New Forest Triathlon - Sun 13th May

Sun 22 Jun 2008

1.1km swin, 24 mile bike, 10km run

Report from Tony Shoesmith

Mike Bridge and I took part in the New Forest Olympic distance Triathlon on Sunday and keeping in normal tradition for these races it was wet and windy.

The swim started at 7am in waves 2 mins apart, Mike was in the first wave and was 2nd out of the water, i was in wave 4 and managed to stay with majority of the other swimmers in my wave only to have a ridiculous time in transition. I planned on wearing a cycling top for the bike leg but whilst putting it on the zip came undone from the bottom and got stuck. I then had to try and wriggle out of it. I eventually got out onto the road after wasting approx 5 mins - doh.


The bike leg was undulating, some of the road surfaces were nice but some of the sharp corners had lots of loose gravel and the cattle grids were wet and slippery making it hazardous. I saw quite a few people sliding off their bikes.

 

My ride was fairly uneventful. I managed to dodge the wild foals and stay upright and post a reasonable time. Mike had a good bike leg and was still right up there going into the run. The run route was tough, mainly off road with some sandy banks and hills. I started to feel stronger at the turnaround point and picked up the pace as I headed for home.

 

Mike had a great run and almost finished 2nd overall; he came 3rd and was only caught by a guy who posted the fastest run time of the day. I finished in the top half of the field and with a better transition I could have improved my finish time by 5 minutes.

 

Overall though it was a good tough triathlon, first one of the year and things can only get better, Well done Mike, see you at the Half Ironman in September!

Mike Bridge    3rd    1.54.33
Tony Shoesmith    57th    2.26.03

For full results click here

For discussion go to forum here

The Highway Code

Know the rules of the road

Your safety is dependent on everyone on the road knowing and obeying the rules, so get the low down and don't get mown down!

Group Riding

If you're new to riding in a group, read our handy guide on how to stay safe.