This picture is the top of the second long climb. The climb starts in the bottom of the valley that you can see in the distance and includes several section at 25% gradient. Anyway how hard was the race?
After the bad weather the day before the first problem was that the transition from swim to bike was gone. It was under 3-4 foot of water as was the car park it had been set up on. The lake was lapping over the edge of the road so the transition was bikes leaning against the grass verge on the road. After a 20 minute delay it was decided the swim was too dangerous and that it would be cut from 1800m to 400m. The only reason that we swam at all was that a lot of teams had entered and the wanted to let the swimmers from the teams get wet as they had paid their part of the team entries. We were counted into the water for safety and as soon as I entered I noticed it was the coldest open water swim I had done this year. It was so rough that you could not see the canoeist and buoy that was only 200m in front. The swim started and the usual bun fight for places you expect from a mass start was was on. Added to the mix was the waves which as you went over the top of them you some times landed on top of people but that was beyond your control. As you turned at the top you could feel the difference as the waves carried you back to shore. Its not natural swimming to the edge of the road, but once you stood up you had about 1 meter to the road. After the run down the road that tore your feet to bits I dumped the wetsuit in the bag provided and stuck on my long sleeve RAF triathlon cycle top as the rain was already hammering down. Once on the bike its only 15-20 meters before the first of the 25% climbs. People were struggling already. I whizzed passed several people and settled in for the toughest 42 miles of a triathlon ever. The course is a real challenge and the long 1-2 mile climbs go on for ever with the gradients varying between 16 and 25% all the way round. The descents were as hard as the climbs as you were descending in severe gale force cross winds on single track roads of 25% with hairpin corners, potholes, gravel and cattle grids. I was climbing well but loosing a little bit on the descents battling with the cross wind on the cosmic carbons. I was not going to risk a spill on the decent just 3 weeks before the worlds. At the end of the bike after all the climbs the legs were quite tired as I only had a 39-25 combination. I would of benefitted from a 27 but I was not going to buy a cassette for just one race! Into T2 at a different location and it was time for the hardcore run. For safety reasons you had to carry a waterproof jacket, whistle, map of the course, food and drink. I put on my back pack but was worried as I put on my mega light fastwitch 3 shoes as others put on their fell running shoes (oops!). After running about 1/4 of a mile you turned off the road into the fields and got to the first style. After the floods of the day before and race day you had to wade through knee deep water to get to the steps and on the other side the water was almost waist deep. Across a couple more fields and then the fun really starts. Up the side of the mountain the track disappeared into the distance. As you ran you were really just tip toeing up the hill it was that steep. As it leveled out after about 3 miles you could run a bit better but not at proper pace. The swamps, bogs and at times rivers that were the trail were hard going and the cross winds were pushing you about and off the tracks. After what seemed like a lifetime I reached the top thinking I could make up some time on the decent. How wrong I was, the head wind on the decent made it just as slow going back down. At the halfway point of the decent you started to get some shelter from the wind and could pick the pace up again. Back across the fields, through the lake to the style and around the short stretch of road and the toughest triathlon I think i've ever done was finally over. The only race I've ever been more tired after was Ironman!
To give you some idea of the difficulty of the course look at the times for the race and compare with the last middle distance race I did!!!
Cleveland Steelman
2000m swim / 58 Mile bike / 12 Mile run - 4 hrs 22 mins
Wensleydale Big Cheese
400m Swim / 42 Mile bike / 12 Mile run - 4 hrs 30 mins
Finally found out the results late Monday night. I was 10th overall but once you take out the teams I was the 5th individual competitor.
If you want to really challenge yourself next season this is hardcore, come and have a go if you think your hard enough!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
