Ride/Race report by Rob

 Another cold start which saw fewer than normal arrive for the start. Winter has certainly arrived, seeing the winter skirts and blouses being pulled out from the bottom drawer and pulled on the night before…..

 ….anywho, Mr VP Brendan provided our intro for the morning (as Mr P Pete was in prep. mode for the afternoon’s State TT in Dardanup…but more on that shortly). After the requisite information about new ride kit orders, club meetings, SPR breakfasts, leader for the Novice group (who established their independence at this point), we headed off into the fray.

 A leisurely ride along GEH and through Ascot with much chatter and socialising as we traversed the Eastern Suburbs. This particular ride has always offered a great opportunity to catch up with people early on the in the piece as there are a couple of nice long stretches of easy rolling and is great to get the legs warm.

 By the time we reached the break point everyone was ready for some action. Lorraine and myself using the ride as a warm up for the TT’s, had decided to stick with the main group this time round. We bade farewell to the Fast Group (which is actually the larger of the 2 groups, but there you go – see how PC our club is!!).

 It was actually the first time I’d riden along Morley Drive without heading up to the TV Stations, and got quite the rude shock to find that it wasn’t flat. As we rounded the first corner it kicks straight up which is not what I was expecting at all. Oh well, head down and plough on! Ronny and I kept the pace up the front but not too high that we lost any back markers. A nice roll down the other side to Waneroo Road and then back into formation with Russell coming forward to do some work.

 Now, as this was my first ride with the Main Group, I wasn’t too sure what speed we should be doing so as not to lose people off the back. Would appear it wasn’t quite enough for some though, and coming along past Kings Park a couple of the ‘big boys’ decided to up the ante. I stayed put only to find a roll through kick up and found myself very quickly ending up down the back! Normally at this point I’d jump on and come back through but actually found it quite interesting sitting at the rear of the peloton and just watching – and what a sight! Lots of jostling and jumping about, people grabbing wheel or attacking off the front – and this is a “social” ride I thought?! These guys play tough!! Anyway, I got lots out of taking all this in, as when I explained what I’d seen to Paul, he said “That’s just like what racing is about…and if you can sit back, let people smash themselves and then move in later for the kill, then you’ve done well.”

 And didn’t that work a treat! After negotiating Claremont shops and heading across to Nedlands, I decided to put some distance on the group and see if they’d chase. As I went past Lorraine I called out to her to jump on, but to no avail – she later indicated that a moment’s too long hesitation meant she’d missed the opportunity. I managed to get a good gap on the pack and then tucked down into TT prep mode and churned away at the gears. After about 2 minutes out the front, I was stoked to see Ronny come past and offer a wheel of assistance. We worked together to try and stay away which went well for a couple of turns until we were cooked. The pack caught us just at the final rise across the top and re-grouped leading down into Matilda Bay.

 We had a good rest at the lights before Mounts Bay Road and it was obvious everyone was getting ready for the final charge. I wasn’t sure how much I had left in the legs and was also conscious of the fact that I needed to be ready for the TT in the afternoon. Best I not participate…or so I thought. As the group made its way along I just tucked in on the back and enjoyed the draft. Again, watching the mini/false attacks and people working hard on the front while being dragged along was pretty cool. More learning. Anyway, as we came to the Brewery I found myself riding at about 5^th wheel and trying to get a read on who was going to jump. I was pretty sure it’d be Christoph, as Dan had already cooked himself trying the take a draft off a 4WD after the lights. As we rounded the last bend there was a distinct lack of power coming off the front and I was getting a nice lead out at 3^rd wheel. “Hey…that’s the 60km sign?! I could just pop out now and give it a little and….b**ger me! Was that my very first sprint win??! Yep! Thanks fella’s!” After rolling out, Christoph came up to me and said that it looked like I was just rolling across the line with almost no effort, which in reality is the case. Look out Fast Group – a new sprint king is on the road!!! Yeh, right!

 WA State TT’s (my version)

 So after coffee, Lorraine and I headed back to my place to get packed and on the road. We had a great drive down South. It’s amazing what gets shared on these kinds of trips, but we’ve agreed that “what’s said in the road, stays on the road (sort of….)”.

 We arrived at Dardanup in plenty of time and found Pete, Judd and Stu all set up under the new SPR tent (NOICE!), with their wind trainers and kit adorning the grass beneath. After registration, we got changed and headed out onto the course for a warm up (not being as ‘hard core Pro as the others, we had to make do with ‘real’ riding rather than the ergo warm up!).

 As this was my first TT (and Lorraine’s), we really didn’t know what to expect. I’ve done plenty of Tri’s before, but I’d always had to run somewhere after getting off the bike (and had a little dip before getting on the bike). So the mindset really had to be “Push like hell for 25k’s; leave nothing on the course; fall off.”

 I was off first at 2:03pm. It would have been a perfect start too. As the timing lady was counting me down…1 minute to go….30 seconds….20 seconds….15 secs….”Oh Rob, I’ve left my race number in the car! Do you have the keys?? Can you throw them to me??”….10, 9, 8….digging around in the back of my jersey…6, 5, 4….fling keys in direction of female voice…3,2,1…GO!

 And off I went; big ring on the front and up through the rear cassette as fast as my legs would allow. Down on the TT bars and PUSH!! Ok, first km down, nerves settling, feeling the acid build up in the quads. HR reads 213 – hope not!! Speed is at 43.3km/h. Good. 

Looking forward, I can see the first little rise and aim to stomp over it. Nope. That didn’t work, so down through the rear gears x2 to aid the effort. Back down the other side and then up again. I quickly realised that the only way to do this was to make ongoing and consistent adjustments to the gear ratio’s along the way otherwise my legs would be hard boiled before the turn around point. 

There is one hill on the course that hurts like mad; I was desperate to hold the big ring all the way up but to no avail – just didn’t have the leg strength to maintain the cadence I wanted. I was able to make up for it on the other side though and pulled 63.3km/h on the downhill. 

When I arrived at the turnaround point, I managed to balls that up too. In Triathlon, you have 3 lead in orange cones, the ‘turning cone’, and then one more at the end (ie: you go “through” the last 2 cones. Apparently not in the TT – you go around the LAST cone. So, after being bellowed at to get back here and go around the correct cone, I headed for home…grumble, grumble, grumble…stupid rules…grumble…. 

The return trip was better because you know you can absolutely belt yourself and just hammer out every last drop of fuel. Couple that with some familiar faces/rid kit coming the other way calling out to you makes a big difference too. After negotiating the “up and over” component of the track, I tucked down and pushed as hard as I could. I think my average for the last 6 or so km’s was in the order of about 46 (nice and flat with a bit of a tail wind) so was happy with that.

I crossed the 25km line in 38:26 with an average speed of 39.1 (at least that what Polar tells me). There wasn’t much left in the tank and was pleased it was over. I’ll let the others tell their story and times, but the ATTA website has all the latest for those who can’t wait.

The drive home and dinner out (Italian – yummy!) was a perfect end to the day. Roll on the Sunday Hills in the morning!

Ride report by Rob

It was cold. I know this not because of the small droplets of snot forming on the end of my nose as we rode towards the start.  No, I know this because of the complete shellacking I copped from what seemed like EVERYONE when Tanya arrives with me for her very first SPR group ride in ‘summer’ kit. Yes, I had an underlayer shell on; yes I had my arm warmers on; NO she doesn’t HAVE ANY WINTER KIT YET!!!!! Ringing in my ears from the moment my foot unclipped from the pedal were words from Nico et. al. “You cannot be serious mate…letting her come out like that in this weather?!”; “What kind of bloke are you??”; “Surely you’d be giving her your warm stuff??!”….etc. etc. Paul wanders over with a chivalrous smirk and promptly removes his windbreaker to offer up to this poor damsel, prompting me then to do likewise with my arm warmers….what ever happend to womens lib anyway?? (perhaps I should have written this under my ‘not so well disguised’ pseudonym – sure to cop it now!).

Anywho, now it really IS cold, and I know this because I’m cold.

4 + 1 in our number for the novice ride this morning. Apparently Tracey had a prior engagement (Pete told me what it was, but I can’t remember…). The afore mentioned “warmer than me” one, Libby, Carol, Gwyn and Mr Bonner on his sub kg tubulars playing sweeper for me. After intro’s and a general briefing on the ‘new’ ride route, we headed off. Some general chit chat amongst the crew – apparently mainly focused on ‘nerves’ and ‘confidence’ when it comes to riding in a group. Seems a common theme amongst most new riders, so our endeavour to use this ride more as the ‘confidence developer’ certainly is aimed well.

Along the first section of the bike path we went to single file and I kept the pace at 27km/h. This seemed like it was about the right warm up pace and everyone coped really well. We headed over the Canning Bridge and made our way round the river to the first hill. Along the way I gave the instruction for everyone to move down to the front small ring to make sure we were ready – seems this wasn’t necessary as everyone was already ahead of me!  The first ‘little’ hill was fine and we scooped our way around to look for something a little more ‘challenging’. Reverse Majestic is steep but short – only there isn’t much run up, so you need to be ready to push. Anyway, Tanya and Libby took off and seemed to cope really well; Gwyn went ‘tempo’ and just chugged straight up it; Carol in her new cleats had the look of “Please God, just don’t let the bike stop or I’m a gonner!” in her eyes when I turned around to check – no dramas though and we all crested the top in fine form. I think Mike may have struggled a bit though…. ;-p

A nice roll down Kintail back to the Bridge and we made our way back onto the Esplanade (and at this point we bade farewell to Mike citing fear of being dropped and not being allowed to ride on Thursday mornings anymore…..). Riding 2 by 2 again, the chatter re-commenced. What the novice ride lacks in ‘pace and grunt’ it makes up for in ‘social and smiles’! We kept the pace at around 28km/h until we arrived at the top of Shelly where we commenced our first ‘roll through’. After a brief set of instructions on how this all works and the reasons for doing it, we started to work together as a well oiled team. Seems the last 2 weeks practice had paid off and we were moving along really well at 31/32 km/h.  It’s quite a long way around that part of the ride and we had a number of turns on the front. It was only towards the end that Gwyn, who I may have not mentioned was on her ‘flat bar’ hybrid, started ask the question of Libby “How much further?”. Full kudos to her though – she kept her legs spinning at a cadence of what my guess would be 145 and we all made it to the end in fine form. With a few more rides we’ll see the confidence grow in riding a bit closer to the wheel in front, but there was no ‘cutting in’ this time so a real improvement there.

Our return along Shelly saw an alternative strategy of pulling turns on the front in true TTT style. This seemed to suit a little better as each person could monitor their own capability to work on the front and jump off the front when they needed to. It only took a couple of turns and we had this working well too – albeit a little slower as fatigue started to set in. We only had one scare along here, with MR A-Hole driving a black Prado this morning – seemed he needed our entire lane to get past a group of bikes on the other side, and I think I saw Libby’s hands grip the bars a little tighter as the breeze of his bull-bar gently caressed her knees! Cheers mate.

 As we rounded the last corner of Shelly and the final climb loomed large, we made our way up at our own pace and then re-grouped before heading back around to Mt Pleasant. 2 by 2 along the Esplanade and the chatter had shifted on to the remaining distance we had until we had a coffee in our hands, having been first in the cue last week! Unfortunately this was not to be the case this week though. We tried our best, and pulled a solid 29 single file along the bike path back to town, only to be greeted by a massive table of green and black – only just having ordered their preferred beverage themselves! DOH! Seems we paid in more ways than one for those ‘extra’ hills.

So, a great ride on a truly stellar Perth morning – happy to say I eventually thawed out as the sun became a little more generous in the delivery of its primary service to us.

Race report by Rob

So does the weather get any better? When we arrived down South at our accommodation in Dunsborough it was blue sky, sunshine and 27 degrees….a perfect afternoon for our planned leisurely sojourn around the bike course at 3pm. When we arrived at the Goose, we had a total of 7 that would make their round; competitors Paul, Jill, Em and myself along with spectators Ronny, Lorraine and Tanya. Our 30kms was filled with much discussion about the course, the race itself and general social banter…did anyone notice the glistening sun off the Bay that is Geographe?? We also managed to identify a prime location for the massive spectator contingent we were expecting on the day – right next to the bike and run course ready for much cheering and encouragement from loved ones et. al. Registration & bike check in was like nothing I’ve experienced before – with 1100 individual competitors and 300 teams, it was a seething mass of carbon, shaved legs and the usual ‘sizing up the competition’ stares in the eyes of many. There is always a real mix of people at these events – those that are there just for the experience and happy to simply make the start (and finish!) to the true ‘hard core’ tri-dudes that look like they’d thump you if you got too close to their P2 pimped up ride. Paul and me kind of sit somewhere in the middle of this (or at least we like to think so….).

After a massive meal of pasta and ice cream (love the night before race day) and a fitful night of waking up every hour, Paul and I headed into town at 6am with the usual butterflies playing out the finals of the Red Bull Air Race in our stomachs. It was my 4th crack at the Busso ½ and Paul’s 1st – both aiming for a PB today! A relatively easy transition set up and getting our stuff together then saw time for catching up with a few others who were toeing the line. Hunter and Dean were ready for action – Dean having scored the prime position for his transition with possibly the shortest run to the bike entry/exit right on the end of the bike racks. He even had all the room in the world to lay out what could only be described as a Sunday picnic worth of bars/gels/fruit etc along side his shoes and run belt. We then proceeded to indicate that he’d better get out of the water before us or we’d make sure to fling what we could lay our hands on as far away from his bike as possible….just kidding Deano…we wouldn’t really….not really…..! Christoph was there with 2 of his charges having their 1st crack at the ½ along with our NZ long course champ Rachael. Declan was also up for the task – although indications were that his mind had failed him once again in keeping him away from this “god awful race!”.

So after race briefing and the announcement that there were a significant number of stingers in situ, we headed to the water to get on our way. It’s always here that the nerves start to bubble up to the surface and there’s a bit of jostling for position. I bumped in to Shao at the waters edge and wished him well for the race. It really is great to have so many people on the course that you know. The hooter goes and we’re off. Nothing like the washing machine of the full IM, but still tough to hold your position. I think I’ve just about got it down pat in terms of knowing where to start so that I don’t get crawled over but I’m also not banging into people up front. It only took about 150m for the field to thin out and I was able to get into a nice rythym. I was also making a conscious effort not to swallow too much of the Bay this time round given the previous issues I’ve had with gastro during the run. The swim was actually really uneventful, even at the turnaround bouys. No real scrapping and clawing going on and a general breeze to get started on the return journey. On arrival back into the beach, I looked at my watch and realized I hadn’t pushed the start button hard enough when we took off – oh well, there goes the opportunity to operate on the basis of “data” – back to the tried and test “see what it feels like” option! Running up the beach I was greeted with our supporter base of Ronny, Tanya and Lorraine all calling out to me – this encouragement from the side would prove to more than a significant contributor to our success on the day.

After making it into transition and donning the requisite appurtenances for the next leg, I promptly got caught up in a stray wetsuit lying in the middle of the exit passage causing me to drop my bike and lose my tubes/levers/gas out of the biddon cage. Much cursing and picking up/re-positioning of things saw me grumbling out to the mounting line. That’s racing I guess. So, we’re off on the bike heading West up the Bay Road which is probably the bumpiest section of the course. I was only 3 – 4 kms in when a guy rides up next to me and asks if I had anything in my “other” bidon cage? I said “Yes”, to which his reply was “Not any more you don’t”! Appears I didn’t re-position my tubes/levers/gas properly, and was now going to ride the 3 laps on the luck of the Gods and hope I didn’t flat out. Racing huh?
So, with the volume of competitors in the race this time around, there was always going to be an opportunity for a fast 1st lap – it was going to be up to the TO’s to try and work out who was breaching the no drafting regs and who was just trying to make there own way round. Now, as everyone knows, I’m a stickler for the rules, and would NEVER grab a lazy wheel in a race, even if the opportunity was there….but then with SO MANY wheels around and it being SO HARD to try and find your own place on the road, how could I POSSIBLY succeed in being good?? Oh well, hitch a ride and go with the flow…I think my max on the first leg out was 46km/h – it was just really difficult to get away from a pack of riders….honestly, it was…..

Anyway, with the TO’s out in full force, it actually didn’t take too long to sort out the wheat and chaff and by the end of the first lap there was already a line to get into the Penalty Box. With the 2nd lap it was very much into TT mode and getting on with the job. I felt comfortable on the bike and had made my mind up to try and knock it over with an average of 37/38. Riding past our support crew with the girls all jumping around on the side line really helped with the giddy up too. It’s about 2/3rds of the way into lap 2 (50km mark) that my mind starts to question what the hell I’m actually doing out here. The legs started to feel the effects of the constant pushing and my hamstring started to seize a little (and I remembered now that I didn’t even stretch before the race!). Time to engage my well thought through nutrition strategy….peanut butter and jam on white bread – food of the Kings I say! Gels and bars tend not to agree with me, so I was determined to see what whole food and water might yield in terms of preventing the bonk. With a little bit of food and rounding the turn into the 3rd lap, I started to feel a bit better – animated supporters again really helping the cause to keep the hard RPM’s going. The TO’s were well into their role too, with what seemed to be every 5th rider being shown the yellow card (Mr Owen…of should I say “Droped in Dalkeith…?” Anything tio report here???). By the 3rd lap, everyone is really hurting and the urge to grab a wheel is pretty strong. I had a couple make a few tired attempts to grab me as I went past, but without much success.

Coming into T2 to get ready for the run, I felt really good. I’d timed the ride to be about 2:26 which was an average of just under 37km/h so was OK with that effort. Now I just had to knock off a lazy ½ marathon and we were done. Pulling the shoes & hat on, I ran out on what felt a little like concrete blocks swinging under my bum for the 1st 2 kms. Always takes a while for them to get some blood back in and pumping around – particularly down to the feet. Anyway, the first lap ticked away just nicely with the odd pouring of water over my head and occasional sip to quench the thirst. The return journey is always better because you can site the Jetty. Also knowing that the support crew is waiting for you to give you the encouragement makes a huge difference as well. Running up to a group of familiar faces that are all cheering you along is a real motivator. The 2nd lap was like the first, with a really nice rhythm and cadence – the main thing is not to get fixed on trying to keep up with someone else or getting frustrated if someone in your Category overtakes. You really have to just run your own race and trust your own rhythm. It was at about the 17k mark that it all exploded on me – my head started to falter and legs commenced their ‘shut down’ routine. And I was soooo close too!! Nothing for it but to try and make it to the Aid Station any way I could, which meant as fast a walk as I could manage. On arrival, I implemented my unplanned nutritional supplement strategy – coke and lollies. I figured I just needed to get an immediate hit to help with last 3.5kms. And wow – did that work! After another 500m’s, they really kicked in and off I took. I think the last 3kms would have been taken at sub 4min k’s, overtaking 50 or 60 people along the way. Felt pretty damn fine coming over the line and nailed it with a PB of 4:51:49. Stoked! Paul came across the line in just over 5 hours (something about a 3 minute delay in a Penalty Box??) – but with a target time of 5:15, that’d probably have to go down as the performance of the day, particularly as it was a first ½ hit out!

For those interested in my nutrition strategy, here’s the low down:
•    ¾ of a peanut butter/jam sandwich – white bread
•    2 x 750 mls water
•    6 sips of Electorlyte
•    6 liquorice allsorts
•    3 cups of Coke

(And I reckon if I had had the last 2 items on the 2nd lap of the run I would have made it without hitting the wall too!)

Everyone’s times that I could find (Please correct me if I’m wrong with these…):

Rob: 4:51:49
Paul: 05:02:56
Declan: 06:22:12
Rachael: 4:44:52 (3rd place 30-34 women!!)
Hunter: 04:40:48
Dean: 05:26:24
Shao: 04:49:15

Thanks to all our support crew too – it really made the day a fabulous event to have you there with us all the way. Oh, and if anyone finds Lorraine’s mobile, please give her a call to tell you have it!!

 Just a reminder for those who are travelling down to the Busselton Half Ironman on the 2nd of May, we’ll be doing a bike course familiarisation ride on Friday for anyone who’d like to come along (competitors & supporters). 

Meeting at the car park behind the Loose Goose Café (the ‘original’ transition area) ready to leave by 3:00pm. We’ll do a full loop of the 30km course and be back in plenty of time for registration. 

Contact on the day will be mobile: 0430 162 291 

Supporters 
We’re going to aim to set up a central spot for all the SPR crew to be during the ride and run. We’ll scope something during the bike familiarisation. Keep in touch with either myself or Lorraine. 

Looking forward to a great hit out on the day, and can’t wait to back it up in Collie (…mmmm) with the full SPR contingent out in force!

This is just an early note to all who are travelling down to the Busselton Half Ironman on the 2nd of May. Indications are that there are a fair number of the SPR family heading South for this fantastic ‘end of tri season’ event.

Bike Course Familirisation
We’ll be doing a bike course familiarisation ride for anyone who’d like to come along (competitors & supporters) on Friday 1st prior to athlete registration. We’ll aim for an average speed of 25 – 30 km/h so all are welcome.

We’ll meet at the car park behind the Loose Goose Café (the ‘original’ transition area) ready to leave by 3:00pm. We’ll be able to do a full loop of the 30km course and be back in plenty of time for registration.

Contact on the day will be mobile: 0430 162 291

Supporters
It also appears that there will be a number of spectators down there watching the event, cheering their loved ones and others on throughout the morning. It would be great to arange a central spot for all the SPR crew to be during the ride and run. This is a little more difficult to arrange, so perhaps if people could email me (below) in the first instance, I can set up a group list and communicte with everyone closer to the day.

robert.ramsden2@three.com.au

We can then arrange a time/place for everyone to meet and finalise anything before heading South.

On the day!
In the absence of SPR Tri Suit’s, don’t forget to wear your SPR running hat so we can cheer each other along on the day. Make sure you save some energy for The Meltdown Party – should be a big one with so many of us down there too!

Race Report by Rob

So, another early morning start to get to transition on time and get prepared. With the bikes all racked and ready the night before, the morning ritual involved setting out shoes and runners as well as give the tyres their last little bit of PSI treatment ready for a scorching 40 (k’s not degrees celcius like last year!).

The organisers in their wisdom had decided on a couple of changes to the routine. The first was to hold the “compulsory” race briefing at 6:45pm the night before – yeah right – been to enough of those, we’ll be right thanks – rather be home undertaking my hydration strategy of 2 beers and a glass of red thanks! The benefit of a “home” game I say! The second change was the wave start times – 10 minutes to separate each wave. No big deal? Try being the 2nd last wave of about 20 – we all had to be out of transition at 6:45am and the 35-39 wave goes at 9:02am. Brilliant! Rationale for the change was that it was such a draft fest last year (oh, did I mention that drafting [for SPR that =’s “grabbing wheels for a rest”] is illegal!…but more on that later….) the organisers decided to break it up sufficiently that there wouldn’t be any such problems this year….as I say, more on that later….!

The time spent waiting around for our start was actually not too bad – had the chance to catch up with a few of the others – Hunter and his brother Dean + partners were down there and Paul and I even managed to do a bit of a recruitment drive for SPR when we found out that Freo Bike Force is changing their group ride around and there are people out their sniffing around for a quality ride to relocate to – is there any better in Perth???

Anyway – on with the race…

The swim was declared non-wetsuit, meaning the water was above 24 degrees. Does the number 24.1 mean anything to you??! Yep – you read it right – 24.1….not 23.9 (meaning we could wear ‘em if we had ‘em)….24.1. When Paul, me and Dean finally took the plunge into the o’ so special Swan for our start, it was the coldest 24.1 we’d ever felt! No bragging rights for the boys after a swim in this!!

9:02 am and we’re off. Not a bad first 50m as the washing machine of 98 other blokes around you gets travelling and then it really kicks in – literally. I got kicked in the chest and then for good measure took a forearm to the back of the head. My right goggle filled up with water and I swallowed what I estimated to be a good 500ml’s of the Swan. Tasty. No need to worry about popping those salt tablets now!! So, a 1500m swim with a sore chest and one half of my vision cut was going to be just dandy! Trying to sight the first boy and then get a rythym going was certainly a challenge and really makes you question “Why am I doing this again??”Anyway, I think you get the picture – the swim in a tri is never really ‘fun’ – it’s just a part of the race you have to do and it tends to be “kick or be kicked” if you want to survive – especially in the National Titles when you’re out there with all the “big boys”!

Rounding the final bouy to get to the stairs on the way out was certainly a relief and I was pleased to see that upon exiting, I’d managed to swim in 26 minutes – 30 seconds off last year’s time – not bad on the back of no swim training for the last 3 weeks. Heading into transition, I grabbed the race belt and shoes, threw them on and went for my sunnies which were sitting face up in my helmet waiting for quick donning. “MMMM…what’s that on the lens? – Oh, yeh…that’d be bird shit!” Love triathlon. Oh well, on they go – hope there isn’t a big wad in the lid of my helmet too!! It was now that there was a pattern forming – vision through one eye for the swim; vision through one eye (the same one too) for the bike; what may the run hold for me??

Out onto the ride course and I’m off. Would be good to not have massive cramps setting in to my hip felxors right about now!! As soon as I got down on the TT bars they just screamed at me and forced me back up into the more upright position. Great. Where did this come from?? If it keeps up for the whole ride it won’t be pleasant. I then spent the first trip out (5ks) trying to stretch my flexors, take in some much needed water to wash the Swan down with, and get my heart rate under control. Love triathlon!

Well, I finally got the flexors soughted and settled into a nice rythym on the way back. It was as I was coming to end of the first lap that I looked at my speedo and it tells me 8.3kms. Then I start to wonder – “Are we doing 4 or 5 laps?” – It’s supposed to be 40kms – now I’m worried. What was that smug comment about “Race briefings???”!!! I ride up next to one of the other guys and yell to him “Are we doing 4 or 5??” – He looks at me like I’m mad (or an idiot – not too sure really)….”4” he says. OK. Good….got that sorted. But still the doubt lingers. As I round the bottom turn for a 2nd time, a TO on the motorbike is behind so I wave them up beside me and ask the same question. Same facial expression as the other bloke…funny that! But the same answer too. Good. Got that sorted – don’t do 5 laps; get speedo re-calibrated!

I’d like to say that the rest of the ride was uneventful, but what kind of story would that be?? Last lap; last leg; 3k’s from the end. Had overtaken 10 or so in my category – feeling really happy with an average of 38km/h and HR of 158. Then 2 blokes in the 40-45 category who are taking turns SPR style (highly illegal) overtake me but then just drop in on my front wheel and sit there. Now, the “rules” are, if you get overtaken, you have 5 seconds to drop back the requisite 7m. Trouble is, to do that, you have to sit up, brake and lose whatever rythym you may have had. At the same time, anyone who has been cruising along behind you rolls up and overtakes too – then you have to drop back from them as well! So, needless to say, at this point in the bike, I thought “Bugger That” and just sat there.

“Competitor 850. I’ve just issued you a yellow card for drafting. You must report to the penalty box for 3 minutes once you have finished your ride.”

You are !$*%*ing kidding ME!! For the love of &*%#$ that can NOT BE RIGHT you son of &$@% and your &^%#$ can go and &^#$……or words to that effect…..and as for you two cheats up there in front of me….if I catch you on the run I’ll be having words!!

3 minutes in the “bin” is not good for the head, especially when you see 7 other competitors in your category run past you into transition and heading out onto the run course in YOUR PLACE!! Grrrr. And to top it off, the TO who was timing my “binning” had a sense of humour! Great.

Anyway, time served and I bolt into transition and out onto the run. My mind was no longer with me though, so it was at this point that I just had to suck it up and pull out a ‘respectable’ 10k to make sure I at least put in a PB. It wasn’t a bad first 2, but, like with the OZ Day event, the stitch monster paid a visit and hung around until the 5th km. Love tirathlon. The rest of the run was uneventful – saw Paul out there and he seemed to be enjoying himself a heck of a lot more than he did last year (read: “His tounge wasn’t hanging out and didn’t have a ‘I’m suffering like a kicked dog in the street’ look all over his face!).

Rounding the last turn to finish off was a relief with everything that had happened through the course of the race and I was happy to get across the line in 2:17 – 3 minutes better than last year and that includes 3 mins in the bin. Paul put in an impressive turn at 2:27 – nearly 20 minutes better than last year – so a huge improvement. Hunter nailed it with a final 2:04 and brother Dean rolling across in 2:24. All in all, pretty good results for SPR!

Bring on Busso ½!

Race report by Rob

4:45am is too early to be getting up on a long weekend, especially Australia Day. Still, Paul and I had agreed to participate in the OzDay Tri at Point Walter, so up early it was. My preparation for the event hadn’t been what one would say ‘ideal’ – does 2 beers and a glass of red the night before consititute a hydration strategy??

Coming off the back of the WA IM, this was going to be a different race. A sprint (750/20/5) is not about finishing; it’s about flogging yourself over a short distance and trying not to think of throwing up while your heart beats at stupid rates per minute.

The course was still going to be challenging though, due to the hill that we all know and love up and around the Point Walter Golf Course – 3 times up and down plus 3 times up and down to the café around the corner. With what was going to be up to 700 bikes on a 7km loop, safety was the primary concern – neither of us was not coming off today.

With race briefing out the way, a quick comfort stop to settle the nerves, and we headed to the race start. It was hard to get much of a read on the swim course as the sun was directly over the turning bouys – should have taken more notice of the race map, huh?! We were lucky enough to see the earlier wave get going though, and the fact that they all headed along the complete wrong line helped us to get our sighting strategy in place! Stick to the depth markers and we’ll be right!

When we finally got underway (7:40am after a 6:40 briefing!), the swim felt good. I could see Paul under my shoulder as I breathed, so he was travelling well too. Trouble is, it doesn’t take much, and I didn’t sight properly for another couple of minutes – off I went in the same direction as the earlier wave! Bugger – extra mtrs in the water are never good! By that stage I’d lost Paul and thought he must’ve been up front going in the right direction. After my detour, I finally got to the first turn, headed across to the bottom marker and then made a determined effort not to lose sight of the Pt Walter Jetty on my return. I was pretty annoyed having known what to look for, and then not followed the right path. Oh well, best I just flog the bike a bit harder!

Coming out of the water and up to transition (first 200mtr uphill run to transition I’ve ever encountered!), Paul’s bike was still in the racks (appraently he’d had some difficulties navigating through the back markers of the wave before us). I threw the requiste kit on and headed out onto the course. The first bit is uphill, but then a nice skip across the range and down the other side to settle into the first full lap along Burke Drive. “Yep – there’s 700 bikes out here.” And I thought Saturday rides got messy!

With the number of bikes on the road, many of which were first timer or novice triathletes, it meant having to adjust expectations of what could really be achieved over the 20kms. I found myself getting a nice rhythm going, with a cadence of 90-95, HR at 164 and speeds of 38 – 40 and then coming up behind a pile of newbies across the full breadth of Burke Drive. With the other competitors taking up the full breadth of the opposite side of the road on their return journey, there was nothing for it but to try and open the lungs a little more and bark a “MOVE LEFT” in breathless tones. Always fun (or is that just my sadistic streak?) to see the wobbles start and everyone try and bunch in next to each other while you squeeze past with wheels cutting the double yellow lines. Generally though, most people were pretty good and out there to have fun.

The first trip back to the golf course hill was fast and hard. No wind to speak of, so it was just getting down on the TT bars and pushing. When the hill finally loomed, I dropped down to the small front ring to increase the cadence and make my heart take the load. That worked! I managed to get up to 178 bpm at the first crest and hold it through for the 2^nd push to the top. Thankfully there’s the corresponding respite of the drop down the other side, so a good opportunity to suck air and get the HR back down ready for the climb back up.

The next lap was pretty much the same as the first, albeit a little more effort required by the legs to get up the hill a 2^nd time. On the last lap, the return journey along the flat included a fast tiring bloke trying to hold my wheel for a bit if a rest. Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m all for grabbing a wheel for a little breather, but this went on for a little too long (and he wasn’t a SPR, so all bets were off). Changing up and giving the cranks a little tickle saw him off, but also made the acid build up in my legs build up. Maybe I should have bumped him off a little earlier, before the final hill ascent? Oh well, pain is only weakness leaving the body!

Rounding the final turn and then up to the dismount, I was pretty happy with my time. 35mins (or thereabouts) was within my target range. Just a quick out and back 5k’s and we’ll have this in the bag.

The first 900m out was all downhill, which was a test for the legs straight off the bike. They’re usually pretty wobbly anyway, but to have to control a fast descent plus a few tight corners added to the challenge. When I got down to the flat and tried to establish my rhythm, that’s when the stitch monster decided to visit! The next km involved trying to keep the pace high but tightening the abs and only breathing on the right side heel strike to blow the stitch up. God I love triathlon! Finally I managed to get rid of it and settle down to a comfortable “going out” pace and a HR of 159/160. At the 2.5k mark I was feeling pretty good and decided to really lift it on the way back. I managed to get the HR up to 169/170 and hold it there. It was at that point that I started to wonder what was going on. I was looking at all the guys I was ahead of as they ran past me on their way out. They all looked like your typical hard core tri guys – the big upper body, thumping guns and fully cut legs. Why was I in front of them?? Did I do the full 3 laps on the bike? Did I miss a buoy on the swim? I have no idea why this was going through my mind, I expect it’s more just that I don’t think that I’m as fit/strong as what these blokes all look like – but I guess that’s the thing isn’t it? It doesn’t really matter what you “look” like, it’s about performance on the day and having that level of self belief to carry you through. So my learning in that was to not get psyched out by appearances – believe in your own training schedule and go out to do the best you can – the results will follow.

Anyway, I managed to convince myself that I hadn’t cheated and kept on flogging myself on the run. I saw Paul on his way out and he looked to be in a pretty comfortable rhythm. The final climb hurt, but then I expected it to. No good crossing the line with anything left in the tank! I got over in 1:13:44 with my first ever podium finish in a triathlon- 3rd place in 35-39 category (1st was 1:11:21 but 2nd was only 7 seconds in front at 1:13:37). Paul followed in 1:21:47; 15^th out of 50!   All in all a good hit out and preparation for City Of Perth on March 15. I caught up with Hunter after the race (Sportsfever ride kit who joins SPR on Saturday rides when he’s allowed out) – he won the 25-29 age group at Waikiki last week and came close again this time (3^rd place) if it wasn’t for not being able to get his shoe on at T2!

Next step: SPR Tri suits – stay tuned – more on that soon!