Race organisers, Hereford triathlon club.
It was to be a pre Alcobendas sharpener. Slightly longer than sprint distance, 4.6 mile run, 17 mile bike and a 2.2 mile run. Not far from home so no overnight stop.
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| All smiles pre race with Jayne |
On reflection I wonder if this race was every really meant to be for me. Just a week or so before there was a recall on the aero bars on my bike, so off to the bike shop it went awaiting a couple of new parts before I could safely ride it again. This process took a little longer than we were led to believe, so I missed out on quite a few training rides.
Eventually the parts arrived and as the bike shop was in Hereford, the obvious thing to do was pick the bike up and recce the bike leg before the weekends race. A nice flattish route but with some terrible road surfaces.
As the week progressed the beautiful sunshine and warmer temperatures that lend themselves to some lovely riding diminished. The forecast for race day was for high winds ! Hmm, decisions on wheel choice now, what with winds and poor road surface did I really want to race deep sections. This took some umming and ahhing so I took a choice with me! The result: deep section back only! Nice to have the choice, but I have to confess one set of wheels belongs to the other half of team Vikksen :)
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| Running well on first run |
First run went really well, a mixture of road and field, a nice route. By the end of the second lap I had moved up into 2nd place (females) and felt quite strong.
T1 was a success too, I was mounting my bike hot on the tyres of the 'girl' that pipped me on the run.
I started the bike strong and determined...I caught the leading female up and overtook her quite quickly, I was flying and enjoying the moment when one of my race day fears literally stopped me in my tracks...a technical on the bike. Without going into too much detail it was something to do with the internal cabling being slightly slack and pulling through at one point as I changed gear resulting in the chain dropping and wedging between the front rings and the frame. Disaster. It wasn't going to budge and I wasn't about to force it. I just had to get off and start the 5.6 km walk back to race HQ. Barefooted, Disappointed On the verge of tears! Rule 5 woman....!!! (Velominati, the Rules)
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| Maybe from the start the writing was on the wall, (sorry floor) for this ride....... |
Thankfully a very nice man from the nearby army camp stopped in his estate car and put my bike in the back and drove me back to race HQ, well if you become a damsel in distress in Hereford you may as well accept a lift from a Soldier !
This was my first DNF...it was going to happen at some point. Thankfully this was a training race for me, it could've been so much worse. The bike is fixed, (thank you Ron,) and training has continued. Next stop, Alcobendas!
The race went well for the rest of Malvern Tri, a couple of them experience their first duathlon, and stating that they find it physically harder than triathlon. My friend Jayne really enjoyed herself and is already planning her next multi sport event :)
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| Post race smiles. |
