice. It was really nice that I got lots of pats on the back from other riders, who appreciated me driving the pace and doing so much work, these small gestures mean a lot.
At Evian we were really unluck to catch the start of the shorter ride, from Evian to Lausanne, suddenly the roads were filled with slow riders. On the climb out of Evian, I was blocked on a hairpin, by the cycling equivalent to a group of Betty and Boris Backstrokers. At the end of the climb our group of 40 had been smashed to pieces. A group of 8 riders was ahead, I was in second group of 4. In our group of 4, we worked really hard and at 90km mark came to within 150m of the lead group, however, we couldnā€™t quite close them down. We had a pretty clear run through Geneva, and then went into TTT mode on the 60km rolling section from Geneva to Lausanne.

A time of 4h12m was significantly faster than I was expecting, and power of 218w, was reasuring that I am doing well getting aero.

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Last week I took part in Defiwind 2022, this is windsurfingā€™s equivalent to Kona, by far the largest race in the world, with over 1300 windsurfers racing each other, 5 times over a 40km course. Check out the video from Day 1

45 out of the worldā€™s top ranked 50 sailers attended, in addition, over 50 past heros of windsurfing from the last 40 years were also thereā€¦ basically it was a whoā€™s who of windsurfing past and present

Winds for the 3 days were between 60 and 100kph (Bloody windy). I was a little rusty, having not touched a windsurf board for 3 years (Defiwind 1999 was my last session). It was a baptism of fire with the first race being the windiest, with gusts over 100kph. However, I survived and finished in a highly respectable 250th position. Over the next couple of days, I delivered consistent results, with my best finish of 160th, but mostly around 200th position, finishing in 213th place, and the 3rd highest place Brit (James Dinsmore and Ben Profit who beat me are both pro sailers).

What really helped me was my fitness. Many other people had great results early on, but really struggled in later races, while my fitness helped me to get consistent results

An interesting statā€¦ the 3rd race (my best result) I finished in just 42m25sā€¦ at an average speed of 55kph

Quoting one of the top Swiss sailers, who is a friend, ā€œimagine what you could do if you actually trained for windsurfingā€

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That looks absolutely mad :clap::clap:

The Rib going across at the start - he made me nervous!!

Lots dropping at the turnabout - is that cause of dealing with the high winds?

Looked epic - think Iā€™d be terrified being in the middle of it tho!