Just had the briefing mail for Big Mud on Sunday. Here’s an extract, I still have PTSD from Arundel!
The Weather!
They say that everything comes in 3’s! We had a wet New Forest, a wet Arundel and now, most likely, a wet BigMud! The rest of our events this year are definitely due to be sunny!
It looks like the rain will increase as the day goes on. You may start off dry but by lunchtime, rain is forecast. There will also be strong winds. The temperature is forecast to be 9 degrees but will feel significantly cooler when the winds and potential rain are added into the equation. Please be prepared, bring a waterproof jacket and a base layer, easily tied round the waist or put in a pack if you get warm, but invaluable if you get cold. Buffs are also great, it’s amazing the difference if your neck is warm!
Please also bring warm clothes for the finish. We always have a bag drop tent if you haven’t got your car nearby.
Parking
Please read full instructions in the important event information link above. We would like to also add that most of our parking is on grass. This parking is free and you need to follow marshal instructions so that we can get everyone in and out. HOWEVER, if you have a heavy car/van/camper, you may want to park in the pay and display car park by the visitor centre. Yes, you will need to get a ticket, but to have the peace of mind that your vehicle can be easily driven out at the end will definitely be worth it!
Infrastructure
We love putting our lovely BigFeat arch up and having gazebos at the aid stations, however this may not be possible if the winds stay as strong as forecast. We lost over £700 of equipment damaged in the winds back in January and it may not be safe to have all our infrastructure out on Sunday. It won’t make any difference to your experience, there will still be full aid stations and a fantastic BigFeat vibe, it just may look a little different from normal!
Got another race tomorrow. The 4th out of 5 races in the national QTri series, a sprint tri at a man-made island called Qetaifan Island.
Feeling pretty good at the moment. All the usual silverbacks will be there beating their chests and there’s still everything to play for in the M50+ series.
The swim is in the sea, water temp is about as cold as it gets here at 19.1C. It’s only a sprint but I’m going with a wetsuit, reckon the minute-or-so it gains me will be worth the 30+ seconds of wrestling with a bear to get if off in T1.
Bike is 4 laps, quite technical, draft-legal and road bikes only. If anything like previous races it will be a case of hanging on to faster cyclists for as long as possible when they pass, and then trying to hitch a ride with the next one, and so on.
Flat run except for crossing two glass bottomed-bridges a total of 8 times, don’t look down, anything under 20 minutes for the run would put a big smile on my face.
Going to try a different nutrition strategy this time, marshmallows down tri-suit top were a non-starter. Thankfully they came out with a good wash.
Going to be a bit of sprinting out of the corners, if you can get a decent line you can make up time and hang onto them. Difficult skill to master though if you’re not group riding regularly. Despite not liking it years of messing around on my BMX and as a kid meant I was a lot better than some.
You need to be on the drops though, much better control.
edit: all done. Had an ok race but was in no mans land after the swim and didn’t manage to get into a group on the bike at all. Twisty bike course, my handling skills are better suited to Zwift unfortunately. Stayed upright , the main thing. 19m19 for the run but it looks like it was a little short. 9th overall but first pensioner. Enjoyed it.
don’t think there’s any envelopes today - just waiting for that bit. I splodged a whole tube of lube into the wetsuit arms and legs, it came off without a fight so yes definitely worth wearing it.
Edit: envelopes today for locals only. Approx £750 for 1st, £500 for 2nd and £250 for 3rd in senior and youth cats.
They did say that there will be prizes for all AGs at the 5th and final race of the series in about 6 weeks after Ramadan. It’ll be warming up by then for sure.
The Wahoo is terrible. It hates swimming and most of the time refuses to acknowledge it. Like @buzz is pointing out today it logged the swim as 0m in 0m0s
Yes, think swimming a bit more has helped @gingerbongo (you should try it ) & perhaps somehow felt stronger on the bike and run because of it. Not sure how that works or if it’s just in my head.
Mind you, any alleged “swim focus” here over the last couple of months still involves swimming less in a week than @Hammerer junior swims in a day, so probably can’t expect too much.
) & perhaps somehow felt stronger on the bike and run because of it. Not sure how that works or if it’s just in my head.
