2003 NEWS

Saturday 29th November 2003 Hillraiser Duathlon

Well, this was bordering on insanity in terms of conditions. The rain had been falling for several days and the 30k hilly bike leg was awash with gravel and grease. The race format is unusual in that it's a time trial with each competitor having a 30sec gap starting on a mammoth hill which you have to ascend 3 times. After my 5th place last year I fancied my chances this time around and decided to chance on using my full race bike. There were 40 entrants in this limited entry field. The run off the back was a short 5k two lap affair over a square shaped course half on road and half over a field. I decided to go out hard from the offing and try and build as much of a cushion as possible to go onto the run with (knowing that the mud would only irritate the better runners anyway). I was off as number 40. Dave P went off as number 35 (who I caught at the 5k point). The conditions were so bad that I had to curb my balls out assault purely because I had to allow a massive braking distance to stop on the tight bends and my handling just wasn't up to the demands of the course. Even so I quickly took time out of the field and by the time the bike leg had completed I had caught everyone from number 39 up to number 11 giving me a huge cushion. The only unknown quantity was defending champ Ian White who was number 8 and I had Gary Biddell who was a decent age grouper and biker starting after me. I made my way out onto the run and was amazed about how well I was going off the bike and having then dropped 2 runners ended up in no mans land for the rest of the run. Unfortunately I didn't go hard enough on the second lap and finished with too much left in the tank. The results aren't out yet but it's possible I lost 2nd place by only 35 seconds. However, the run felt great with a lot more confidence (with the near weekly run racing at the moment). As it was I carried off 3rd place. Still that was my first podium in multisport so I was happy.

 

Sunday 23rd October 2003 Lordshill 10 miler

Julian Allen & Bryce Dyer had this as part of their first week back in training, below is Bryce's take on the day. Julian ran with me for the first 5 (I was aiming to lay down 7min miles for the first half) and then took off at mile 5. Backed off at miles 5-8 allowing for some slack so I could contend in the hills without heading south. The hills seem to affect most of the other competitors whereas I probably struggled more on the flat and made most of my gains on the up/downs.  I used other runners to draft off where required and a couple of lightweights to pull me up the monster climb at mile 7 (and then thanked them by disappearing up the road). I never lost a place after the first couple of miles and gained 20-30 in the last 3 miles. I let go at mile 9 and I noticed that runners tend to relax when in a group and don't seem to run to their own ability so I used this a lot to overhaul clusters of runners. Usual tradermark 400m kick at the end.  Not a bad time and I had a much better idea of what was going on this time. I prefer running this distance to a 10k because it allows me to employ a more even pacing approach and a lot more options on tactics and psychology. I was surprised I negatived the second half but this may be due to me finding the first half uncomfortable due to no warm up (the weather was atrocious).  The split was about right so my pacing was obviously spot on and Julian only managed to take 2:20 out of me on the second half. Enjoyed this - Sherbourne anybody ?.......... Result: 121st/300ish  1:14:21 (PB) Negative split - 37:40 first 5m 36:41 second 5m Julian was 101st 1:12:00

 

Sunday 10th August 2003. Swanage Triathlon.

Clive Agate & Toby Hood were competing over this standard distance race, Swanage tends to have a fast swim but the climbs on the bike and run are notorious. Clive was looking to have a better race than Milton Keynes, trying to find the form that gave him a PB at Bournemouth. This was Toby's last triathlon prior to the World Duathlon Championships in Switzerland later this month. Clive was 6th in his age group, splits being 25.57, 68.24 and 44.01 giving him an overall time of 2.18.22, Toby finished 10th overall, 4th in his age group in 1.58.42, broken down as 18.46, 62.23 & 37.33. Good luck to Toby for the Worlds Championships.

 

Sunday 3rd August 2003 London Triathlon

The biggest triathlon in Europe with over 5,000 athletes racing over various events. Dave Pratten's times this year had ensured him a place in the sub 2.30 race, giving athletes a chance to race on closed roads through the centre of London, only the elite athletes were allowed to do this. Dave completed the race in 2.16.26, clocking 21.21 for his swim. 70.51 for the bike and 44.24 for his run.   A great experience for a London lad.

 

Sunday 27th July 2003 Milton Keynes Triathlon

This was a World Qualifying race for the 2004 Triathlon World Championships in Funchal, Madeira. Three athletes were chasing qualification, the only way to guarantee success was to finish in the top six places within your respective age groups. Despite setting a Personal Best, Bryce Dyer, was 16th in his Age Group, 104th out of 386 finishers, setting times of 24.19, 62.38 & 43.11 to complete the course in 2.11.45. Next home was Dave Pratten, Dave had turned his place at the 2003 World Championships in New Zealand, focusing instead on the European race in 2004. Despite slipping his chain, Dave finished in 6th place in his age group, 159th overall in a time of 2.15.28. Swim 21.09, bike 69.12, run 42.51. Clive Agate unfortunately finished outside the age group places coming home in 15th place, 293rd overall in times of 28.14, 67.38 & 45.04, total time 2.23.19.

 

Tidworth Triathlon

Whilst some of the guys were chasing qualification Toby Hood decided to test his speed over this 400m, 16 mile, 4.5 mile course. Toby blasted around the course to beat the other 150 athletes, posting times of 5.40, 37.06, 28.36 to come home in 1.11.22

 

World Police & Fire Fighters Games Barcelona.

The Synergie Coaches had been working with the Dorset Police team that were going out to the Games, however neither the athletes or the coaches realised the scale of the games. The WPFG are the biggest athletic event behind the Olympics, 11,000 athletes from 80 countries took part in 65 sports with triathlon being awarded the prestige of being the opening event. 28 degree sea temperature meant no wetsuits, this effectively put paid to Scott Murray racing so he reverted to chief supporter instead. Kev James & Di Newnham started with 400 other athletes, however by the time they got to the run about 10% had dropped out due to the heat showing at 38 degrees with the humidity running about 70%+. Kev finished in 2.29.35 and Di came home in 2.44.38 A fantastic experience for all the athletes who went to Barcelona.

 

Sunday 20th July 2003 The Longest Day Wolverhampton

2.4 mile, 112 mile, 26.2 mile Near perfect race conditions saw William Garnier & Graham Starmer enter Gailey reservoir to begin this ironman distance race. It was a close race between the two athletes, Graham exited the water in about 62 minutes with William close behind in 65 minutes. Graham kept this lead throughout the 112 mile bike ride so it was all down to the run. By the halfway mark William had clawed back the three minute gap and imposed a similar margin on Graham. William continued to pull away throughout the marathon finishing in a great time of 11.05.12, Graham completed a long held dream by completing the race in 11.46.33. A helluva way to spend your birthday, eh Graham?

 

Saturday 19th July 2003 Pembroke Triathlon 1500m, 40k, 10k

Whilst Graham & William were making the journey to the Midlands, Toby Hood went west to race in Wales. 450 athletes completed the course with Toby finishing 24th overall and 16th in his age group clocking times of 20.57, 72.09, 36.05. Finishing time 2.09.11

 

Sunday 13th July IM Germany Frankfurt. 3.8k,180k,42k

Julian Allen decided that the best birthday he could have would be racing IM Germany and he was close to getting the perfect present. A good swim and bike saw him go out onto the run with a projected sub 10.30 hour finish, a pace he held through the first half of the marathon unfortunately either the lack of or excess of cake kicked in with Julian suffering severe stomach cramps. He finished in 11.51.00, another sub 12 hour race for Julian's portfolio.

 

Mitre Triathlon 600m, 40k, 10k

As part of their build up to Barcelona, Di Newnham & Scott Murray decided to test themselves at the Mitre Tri. An unusual race as you swim in Winchester, bike to Salisbury before finishing with a round around Old Sarum and up Snake Hill. There seemed to be more hills than Lanzarote, despite time away the script hasn't changed for either athlete as Di beat Scott once again. Di finished in 2.39.01, apparently Scott's time was done by sun dial & egg timer.

 

Sunday 6th July Bournemouth Triathlon 1500m, 40k, 10k

Near perfect race conditions greeted the 650+ athletes on Bournemouth Beach, Julian Allen & Kev James had spent most of the night building the race transition area, then spent most of the morning marshalling the athletes, so they decided not to race. For a number of the athletes this would be the first test of the season, Bournemouth is renowned as a fast course. Clive Agate, Bryce Dyer, Toby Hood & Dave Pratten had all come out to play in the sunshine and with Clive & Dave in the same wave plus Toby & Bryce racing in the same start it would prove to be an interesting day. As expected Dave was always with the leaders in the swim, however by the time they got back in from the bike leg, Clive had closed the gap. Clive chased Dave down on the run to come in first in this particular team battle. Despite his silver wetsuit Bryce came out of the water behind Toby and unfortunately for Bryce he never saw Toby again. Bryce, Clive and Toby all recorded Personal Bests. Toby was 14th overall, 2nd in his age group. 22.24, 61.01, 38.24 Total time 2.01.49 Bryce was 158th overall, 29th in his age group 26.37, 62.02, 46.16 Total time 2.15.13 Clive was 238th overall, 6th in his age group 29.56, 65.01, 46.06 Total time 2.21.03 Dave was 252nd overall, 7th in his age group 24.09, 69.56, 47.36 Total time 2.21.41

 

Sunday 29th June 2003 New Forest Kids Triathlon

Alexandra & Phoebe Chester were competing in this race as part of the Southern Series, the following report is from chief bag carrier, Dad. A good days racing in glorious weather. Phoebe got under way around 9.45 in warm sunny conditions, exiting the pool in second place. A quick transition from swim then a short run to the bike where another quick transition saw her take the lead. Hard work on the bike meant she only dropped one place on the bike, with the first three putting big time into the rest of the field. A strong run kept her second spot to the finish. However the staggered swim start lost her second place by just 3 seconds to the girl in 3rd who started 10 seconds later. Still a medal and some good points for the series. Alex went off quite a bit later on a very long course (same as the 15/16 on bike and run). Out of the pool in the top 5 and onto the long bike ride (6k on grass) despite a couple of strong laps the distance started to take it's toll and a few places were dropped. A steady run saw only one more place slip with an eventual joint 9th. The lead two were head and shoulders and put in some very quick times. Next up Portsmouth Aquathon followed by Marlborough Childrens Triathlon.

 

Marlborough Triathlon

Another of the Fast Twitch pool based events and once again a strong field, with over 250 athletes, a fair few of whom had represented GB. Scott couldn't get out his bed for this one so it was down to Clive Agate, Bryce Dyer, Toby Hood and Kev James to fly the De Soto Synergie flag. Toby won his age group and placed 12th overall in a time of 1.31.50, Bryce did way too much on the bike and paid for it on the run coming home in 24th place, 5th in his age group in 1.35.35, in only his second outing on the season Kev came home in 10th place in his age group, 51st overall in 1.41.47 just piping Clive who was second in his age group, 58th overall in a time of 1.42.22. The athletes were rewarded with third team place.

 

Sunday 15th June 2003 Gatorade Royal Windsor Triathlon 1500m/40k/10k

As always Windsor attracted a massive entry with close to some 2000 finishers in total. The race was also a 2003 World Championship Qualifier. So both quality and quantity racing. Dave Pratten was the sole representative at Windsor. A 25.31 swim ensured that Dave led out of the water, a 72 minute bike and a 43 minute run gave him an overall time of 2.21.53, finishing in 6th place in his age group. The qualification slots were for the first 5 places. However with the winner in Dave's already preselected for Queenstown it looks as though has qualified to go to New Zealand

 

Sunday 8th June 2003 The Shropshire Triathlon 1500m/40k/10k

The Shropshire triathlon was hosting the Male Veterans Age Group Championships as well as being a World Championship Qualifier for the 2003 World Championships in Queenstown, New Zealand. Toby Hood decided to chase qualification at triathlon, having already qualified for the World Duathlon Championships in Switzerland. A 21.24 swim put Toby in 7th place with his stronger disciplines to come, his 64 minute bike and 38.30 run took him up into 4th place in his age group thereby ensuring his qualification for the 2003 World Triathlon Championships. The overall winner of the race, Danny Plews was in Toby's age group. Winning time 1.57.16. Two GB vests and a silver at a National Championship race for Toby in the space of 6 weeks. Not a bad start to the season.

 

Weymouth Middle Distance Triathlon 1900m/55mile/13.1mile

With Graham and William recovering from Ibiza and Bala respectively, Julian Allen was the only long course athlete to race at Weymouth. Conditions were certainly more favourable than last year. A slightly over distance swim saw Julian exit the water in 35 minutes; a good bike put him out onto the run in under 3 hours, so all was looking good for Julian to set a PB. Despite tight gluteus and piriformis Julian ran the first loop in 45 minutes. However with IM Frankfurt on the horizon Julian felt it wise to call it a day after 1 lap rather than risk any longer term injury.

 

Sunday 1st June 2003 Poole Festival of Running

Debbie Austin was again tasked with warming up all the athletes in all the races so experienced both sunshine and showers during the course of the day. The mixed weather reflected the mixed emotions experienced by the athletes. First off in dry weather was Phoebe Chester; Phoebe went out hard racing shoulder to shoulder with Niki Guiney. They stayed locked together throughout the race with Phoebe just being piped at the post, by 2 seconds to come home in second place in a time of 6.21 There were 98 finishers in Phoebe's age group. A downpour meant that Alexandra Chester and I tried to stay dry under a tree before her race, not the best preparation. The 12-14 age group had a field of 71 athletes and was a highly competitive race, Alex was ensuring that some of her friends got around the course and spent the first part of the race helping them around. She finished strongly in a time of 14.45, in 40th position. More rain prior to the adults 10k in the afternoon meant Di & I had to buy waterproof jackets!! The 10k saw Peter Rabjohns and Julian Allen in a field of about 1000 athletes; a fast race resulted in a new course record of 29.57 being set. Pete finished 54th in 35.58 and Julian came in on 37.22 in 75th place.

 

Bala Middle Distance BTA Long Course National Championships 2000m/80k/21k

Whilst some of us were experiencing the social side of the Poole Festival of Running, William Garnier made the long, solo trip from Cornwall to North Wales to compete at the Long Course National Championships. This would give an indication of William's recovery from injury & illness and hopefully be a building block for the rest of the season. A cold swim saw him exit the water in 36.10, however the cold took its toll on his bike and run. The bike was 2.23 and the run 1.48 giving William a total time of 4.48.29. Despite William not enjoying the day the positives are that the race proves he is on the way back to full race fitness. Hopefully a period of consistent training will bring to peak condition for Sherborne.

 

Sunday 25th May 2003 Salisbury Triathlon 400m/22mile/5mile

Once again Di & I put ourselves on the line, using this as the second build up race to Barcelona. We were joined on this new course by some 250 other athletes including Toby Hood, Bryce Dyer and Peter Rabjohns. It was good to see so many people had made the effort to get up early in order to come and support/heckle me, special mention goes to Tim Hood who cycled out in order to support and ended up being roped in as a marshal. A flat swim, lumpy bike and undulating run saw the athletes, Di and I come home in the following times;   12th overall and 1st in his age group Toby Hood 5:35 51:21 22:36 1:19:32. 22nd overall and 6th in his age group Bryce Dyer 6:45 52:17 24:53 1:23:55 24th overall and 4th in his age group Pete Rabjohns 6:16 54:54 22:59 1:24:09 37th in the females and 14th in her age group was Di 7:39 1:08:02 30:53 1:46:34 and last, literally in 256th place and 43rd in my age group 9:39 1:23:29 46:54 2:20:02

 

Sunday 18th May 2003 Litespeed National Duathlon Championships. 10k run/38k bike/5k run

Toby was the only athlete racing at the Litespeed National Duathlon Champs, this was a good test of where he stood following on from his World qualifying race. Having raced this course in 2002 he had some benchmark times to work off, once again his hard work showed as he was quicker in the first run, the bike section and the final run clocking splits of 33.29, 68.14, 19.59 to complete in 2.10.42 some 12 minutes quicker than last year. This performance gave Toby 2nd place in his age group. He missed the gold medal by 15 seconds!! Toby's view of the race is as follows: Swindon Duathlon was this years National Championships yet again. A large field of over 300 athletes lined up for the 5 wave starts with the women starting first as 9.00am and my wave starting last at 9.30am.  The race this year was run over the traditional 10km run, 38km bike, 5km run, the opening run was as fast as always, my time for the 10km was 33.29, which was a bit quicker than I had planed to go! After the first run I was leading in my age group by around 40 seconds. The bike, which is two laps, was hilly but fast; unfortunately I lost one place one the bike at the end of the first lap. At the start of the second run I was in second place by 45 sec, I gave it very thing in the final 5km to close the gap to 15 sec but it wasn't enough and I crossed the line in second place in a time of 2.01.42. The over winner was Martin Yelling in 1.48.55.

 

Sunday 27th April 2003 Cambridge Duathlon

It was a cold and windy day as over 200 athletes toed the start line of the 2003 Cambridge duathlon with world championship qualification. At the sound of the gun came the start of the first 7km run, just a short straight and then into a substantial headwind, within 2km the field was spread and so it stayed until transition. The bike leg was two laps of a 19km course, with a long stretch into that severe head wind positions soon changed as the stronger cyclists moved to the fore. On coming into the final transition positions where all but set, a last 7km run to home was the same as the first but felt considerably harder running alone. The winners time of 1.41.09 was considerably faster than 2nd place who came in at 1.44, I was pleased with my own time of 1.50.12 which gave my 18th place overall in a very good field.

 

Saturday 4th May 2003 Race 2 Biathle Grand Prix Series

After watching what seemed like endless junior races for over two hours, zero hour came without ceremony. I moved to the start line where both the senior men and the u21 lined up together. At the sound of the gun the field took off like a gang of frightened rabbits, the pace was horrendous for someone used to running 10km, a sub 5 min 1500m hurts. At the end of the 1st run I was in about 6th place, after a complex transition I was in the water swimming two loops of the pool to make up the 200m distance. This was not a lap swim but a loop swim around the pool! After the swim it was back out for the final 1500m run, a slightly slower affair, the endurance training kicked in and I pick up a few more places to finish 2nd in the senior men's category in.

 

Sunday 11th May 2003 Dorchester Fast Twitch Triathlon 400m swim 14 mile bike 4 & a bit run

This race was personal, not least because the coaches were "racing". This was to be the first race of a full competitive season for both Di & myself. The last time either of us had put together a series of races was 1996. Six members of De Soto Synergie had cold but mainly dry racing conditions at Dorchester. As the race start times are seeded based on your swim time I was off first, with the others following in the order of Di, Debbie Austin, Clive Agate, Bryce Dyer then Pete Rabjohns. Once again Roger & Linda Wakling had filled the race with over 260 competitors entering, so a large field with some quality at the fast end. Andy Blow won the men's race in just over the hour, with Julie Moore taking the females race in 1.16.51 There were good individual showings by all the athletes, Pete came home in 18th place overall and 6th in his age group in a time of 1.09.39. Bryce was next in, 28th overall, 7th in his age group in a time of 1.12.12, Clive was the third team athlete over the line in 1.19.53, 87th overall and 4th in his age group with Debbie finishing third in her age group, 151st overall in 1.27.48. Di maintained the tradition of whooping me by coming home in 177th with a time of 1.30.55 and I proved that you don't need to be a good athlete to be a good coach, just pleased to finish in 2.04.42. Alton 10 miler Whilst 6 of us were at Dorchester, Julian Allen travelled across to Alton to compete in 10 mile running race. On a lumpy course Julian finished well up the field in a time of just over 62 minutes.

 

World Long Course Championships 4k swim, 120k bike, 30k run.

Graham & Nikki Starmer chose to forgo the delights of Dorchester and Alton,instead they headed to the sunnier climes of Ibiza where Graham was representing Great Britain in the World Championships. Having had cool conditions leading up to the race, Sunday proved to be the hottest day of the week with temperatures rising towards 30 degrees. Graham did the 4k swim in 64 minutes, blasted the short 116k bike in 3.48 and completed the three loop run course in 3.17 giving him an overall time of 8.19.15. The heat took it's toll on all the athletes in Graham's wave there were 70 competitors entered and only 59 completed the course. A proud moment for Graham to race for and to complete the event for Great Britain.

 

Monday 5th May 2003 Wantage Aqauthlon

Alex & Phoebe Chester were the only team athletes to go to Wantage for the second race in the Southern Series and a race dedicated as the Southern Aquathlon Championships. Alex had a top ten finish, swimming 6.19 and running 14.18 to give her an overall time of 19.52 and a position of 9th in her age group and 6th in the Championship. Phoebe finished 4th in her race but third in the Championships, recording a swim time of 2.52, a run time of 7.37 and an overall time of 11.04. Hart Triathlon 400m swim, 20k bike, 5k run. Over 400 competitors decided to race on Bank Holiday Monday as opposed to going to the garden centre. Clive Agate was the sole team represntative at this race. Clive was 72nd overall and 5th in his age group, posting times of 8.20,36.16 & 22.14, overall time 1.06.50. Not a bad start for Clive's first race of the season.

 

Sunday 27th April 2003 Cambridge Duathlon 6.4k run, 35k bike, 6.4k run.

Toby Hood was the second De Soto Synergie member seeking selection to the GB team, this time for the World Duathlon Championships in Switzerland. Toby knew that the percentages were in his favour for this race however he didn't wait for it to happen but went out and raced hard to ensure he claimed his age group place. Almost 200 athletes were chasing selection at this race and Toby was up against athletes from some of the high performance university units. Toby finished 18th overall, 4th in his age group with times of 23.02, 61.54, 25.16  giving him an overall time of 1.50.12. Toby achieved his qualification place and has been chosen to represent Great Britain at the World Duathlon Championships. A great result for an athlete who has worked hard over a number of years.

 

Winchester Fast Twitch Triathlon 400m swim, 20 mile bike, 6 mile run.

Following on from a full field at Blandford, Winchester had 250 competitors with a lot of athletes using the race to see how their winter training had gone. We had four athletes resplendent in their new De Soto kit and T shirts at the race. Graham Starmer looking for a final speed set prior to flying out to Ibiza for the World Championships. William Garnier looking to put it all together to see how pre-season training had gone and a little bit of transition practice. Julian Allen having a bit of fun with the short course athletes whilst having a speed set Bryce Dyer always competitive and having his last race as a novice. Despite the usual "factory teams" being present the athletes improved on their 3rd place at Blandford by being second team overall. A great results considering the depth of field of athletes and sponsorship deals teams like Total Fitness Bath, Tri Uk & Primera Sports have Graham  raced home in 15th place overall, 5th in his age group in 1.40.45 Julian came home in 28th place overall, 4th in his age group in 1.44.15 William finished in 30th place, 8th in his age group in 1.44.32. Bryce was 51st overall, 16th in his age group in a time of 1.48.45.

 

Race Report - Blandford Tri The season opener !

This was my second outing in a tri and to say I was psyched up was an understatement. Too much music and reading of Armstrong's autobiography had meant that I was about to spontaneously self combust had our heat not been called. I think it's called 'over arousal'. A slightly eager swim had meant that I'd stuck to my race plan and exited the water shortly after Jules and Graham. Thanks to help from both Jules and Ryan on transition work over the weekend had meant that by the time I'd left T1 I'd pulled more time back. Dave was out in 5.45 but bike problems for him (welcome to the oily hands club) meant that he never came back into contention. What happened next is a stupid mistake I'd made in a notorious sailing race incident with my brother several years ago. I spent so much time trying to race one person (despite that I'd caught Julian and Graham quickly) I stopped time trialing and started match racing. I raced someone else's race and not my own. Having caught Graham my cycling and technique hit the fan. I should have just TT'd through and not spent so much time looking over my shoulder. As it was I struggled to get my bottle back in it's cage, I dropped the chain twice going up the base of the worst hill on the course, and then nearly got killed by a Land Rover on the last descent when I swung wide on the last turn. Enjoy it boys, that's the last time I make that mistake. T2 went well without issue and on this occasion I left the marshals unscathed. I went out on the run (where are my legs?) but the course gremlin struck again when a mathematical rule is that the quickest way between two points is a straight line - not the yellow brick road to Kansas. Graham ran across the grass and I issued a firm word of support that began with 'f' and ended with a 'k'. The run course is truly awful. A long descent, a long drag uphill, another short descent, another drag uphill, and then a run up the high street. It took me all the way until the second hill to get my breathing and legs back (more brick work Di !). Surprisingly I was starting to claw Graham back by this point (and we know I hate hills on foot) but it was the last I'd see of him with his running class. My poor cycle leg had left me without a cushion and by this point I knew it was better to parcel my pace out because Jules would have me in his sights having had a great cycle himself. I finished with the usual customary sprint finish and disturbing 5 minutes of uncontrolled laughter for no apparent reason. Again, the rush you get upon finishing is the best thing. I then suffered 'seven degrees of separation' for the rest of the day whilst I went through the ups and down cursing or jumping around over my performance. I beat my target time and beat the time from my GB age groupers (from the year before) that were after slots for the worlds so on paper at least I was happy.

 

Race Report - Weymouth CC 10 Mile Club TT Sunday 9th March 2003

A week after my debut I'd been bitten by the bug and was desperate to find another race to get more practise in. I'd already had a hard week and the night before this had raced in the last Boscombe 5k on already tried legs. I made the ultimate pre race cardinal sin by having my latest addition to my dream machine - carbon (of course) aerobars fitted - only 45 minutes before the race (that's race wisdom for you). I took Ryan James (Tri Uk) for moral support and we steamed away in a field of about 20 roadies. The course is renowned as a particularly slow but non technical (yippee) course of an out and back format. The times haven't been confirmed yet but we know that despite the fact I got the course wrong (again) and sat up and coasted 800m short of the line I came in second (my 'moral support' having won). A solid roadie arse kicking result!

 

Race Report - EDCA 27k Time Trial

My virgin outing turning a crank in anger. This was my first experience of a skin suit and to say I was 'slightly aroused' was an understatement not helped by Bill@Primera lending me a TT helmet and I'd had my new wheels on for about 2 days. I think it's fair to say that rather than being an extension of the bike I was perched on top since this was my first experience of using aerobars for longer than a couple of minutes. I didn't have the best of minutemen (catching my lady in socks after 2 minutes) and then caught another 2 minute men before I was too caught by the eventual winner of the event. My tactics seem to be find the biggest gear you can pedal, find a bigger one, bite your lip (hence the blood afterwards) find a bigger one again and then get the cadence to a nice smooth .......70 RPM. Hence I was all over the road and basically started enjoying it when I was up to my backside in lactic. To finish in 9th against a class field on a debut I s'pose is good but I know I could have gone a lot quicker ( I was 10 seconds off 7th). Next time I'll wear a gun shield..........

Race Round up

The Grizzly - Jurassic Jaunt Sunday 9th March 2003

This epic race decided to test the athletes even more this year by reversing the run course. Dave Pratten came home in just over 3 hours & 20 minutes, in 464th place. Pete Meteau showed that he is gradually getting back to racing health and fitness by running in in 4.51 in around about 1400th. A tough day at the office.

 

BJW 10 mile mountain bike Saturday 8th March 2003
A close finish on a very windy afternoon. Toby Hood just got the better of Dave Pickering but only by 4 seconds. Pos   Time  Name 1st   30:58  Toby Hood

 

Mad March Hare Sunday 2nd March 2003

Graham Starmer decided that he would test himself over this 20 mile course and came home in 54th position in a time of 2.21.07. He was 22nd in the senior men event and a total of 224 competitors finished. A good test for the Longest Day. As Graham was testing his legs over a running race, Julian Allen was testing himself over the Tour of the Purbecks 105k cycle ride. Julian ended up working on his own for most of the ride and a quick bit of cyclo-cross at a railway crossing ensured no-one caught him as he came home in third place overall.

 

Sunday 23rd February 2003 Winchester 10k

A cold & windy day greeted Toby Hood & Bryce Dyer over the hilly run course. Toby finished in 12th place overall in a time of 35.43, with Bryce coming home in 42.42 in 91st place. The long course guys decided that 10k was way too short for them and decided to do the Pewsey Terminator. 6 uphills, 3 downhills and a river crossing where you are not allowed to use the bridge faced them on this 10 mile-ish course. Julian Allen & Graham Starmer had a personal battle throughout the race with each leading, Graham leaving Julian on the uphills but Julian descending better. Julian was caught by Graham for a sprint finish in the finishing chute. Graham came home in 40th place in 1.28.33, Julian 41st in 1.28.36.

 

Team in training Sunday 16th February 2003

The athletes were tested in their critical swim speed, VO2 max running and core stability and they all left smiling.

 

Sunday 9th February 2003 Bath Biathle Race

Alexandra & Phoebe Chester were amongst the athletes contesting the first race of the National Biathle Series. Race conditions were dry but bitterly cold, testing all the competitors. Phoebe raced first completing a 500m run, 50m swim and 400m run, Alex was off a couple of waves later, racing over the same distance. Both athletes battled the conditions and finished strongly. Whilst Alex & Phoebe were doing a sprint style race, Julian Allen & Graham Starmer were out on the first century ride of the season, both felt strong at the end, taking the improved confidence such a distance brings as they prepare for their respective long course races.