I remember Simon shouting encouragement as I ran onto the path but I didn’t see him. Steve was also there with his camera waiting to take pictures when I finished the first bike lap. The run through transition was a little too quick, I was only too pleased to jump on the bike and get going for the 22km ride; a two loop course with several shallow hills and a windy back straight.
I had ridden this route in the past but it had been a while, I knew that the first hill after turning off the Kennington road up Sugworth Lane was half a mile followed by a downhill bit which allowed for some recovery. It’s not a steep hill; I just hit it too hard and paid at the top for the effort. Trying not to panic about others catching up, I allowed for some recovery dropping down the other side and tried to settle into a rhythm. The swim is mainly all arms with legs simply to stabilise the body; they derive little propulsion. The upshot is that there is no ‘odd legged feeling’ as you climb on to the bike and start to pedal, you can virtually settle into it straight away. Having spoken to people that do Triathlons, I understand this can be an issue in the bike/run transition.
My lungs had settled a bit as I drew up to a junction, the race rules required me to stop, put a foot down and give way which I duly did. After at least 30 seconds, the stream of traffic cleared and I got going again, conscious of the chasing riders although I couldn’t see any. A period of smooth riding ensued until meeting the northern ring road around Abingdon.
This was a longish stretch of road with an insidious incline, made a lot worse by the head wind. I had a quick look behind and spotted a lad on a very nice time trial bike. There was little point worrying about being caught, I concentrated on dealing with the head wind in the hope I would be in reasonable shape when I turned back towards the college.
The relief from the head wind was short lived on the last mile to the college. I cycle this bit regularly on the way to work and it’s the sort of slight incline that sucks the life out of you for no apparent reason. The lad behind drew level and passed me roughly 500m from the end of the first lap; fortunately Steve didn’t capture this moment on film.
It was a bit of a shame that the road works outside of the college had not been finished, the organisers came up with a solution to keep the event as fair as possible. It was decided that cyclists should dismount and run through the road works along the path, re-mount at the main college entrance and set off for the second lap. This was fine except for people milling about on the path and not looking out behind them. After the first run to the mount point from the transition area I wasn’t looking forward to a second one; I’d entered a SWICLE for a reason!
During all the chaos I caught up with the lad who had passed me and tucked in behind him trying to preserve some energy for a strong finish. When I say, tucked in, I mean I was 7 metres behind to avoid being DQ’d for drafting. The Sugworth Lane hill was taken more sedately and I managed to stay with the lad in front. Everything was going well until half way around the lap about half a mile before re-joining the ring road. I was working at the limit of my lactic threshold but it was under control, then time trial bike man simply put his foot down and went! I tried to up the effort but with the wind and the uphill bit made it grim.
All I could do was recall the training ride Simon and I had done from work a few weeks prior. There was a windy, straight section which simply had to be ground out; I applied the same logic here. Then I spied third place making a bid for my current second place with 2 miles left. I had made it this far, I wasn’t about to lose second place for the sake of a few minutes of pain. Unfortunately, I was up against another road bike and the gap began to close.
I gave up looking behind me and concentrated on trying to keep a good pedaling form; if I had to sprint at the end it would be as it would be. We dismounted and it became a sprint to the timing mat; I was in front so I just went for it. I finished 2 seconds ahead but I was third quickest on the bike. I couldn’t suck air in fast enough, it felt like drowning. It’s fair to say that I don’t think I had a huge amount left in the tank upon finishing. My swim ensured second place for me and I was content with this; quite pleased in fact given this was my first multi-event.
It was clear that all the people taking part were competitive and wanted to their best, but what was more apparent was the camaraderie. It was a pleasure to shake hands and talk about the race; people shared training tips and talked about their build-up to the event. I had been pushed to my limit by like-minded folk who trained hard to compete well; there are worse ways to spend a Good Friday! Or is there..Steve’s picture may say otherwise.
