A welcoming club on the North West of Edinburgh
Isle of Bute Triathlon
By CoachKev | Published | No Comments
What a day, in fact what a weekend of excellent weather on the Isle of Bute some contrast to the previous year where high winds and hail marked the occasion. With registration starting at 10.45am and having been on the island since Friday it meant for a nice easy get round in the morning and we sauntered down to the Rothesay Leisure centre. Just five swim heats for this sprint triathlon before heading out and back for the cycle course and three laps of mixed terrain run.
The swim didn’t go too well with five in the lane of which three were similar swim speeds and two much faster. The three of us randomly traded places as toes were tapped often by accident switching leads or attempting to let the two faster swimmer get past all three of us in one go, we really should have agreed the protocol at the start but then you never know the abilities of your fellow swimmers. The only upside was I left the pool feeling pretty energised having decided to just sit in for the last few lengths.
We came out of the pool into the sunshine to pick up the bike and head out up the first and biggest hill of the undulating cycle course, my first time on the TT bike and only the second time I had used the small ring. Having been one of the last exiting the pool there were lots of marks ahead to the keep the pressure on the pedals and I soon found that I only had one more swimmer from my heat to catch after the turn. Last man caught and I settled into my own pace and focussed on getting to the downhill for shoe release, which you can’t or shouldn’t try whilst still on the tri-bars, and racking the bike for the run. Shoes on and race belt at the front I headed off across the loose gravel over the bridge, up the steps and back past the leisure centre to complete the first lap. There were lots of runner on the course from the other heats making for an enjoyable few laps as you chase them down. One lap to go and the legs were still feeling good, that rep set the night before must have been a good thing, and the downhill finish was in mind across the last piece of gravel and down the hill to filtered off for the finish.
A really well organised event with a very homely feel, lots of spectators, fabulous views (for those not watching tarmac), a table full of food for competitors/supporters, a top 10-place and first super Vet almost finished off a great day but eating a fish supper from Zavaroni’s in the sunshine whilst awaiting the ferry back to the mainland really topped it off, after all fish and potatoes is a healthy option.
Dave
