Odiham race and new carbon bling

Went down to Odiham on Wednesday for the sprint race. Not really planned this but a late decision (5 days before) realising I could have a full day off work to do it!! I didn't do any sort of taper (not that I would for a sprint anyway) and went down a little bit tired after a hard few weeks of training. It was good to meet up with the old crew and we (Sags, Turbo, Roy B, Jase and Mal) sat in a group after the race brief as the heavens had opened. We were talking about how many new faces were about and how few people we knew. There seems to be some new and upcoming talent in RAF Tri at the moment which is great as I'm sure the "old crew" can't be relied upon for ever to sure up the RAF Team. We also discussed (Sags please take note) that we would be better off putting our vets in the vets team for the inter-service race in July rather than using them in the men's team as we have more chance of winning the vets race against the army.

Anyway, on to the race. I had Brad, Sags, Paul Fullalove and myself in my wave (2nd from last) and as the swim started I felt my pace was nice and even throughout. Not as fast as I can do but consistent, and exited the water on 6:01 and at the same time as Paul. Brad was already out and suspect he swam about 5:35. I had a good transition and saw Sags as I was leaving so he wasn't very far behind. I set off at a fast pace on the bike and as we joined the main road I could see Brad at the bottom of the first decent. I wanted to catch him as quick as possible and pushed hard up the first climb. I caught Brad just about half way round the first lap and moved ahead. Unfortunately when we got to the main town I was delayed a little in traffic and Brad came past (on the kerb lol) I passed him on the climb up out of the town and never saw him again. I later found out he punctured but am confident I would have dropped him anyway. The second lap my heart rate settled and my pace got faster (plus I knew the corners this time). As I got back to T2 I had a quick glance back but saw no sign of the chasers. A good transition and I set off on the run, after leaving T2 I was about 50 meters up the road when Sags came in off the bike. I pushed hard on the first half of the run with only a slight delay for a cyclist and car at the road crossing. As I neared the turn around I saw Mal first then not far back was Jase who shouted that the turn was just ahead. On the way back I saw Sags who looked to be going well and then Nick Harris on his run and he looked fast. I pushed on and had a clear run over the road on the way back. I finished 2nd just 21 seconds behind Nick so I'm happy with that given I'm not a sprint athlete.

On to the new carbon,
I decided it was time for a change having been using the Cosmic Carbons for 3 seasons now and the disc for the last 18 months. I sold the disc to Breezy on Wednesday and Mat Stephenson is having the Cosmics for his girlfriend so was on the lookout for something around the 80mm mark. I had done a bit of research on weights etc and had a short list. I ended up with the Profile Design Altair Carbon 80's (which were on my short list anyway). I've just put them on the bike today and changed the brake pads out for the carbon specific pads so just need a test ride now. Hopefully they ride as well as they look because I think the look superb. They weigh in 14g lighter than Zipp 808's which were also on the list and for those interested that's 1906g. They came with spare spokes, spoke key, brake pads and valve extenders and I've set them up on a set of Schwalbe Ultremo R1's.