Phwoar, look at the wheels on that!

A few weeks ago, I pointed out that throwing together a bit of carbon, a smattering of aerodynamic know-how, a couple of screws and a chain didn't always result in something swoon-worthy but, in the interest of fairness, I should point out that, most of the time, it does.

Tri bikes are beautiful, classy bits of kit that could be hung on the wall and admired for their sleek lines but, even when surrounded by a bevvy of luscious lovelies, some beauties still stand out a mile, as anyone who's been to a Swedish nightclub will tell you.

So (drumroll please), introducing our first contestant...a classic girl nextdoor cracker from the USA...

As I opened with a minging Trek last time, it seemed appropriate to redress the balance now. From another angle, you say? Alrighty...

The Trek Speed Concept is your classic looker - everything in the right place and well put together. For something American with a bit of bold Baywatch beauty about it, has sir considered the Scott Plasma?

Mmmmm. Or how about Specialized's new tri-specific Shiv? I'm not married but the Shiv makes me want to get married just so I can leave my wife to run off into the sunset with this bike.

Cor blimey! Look at the size of that downtube. 'A' grade bike porn!

I didn't know Louis Garneau made bikes but, judging by this effort, they should make more of them. Not sure why it's sat on an ironing board tho.

Sometimes it's all about where and how you meet. It could be the blue skies, or the sun twinkling on its Ferrari red frame, but this Guru Chrono does it for me.

 Unusual. Bit wide in the seat post. But I like it.

And not even a truly terrible wardrobe malfunction (white disc???) can detract from this little minx's beauty.

Never heard of Australian bike manufacturer Teschner before, but they build them nicely down under it seems.

But which is the slickest, sexiest TT bike of the lot? Real beauty surely comes from practicality - seeing something that is undeniably build for doing a certain job and gets it done with effortless grace and ease...like a Federer backhand. Therefore, true beauty in a tri bike is all about speed - looking fast - and for that reason the new BMC Time Machine gets my vote. Cadel Evans rode the hell out of it to win the Tour de France on the final time trial but, frankly, I'm pretty sure a one-legged grannie could set a land speed record on this thing just popping down the shops...just look at it - it looks mega fast. Stood still, it looks like it's champing at the bit to get out there and destroy all your competitors. In fact, it's so fast, it doesn't even need pedals.

One day, my lovely...one day.

Race report: Aerofit sprint tri in Ghantoot (race 2)

This Friday saw the second of our local sprint tri series held at the Golden Tulip Bungalows in Ghantoot. In spite of tired legs and a lack of training before the last race, I put in a really good performance, coming 7^th overall and 4^th in the open male category (three from the 40-50 category also beat me...those boys are quick!), so I was really keen to back that up with another decent performance this time.

Training had been going pretty well – lots of shorter high intensity work – but unfortunately I picked up a bit of a cold a couple of weeks ago which turned into a chest infection, laying me out for over a week. I wasn't too sure whether to race or not – especially after a really rubbish swim session on Wednesday night – but I felt OK on Thursday so decided to give it a shot. After all, I'd already paid the entry fee!

I got up at 3.55 and did my tried and tested ice coffee and porridge with sports drink and a Dairy Milk en route. The bike, once again, had been packed the night before and the bag was ready to go. I arrived nice and early, registered and found my place in transition. I stretched and warmed up a little more than I have in the past – a conscious decision as I often feel sluggish in the swim initially – and chatted with friends. I'm really loving the sport and the joy of racing right now...catching up with people in transition pre-race is a big part of that. I think my improvement over the summer (IM built a good base and the high intensity stuff is adding a bit more power) has brought me to a few other people's attention, as there were definitely a few more folk around who knew my name this time. That's a nice feeeling.

Setting up transition used to be quite stressful and time-consuming for me as I'd be so conscious of getting everything right and not forgetting anything. The good news, if you're new to triathlon and find the same, is that it gets way easier. It's now a pretty quick and automatic process.

The swim course changed a little from the slightly flawed last swim – in the briefing, they explained that it'd be a beach start, and then a two lap course with a small run along the beach between loops. I had a quick warm up (could do with more in future) and took my position near what I thought would be the most direct route to the first buoy.

The start was a little bit scrappy and some racers headed off before the klaxon. I didn't wait around to see if they'd be called back and everyone else seemed to have the same idea. It might have been messy, but the race was on. I ran as fast as I could, took a good dive and sprinted hard to the first buoy, making it first. There was quite a bit of wind blowing and the water was quite choppy, which I loved. It made it a fun swim and a more challenging one, which is always going to work out well for me. It also served to split up the field much more than usual.

The first loop flew by and I came out first just ahead of Ian Le Pelley, a great triathlete and strong swimmer, with Nick Tipper just behind him. By the time we'd run along the beach and got back in for the second loop, Ian had caught up a bit and was back on my feet but, feeling really good, I decided to put an extra strong burst in and really drop the hammer for the second loop, which worked out. I came out of the water clear in first and ran into transition feeling good. Time: 9 minutes.

Had a good quick transition (1:53 including the run in and out) and wasn't overtaken in the transition as has always happened in the past, meaning I was out on the bike in completely unfamiliar territory...leading the race! The bike leg is two loops of a 10k out and back route and, weirdly, I arrived at the roundabout that marks the 5k point and turnaround on the first lap, and I was still leading the race! I knew the wind would be with me on the way back so I cranked the bike up to a bigger gear and tried to keep the pace on hard. I knew I was going to be caught, but I made it my mission to get as far as I could before that happened.

In fact, it was about 8k in that Nick went past. Careful not to draft, I tried to stay with him for a bit but only managed a couple of hundred metres as he was really shifting. I hit the halfway point in second before Ed Hawkins – a brilliant triathlete who is fresh from the Ironman World Champs in Kona – came screaming past. I knew Ed was only doing the relay (still some post Hawaii fatigue in the legs, I expect) so it was understandable that he'd be moving quickly. Finally, after about 13km, Olivier Godart (the winner of the previous race) went past me extremely quickly and looking just so strong. It was easy to tell from where I was – the best seat in the house – that Nick and Olivier would be where the winner came from. But Olivier still had a lot of work to do.

At the final turnaround, I had the chance to check out where everyone else was behind me and was really chuffed to see that Ian hadn't eaten into my lead at all – if anything, I may have stretched it a little – and a few other guys who usually catch my swim lead back up on the bike were still a minute or more behind. It's so gratifying when you work at something (I've really concentrated on increasing my power on the bike since Ironman) and see tangible results.

All in all, it was a pretty lonely ride – no toing and froing like in the last race – and noone just in front or overtaking for me to pace off, so I was really happy that I managed to keep the pressure on and cycle hard. I came into T2 in third place overall (with a relay also ahead) having averaged almost exactly 40kmph (31 mins) for the 20k bike leg. Again, I transitioned well (1:10 including the long run in and out) and headed out for the run.

Right at the start of the run, there's a small incline and both my calves cramped quickly and painfully there, but as the terrain flattened out, the cramps passed and I could tell that they would work themselves out and not be more of a problem. I concentrated on running smooth and easy with a fast, light cadence and felt as good as I ever have on a sprint tri run. At the 1k mark, I was running just under 4:15 per km pace and felt good – smooth, even though I was certainly giving my all. Ben (who was marshalling) rode past me and told me I had about 1 minute on the next athlete. I saw Olivier and Nick head past me (Olivier was burning it up and had not only caught Nick but put about 15 seconds lead over him) and then I arrived at the halfway point and grabbed a water. It was really starting to hurt but I thought I could hold the same pace on the way back.

I passed a relay runner (who was next behind me) and then Ian, followed by a few other athletes. I was pretty sure that Ian had caught a decent chunk on me on the run so I tried to up the pace a bit, but really didn't have too much to give. The out and back course is great as I passed friends and other racers I know from swimming club etc and could see how they were looking and what their time was. I always try to give a few encouraging words when I do see them – even if I'm struggling with my own breath.

I dared not look behind and kept running hard – but I knew if I did get caught I didn't have anything more to give. I was willing the line closer. About 800m from the finish, I heard footsteps behind me and I mentally prayed that it was the relay runner who'd caught me but, unfortunately, with about 500m to go, it was Ian who ran past and into third place. I tried to respond and stay with him but he was just too fast – I looked behind and saw there was a huge gap back and so just kept a steady pace into the finish. Fourth place.

Sure, I was a little gutted to have been pipped to what would have been my first ever tri podium finish, but my time (1:04:11) was over a minute quicker than in the last race – and this on a slightly longer course (due to a short swim last time out). I ran the best I've ever run in a triathlon (20:40 for 5k) and beat a lot of guys for the first time – some of whom (like Roy Nasr who won the 40+ category with a storming 1:05) I've really looked up to and admired since I did my first race in Ghantoot a couple of years ago. I remember how fast those guys used to seem to me – it's mind-boggling (and a source of enormous pride) to me that I'm now able to mix it with them. The guys who beat me are superb triathletes – Ian has represented the UK in Commonwealth Games and age group champs, but has been plagued by injuries. To be honest, even though it was at my expense, I was pretty chuffed for him getting third.

Most importantly, I'm definitely improving, getting stronger and loving triathlon. And that's all I could ever ask for. These races may only be small, inconsequential, local affairs, but they can tell you how you're performing and if you're heading in the right direction. Happily, I am. The fact that I've done pretty well after a bout of rest and illness in the past two races has also made me wonder if I may have been overtraining a little here and there, as I've actually felt good and hungry going into these races. Perhaps another lesson to learn?

Next week is the first sprint tri at Wadi Adventure inland in the town of Al Ain. Looking forward to racing in a new venue on a different course.

Making the big decisions

Other than the fact that we both only came to triathlon in our late 20s, there is almost no other way in which my triathlon career resembles that of Chrissie Wellington:

Wellington is a force of nature who stormed on to the Ironman scene in 2007 when she disproved the popular belief that you couldn’t win on your first visit to Kona by becoming World Champion – a feat she repeated in 2008 and 2009.

I limped through my first triathlon with a banged-up old mountain bike, enormous stitch and calf strain – a feat I’ve not repeat again and again but only due to buying a slightly better bike.

Chrissie has smashed Ironman world records year on year.

I once smashed my alarm clock when it made me get up at 4am for a race.

So dominant is Wellington that when she shows up at an Iron distance event these days, the question isn’t whether she’ll win but how many pro guys she’ll beat (known in tri circles as ‘getting chicked’) – the answer to this questions in Roth, Germany, this summer was all but three of them –Chrissie came 4^th overall.

I sometimes get chicked. I’ve been to Germany.

But, for this week at least, I feel I’ve shared an emotional and competition based bond with the great British champion. After those three back-to-back victories at the World Champs in Kona, Hawaii, Chrissie arrived on the Big Island in 2010 as the reddest and hottest of favourites. But, to the surprise of everyone, she pulled out on the morning of the race due to illness.

This year, she was again such a red hot favourite to regain the title that, were she any redder or hotter she’d have been sponsored by Tabasco and leaving a Back To The Future style line of fire tracks behind her on the bike. But disaster struck again when, a few weeks out, Chrissie came off her bike on a training ride. To cut a long story short, she bashed up her body pretty bad and it was touch and go whether she’d make it on to the start line. But she did. And she won. But she described the decision of whether to race – both in 2010 and 2011 – as the hardest of her life.

Do you accept that you’re not at your best and race anyway or do you pull out until you can give a proper demonstration of your training, fitness and race readiness?

That’s what I’ve been asking myself this week. You see, while Chrissie had to decide whether to defend/regain her crown in the biggest triathlon on earth (‘the Superbowl of triathlon’) in Kona  Hawaii, where 3,000 of the very best pros and age groupers go toe-to-toe over the gruelling Iron distance (3.8k swim, 180k bike, 42k marathon run) tackling Hawaii’s legendary winds and iconic scorching lava fields in spite of her debilitating viruses/injuries...I have to decide whether I’ll do our little local sprint (750m swim, 20k bike, 5k run) against 250 athletes here in Dubai which is also quite hot, in spite of having been a bit fluey and having had a chest infection for the last week.

I know, right? The parallels are un-freaking-canny! Like, spooky?

Well, I may have only managed a couple of swims and a bad run in the past 10 days due to doctor’s orders, but there were a couple of decent weeks of training before that and the entry fee has been paid now, so, barring any Chrissie-style virus on the morning of the race (I guess one advantage of not having been allowed to ride is that I couldn’t crash!) I’ll be there.

I may not be chasing world records or world titles – a top 10 would be nice, as would a PR – but I’ll still leave it all out there, with everyone else. Coz we’re triathletes and whether best in the world or first-timer, that’s what we’re there for – to push ourselves. And sometimes, that’s the very best medicine. 

The road to hell is lined with carbon

Triathletes are geeks. Full stop. Even the least nerdish are full-on mega-squares...it simply goes with the territory.

Whether we opt for a simple Timex watch, try a bog standard heart rate monitor or have the latest GPS Garmins on our wrists, we're geeks. No matter whether we're running in trusty Nike Pegasus, a low-slung racer or the newest, shiniest Newtons to his the shelves, we're nerds. And when it comes to tri suits, helmets, bike shoes, CO2, Trainin Peaks, Daily Mile, splits, skin suits, wetsuits...whatever...we're square.

But there's one area in which our full geekery comes out most...the bike. Bikes are, as a rule, things of utter beauty, mechanical marvels. The levels of engineering that go into tri bikes makes them even more sleek and slick. And add carbon anywhere on a bike, it simply magnifies the beauty of the steed.

In fact, it's impossible to make an ugly TT bike...or, so you'd think:

Trek, however, did try to create the world's ugliest tri bike by giving it vomit-inducing colours.

We shouldn't be surprised though, as Trek has something of a track record in puke coloured speed machines.

De Rosa, it seems, mistook this Trek bike for a challenge to produce the worst coloured two-wheeler in the history of mankind...

Yuk, bright yellow. he winner, surely, of the ugliest TT bike ever competition? Oh no, not by a long shot. Not if Quintana Roo has anything to say about it!

 Some bikes have nasty shapes and ridiculous frames. But some seem perfectly fine, but then the designer has a rush of blood to the head and decides on the worst paint job imaginable...

Other bike designers ask themselves "what colour should I make this new bike..? Ah, I know...all of them!"

If that Look TT bike comes across like half bike half 80s explosion, just imagine what you'd get if you cross-pollinated a triathlon bike with a mobility scooter:

 UURRRGH! Please, make it stop! It hurts my eyes. Although at least it shows some sort of imagination - unlike the world's most boring bike, inspired by a set square...

Yuk. Could they make this Giant Trinity any uglier..?

Er, yes, actually, it seems they could.
But it's not just the giant American/Taiwanese firms that are responsible for crimes against solo cycling. Even the old Italian firms famous for usually creating bikes that are more works of art than sporting equipment have made huge mistakes when it comes to TT bikes.

Bianchi, how could you? Oh no, Pinarello, not you too...

Although at least these are recognisable as bikes, with proper triangular frames...unlike this Kestrel monstrosity.

Look ma, no seat tube!

Look ma, no sense of aesthetics!
Ever thought about knocking up a time trial bike at home with things left lying around your garage...Mr Leader did!

Ever wondered what Batman would train on if he were a triathlete?

I say train because we all know that, if Batman really were a triathlete, he'd race on this Ceepo:

Holy aero helmet, Robin!
I think this may well be the ugliest of the lot. It actually makes me feel a little nauseous just looking at it.
Although, imagine you were one of the biggest bike manufacturers in the world and you'd spent millions on developing your new triathlon bike. You spend thousands of hours in the wind tunnel shaping it to cheat the laws of aerodynamics and mould them to its very wont, you'd tapped into the latest NASA discoveries to use a material that made the bike lighter than any of its predecessors. You'd painstakingly chosen colours that subconsciously strike fear into the heart of all those who dare try to get near it. And then, just days before you were about to release this game-changing triathlon behemoth, you realised you'd run out of money before you'd finished the seat post. That'd never happen, right? Well, Cannondale, I can't think of any other excuse for this...

Why triathletes are better than cyclists – part II

An awful lot of cyclists are jealous of triathletes. We established this tenet a couple of months ago, right? My experiences since have given me no cause to review my assertions. In fact, I recently came across a cycle club that won’t even let a triathlete get near. “But I’ll do the whole ride on my base bars...” SHHH! “But, I’m an experienced group rider who often” ZZZZZZPPP! “But my tri bike is the only bike I ha...” GETOUTTTTTT!

At this point, I must emphasise that this isn’t the case here in Dubai. Both Dubai Roadsters and Cycle Safe are extremely welcome to all kinds of cyclists – turn up on a Penny-farthing as long as you can keep up.

Long solo rides (something I’m trying to add a bit more of for future Ironman glory!) give you a lot of thinking time and while doing a couple of laps around the Arabian Ranches development last weekend in order to watch my Garmin tick over the 100k mark for the day, I realised something else....sure, triathletes are nicer than cyclists, but we’re also way more intelligent.

Why? What could possibly have led me to such a sweeping generalisation? Well, I have never, ever, not once, not a single time, seen a triathlete riding along in an aero tuck and not wearing a helmet. And yet I lose count of the number of times I see cyclists taking to the roads with their bonces unadorned. I guess they’re relying on the old ‘no sense where there’s no feeling’ adage to protect them. Probably some truth to it - there's definitely no sense in those noggins!

Back in the UK, I saw them hurtling down mountain passes without a lid on. In the UAE, they jet around busy developments helmet free. Spend tens of thousands of dirhams on state-of-the-art, carbon fibre Pinarellos and BMCs..? No problem! Wear a relatively cheap, nicely-vented, weighs-almost-nothing helmet that can save your life..? Are you a moron – it’ll mess up my expensive haircut!

The argument you always hear is that, in the unfortunate event of an accident, a helmet ‘won’t do much good’ anyway. Hmmm, James Cracknell would disagree:

Still not convinced that a helmet can protect you from even the most unexpected of accidents..? Ask this guy:

A final note: not only are Dubai Roadsters and Cycle SafeDubai welcoming to triathletes and populated by the kinds of riders that wave to other riders when out on the road no matter what type of handlebars they have, they also both operate a strict ‘no helmet no ride’ policy. Top stuff. 

Dubai Discovers Endurance Sports

In some ways, I guess it’s a victim of its own success, but it seems that Dubai appears in the media so often that it’s easy to forget that it’s just not that big. The entire emirate of Dubai has a population of about two million (75% of which lives in the city of Dubai). So, that makes it about 20% of the size of London, less than half the size of Madrid, smaller than Hamburg, Budapest or Warsaw...in fact, about the same size as Milan, the West Midlands, or Greater Liverpool areas.

It’s pretty new too, as far as cities go. Things that are older than Dubai (and by this I mean Dubai the city, not Dubai the fishing settlement): the internet, the song Ice Ice Baby by Vanilla Ice, the band Blur, Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe...

So, since the early 90s, the city has expanded and expanded, swept along on a tide of oil and real estate money; until, suddenly, it stopped in October 2008. Now, when I speak to folks back in the UK, they’re almost surprised I’m still here – I think the image portrayed by the European media is of a giant futuristic landscape slowly crumbling back into the Arabian Gulf, crippled by poverty.

But that’s not it. What’s actually happening is what I like to call a spot of colouring in. During those boom years, all those huge developments and housing estates and economic cities and holiday resorts were thrown up...and they give the city an outline, a template, but not a soul. A soul takes time, but so strong is the human spirit and its love for art, culture, music, sport, society, fun and learning that it seeps into every little space it finds, if you give it time. And the time seems right in Dubai.

Multisports, triathlon in particular, and endurance racing on the whole have boomed in recent years and it seems like that boom has finally boomed its boom here in the booming (but not in the way in once boomed) UAE. Like I said, it’s finding its soul and its identity which, in a city, reflects the souls and identities of its inhabitant.

In spite of having grown up in the outdoor activity hotspot of North Wales and having lived in cycling mad Spain for almost 10 years, I actually didn’t take up triathlon – or endurance racing – until I got to Dubai. I’m not used to countries where, each weekend, there are ten local groups heading out on rides, 15 different triathlons across all different distances and, for good measure, a new sportive of half marathon is announced every week. Like I said, Dubai is actually quite a small city, and there have only been relatively few events until recently.

Then, suddenly, BOOM! Where once there was just the Golden Tulip sprint triathlons with the occasional one-off other race, now we have three or four small series of races, with a couple of big international ones thrown in for good measure. Between now and the end of the year, for example, I’ll be racing two sprint series (GT and Wadi Adventure) an Olympic distance tri, an Olympic distance aquathlon, a time trial, a half marathon and a 92km road cycling race. In the New Year, add the Yas tris to that mix, the Dubai Marathon, RAK Half, Wadi Bih adventure tri... and that’s not to mention the events I can’t do because they’re on the same days as the others!

And that, I guess, is one of the downsides; with much more variety comes choice. In the past couple of years, I entered everything going because there weren’t so many races anyway; and you’d see the same faces, which led to a nice sense of community. I guess as even more races are added, that’ll be diluted. But that’s still a good thing. Different races, different course, different faces, different place to come fourth...boom boom!  

Race report – Aerofit sprint race 1

As I explained in my previous blog, this weekend saw the beginning of our local season here in Dubai with the first of the Aerofit sprint races in Ghantoot (part of the emirate of Abu Dhabi...about 40 minutes drive from Dubai).

Going into this race, as I also said previously, I didn't expect much from myself as I was definitely still carrying some Ironman fatigue in my legs and, just as significantly, had done almost no training for this kind of race – training for a short, fast sprint (just over an hour) is very different from training for a long, endurance race like an Ironman (12 hours). Turns out I needn't have worried too much.

Although this series has been a regular monthly feature on the tri calendar for the past few winters, this year the location has changed slightly, so it was in effect a new course for most of us. The Golden Tulip Hotel Bungalows are a great location for it though and transition is superb – with around 250 participants (capped at that number – these races are very popular) it used to get a bit crowded in the old transition area.

So, on the day, I was up at 4am and I had a quick shower (tip from Chrissie Wellington – helps to turn up feeling awake), some porridge, a chocolate bar (probably not the best thing in the world but I find it hard to take in calories in the morning – one of the things that always goes down OK is a spot of Cadbury's so...whatever works!) and a can of iced coffee. I'd already pumped my tyres and packed my bike in the car the previous night and packed my bag, so all I had to do was put on my trisuit and the shorts and t-shirt I'd also laid out and go. I really recommend a bit of prep like this the day before – when you have to be up at 4am, it helps to have as little as possible to do or think about.

I got to the venue just after 5 (6am briefing, so 5 was ideal) and had time to register, set my transition area out, make sure the bike was in ship shape, fill my aerobottle, stretch etc. I love the atmosphere at races as more and more people arrive – there are nerves, of course, for any race, but for me it's a super cool experience.

Briefing over and it was time to get in the water and warm up. And then, before we knew it, it was 6.15 and the klaxon sounded...we were off! The swim was an oddly shaped one. The hotel is pretty much at the central point of the beach. We started all the way down to the left, swam out to a pontoon just 30m or so away from shore, then swam parallel with the shore for most the distance. The sand as we entered the water was mushy and oily – like quicksand – so even though it was shallow I just dived in and started swimming as soon as I could and then swam hard to get away from the crowds.

To be honest, I got a bit lucky on the swim. One of the really top local triathletes, Ian, came down just to do the swim as a kind of race practice (think he's maybe injured at the mo so no bike/run) and he went hard, so I was able to just get on his feet and draft the whole way. Another of the top guys, Nick, did the same, drafting off me; I think the three of us opened up quite a sizeable lead. The swim was a bit short in the end (around 650m instead of 750m) although that probably wouldn't make much difference to the overall times as, finishing the swim at the far right end of the beach, we then had to run around 250m across the sand to get off the beach, before running through transition. By the time we'd done this, Ian had stopped and Nick had passed me so I was in second place. This is familiar territory for me at this point in the race but in the past my transitions have been fine rather than good, and I've often lost position. I've been practising transitions a bit of late and that paid off (it's great when you see a result from some hard work) as I headed out on to the road still in second.

The bike was two laps of a 5k out 5k back course and 20km exactly – not the 22km mooted. It's also traditionally where I start making my impressively determined move towards the back of the field, although I usually run out or real estate on my pursuit of last place and end up around 20^th in this race. I didn't expect any better today for the reasons I stated at the beginning and the first 5km was certainly a struggle. I found it hard to control my breathing and had to spin quite hard into a bit of a breeze and very slight uphill – but, while Nick was increasing his lead, he wasn't tearing away from me like he would have in the past. In fact, during the whole first 5k, only two more guys (the eventual winner and a relay cyclist) passed me towards the turnaround point.

Halfway through the second 5km stretch, two more guys I know came past – Tony was part of a relay team and a strong cyclist, Roy is a great triathlete who tends to win the veterans (plus-40s) category every race. But I stuck with them and started feeling really great, finally controlling my breathing and cadence. Being careful not to draft, from then on the three of us worked with each other in something of a pace line to keep going hard to the end. It was without doubt the strongest I've ever felt on the bike during a race. I've simply never been quick enough to work in this sort of pace line with the good riders. I rode around 31mins for the 20km (just under 40km/h average).

Tony and Roy got a few seconds on me heading into T2 but, again, I had a really good transition (opting for a white running cap which I'd left ice melting in – a genius move, really helping to cool me down on what was a very humid [mid-30s even at 7am] morning). I left T2 a few metres behind Roy and, as I headed out, I could see that I had a pretty solid lead on a lot of guys I'd have expected to be beating me.

The run, I knew, was where I'd suffer and I immediately cramped and hurt – inevitable with my last real run being a hilly Ironman marathon less than three weeks ago. I was determined to see it out tho, and just shortened my stride and set small goals. I was passed by one of the brilliant young racers – Tom – whose run makes me look like I'm taking a gentle stroll, but he was the only guy to go past up to the halfway point. There, I downed a sports drink, threw a water over my head and carried on. Amazingly, only one more veteran came through right until the end when a relay runner caught me. The run was an almighty effort, I have to confess, but I came in with a time of 21:30 for the 5km run which isn't too shoddy at all.

My final time was 1.05.24 and my position was 7^th overall and 4^th in my category (open men). Admittedly, two or three of the guys I'd usually expect to be jostling for the podium weren't racing but, all told, a very good day's work and far better than I'd expected. In a lot of ways, it was the perfect start as it set a genuinely competitive marker for the season ahead, while I also know exactly where I can make improvements in all three disciplines, which is the ideal position to be in.

Last year, as my second full season doing triathlon, I think I lost sight of the wood for the trees a bit and focused so much on time and position that I stopped enjoying it. While parts of the race were certainly painful, one of the things I was most pleased about was my attitude. I soaked up the atmosphere and enjoyed the race...how it's meant to be.

In summary then: a great start and amazing (but surprising) to see how all that longer Ironman training has translated into the shorter stuff – especially on the bike. Onwards and upwards then!