Beer. Not that coaching bloke who appears in 220 and Cycling plus, but the proper, brewed stuff. It's the future, honest... At least it seemed that way after both Elliot and Steve R had their best ever placings in a race following (unconnected) "swift halves" on the Friday night before the race. I can't see the "Beer" bloke recommending it, but then it's his job, not his passtime. And he's not from oop North.
May 20th saw the 2nd running of the Quaker triathlon at Brankesome school, Darlington and (for me at any rate) the first encounter with the new postal rules. See, it turns out that a large stamped addressed envelope need to have more than a first class stamp on it if it's to get to you without a fine, and within a week. A5 envelopes are "triathlon large" and OK, but an A4 envelope is now "postal large" and therefore not OK. Cue several phonecalls to a very nice gentleman the night before the race, and some rather terse comments from the lady at registration. They let me start in the end, though, and that was a good thing because the race was good fun, and went well.
First up was a 400m pool-based swim where the next person to join me in the lane shot past me within a length, then sat a perfect speed and distance ahead of me to allow for a beautiful 200m draft and a nice little energy saving for the bike. It's in the rules, too: drafting on the bike, wrong and cheating; drafting in the swim, completely legitimate! T1 was made more entertaining by the odd chunks of glass in the schoolyard serving as a transition area- a small T0.5 developed outside the pool over the course of the race as competitors left shoes by the door to help avoid any problems.
Out onto the bike and it was that rarest of experiences, a completely closed road course. Well, as closed as the odd local was going to stand for, but basically closed. I know the organisers put in a huge effort to secure the closures and the resulting permissions from the Health 'n' Safety officials (only getting the final go-ahead days before the race date) and for that I applaud them. I only hope it doesn't start to set a precedent for other races: it would be a sad state of affairs if our sport became regulated off the roads by overzealous safety requirements. The bike was a two lap course and had a section of "out and back" on it so you could keep an eye on the other competitors. Sadly this allowed me to see that Elliot was pulling away from me each time, but I tried to give everyone else a suitably menacing stare (although it probably just looked like a lunatic racing gurn from where they were sitting...).
Two 7.5 mile laps later and it was time for T2 and the run. This started out pretty quietly with some residential streets and a fast, flat footpath before suddenly emerging from the bushes and presenting the triathletes with a sizeable lump to climb. Sizeable enough that it required hairpins and had a weary-eared marshall at the foot, who'd heard variations of "gosh what a jolly large hill" 110 times already that morning. What made that section all the more entertaining was the second and third climbs, cunningly hidden behind the brow of the first. It hurt. Not for long, though and soon it was back onto the flat for the run-in to the school and the finish line, complete with free energy drinks and not-free-but-very-welcome ice cream stand.
All in all it was a very friendly race on a challenging but scenic course and I'd hope to see it grow in future years- especially if they can keep the closed-road format. We had a good turnout from the club and most of the comments seemed positive (it was a very sudden hill)- plus we took second place points towards the regional GrandPrix.
Just remember kids: don't drink and ride...