Outlaw Half Nottingham 2023

My sixth race here ended with a bang, quite literally! 37 km into the bike leg, on the fast descent into Southwell, I was flying at 58 kph when all hell broke loose.

A perfect day for racing

As I hit an unseen pothole, a tyre exploded, bottles went flying, spokes twanged and there was the horrible sound of carbon rim running along tarmac. By the grace of god I controlled the bike and came to a halt.

The front tyre was kaput. ACTION STATIONS. Grabbed my flat kit, inverted the bike, hex key to unscrew the aero skewer, wheel off and ripped away the flat tub. Unfolded the pre-stretched spare, removed the valve core, and screwed in the appropriate extender.

Tub fitted around the rim, partially inflated with bit of CO₂, seated the tyre, then more CO₂ to full pressure. Wheel back on, skewer in, job done. Less than six minutes. SIX minutes! SIX! I can’t change an inner tube that fast! Can you? The old boys were right: changing a tub is faster that installing a new inner tube.

Southwell

I righted my bike but when the rubber hit the tarmac there was a horrible clunk and that’s when I realised that the rear had also blown out! I was so focused on fixing the front I hadn't noticed.

During the tyre change, a support van stopped to see if I was ok. I said all good thanks, asked him to dispose of the old tub and he went on his way.

When I realised the rear was bust, I chased after him waving frantically for attention - I only carried one spare so without him I was stranded. Nobody carries two, right?

Turns out, he had already pulled over again about 50 meters back up the road; another racer had suffered the same fate as me.

No pictures of me so here's Jacky exiting the swim ...

To my surprise, the mechanic had a spare tub. So I re-flipped the bike and ripped the dead Vittoria off the back wheel. However, the spare was brand new, unstretched, unprepped. I wrestled for a bit but no way it was going on.

And that was it: a moment of calm washed over me - lights out, game over. No tantrum, no tears, just an instant evaporation of all ambition. I was well prepared to fix one puncture, but not two.

Meanwhile, a crowd was gathering on the corner of the Oxten and Allenby Roads as rider after rider hit the same pothole. Now there were three other triathletes frantically wrestling with tyre levers and inner tubes, plus the mechanic, the van driver, a passer-by and his dog.

... on the bike ...

I walked up the road to retrieve my bottles and inspect the hole. Found one bottle but the XLab Aero was nowhere to be seen, likely catapulted into someone’s front garden. 

The hole was a foot long, 6-8 inches wide and an inch deep, with sharp edges. It was in the middle of the road so on a normal line you’d easily miss it. But the parked cars forced riders closer to the white line. It was scary watching others whizz by, missing it either side by mere inches. 

I wandered back to the crowd, hoping for a ride back in the van. That’s when I realised I had been very fortunate. ‘Mike’ hit the hole, another double blow out. He scrubbed some speed but as the road curved left he came off, a few meters short of where I had stopped.

... at the finish ...

People, including ‘Ashley’, rushed to his aid. I went back up the road, waving my arms and shouting ‘slow down’. A policeman arrived and took over, better equipped with a flag and whistle. Mike, lying half in, half out of the road waited for an ambulance. Collar bone, ribs and shoulder banged up. Blood from somewhere.

Mike's FB post. 

A sag wagon arrived, three bikes went in the back, and I hopped in, joining an injured woman from Knutsford Tri. On the other side of Thurgarton, we spotted two riders in the verge. Another pothole victim had gone over his handlebars. He joined us in the van.

As alluded, in the heat of the moment I took it well – c'est la vie. However, in the cold light of day, yep, I’m willing to admit that I’m pretty disappointed.

This was my A-race for 2023. With nothing else in the calendar, all my attention since last Autumn was on this race, and my ambition was an age-group podium. Training had gone well, I was in great shape and up for it. And a podium spot was there for the taking: the top three finished in 4:33, 4:43 and 4:49, within reach. So yeah, gutted.

I've had good days and bad days at this race!

It wasn’t all bad; after a quick shower I spent the rest of the day cheering on club mates and in particular supporting Jacky as she completed her first ever middle-distance triathlon, what a superstar, smiles all the way. I'm supa-proud.

All done, bravo!

For me, it’s back to the drawing board but meanwhile, a few additional vignettes:

Senior moment no. 1. I was a Green cap, due to go off at 6 am, after the Orange and Blue waves at 5:50, and after the Yellows and Reds at 5:55. Just after the first waves started, Emily pointed out that the Yellows were now on the start pontoon. I freaked out.

For open water training, I always wear a yellow cap, and in anticipation of cold water, I first put on my own yellow cap, then my official Green race cap. Both were now on my head and out of sight. In the moment, my yellow-cap-imprinted brain went “Shit, I’ve missed my wave!” So I pushed my way through the crowd, ran to catch up with the Yellows on the pontoon and jumped in. Phew, made it in time!

It wasn’t until after the race that Jacky pointed out she had seen me, a single Green setting off among the mass of Yellows. Who knows what people around me were thinking as I charged through. How embarrassing!

Senior moment no. 2. As I charged through T1, I was looking out for landmarks near my bike. But the numbers didn’t make sense, I’d overshot. So I ran back 10, 20 meters. But this didn’t make sense either, the landmarks were all wrong. So I turned around again. Then I remembered, I was 489 not 589, Doh! What a klutz. Despite a few needless circles, I still ripped through in a respectable 3:51.

Tubs vs clincher vs tubeless. Since 2013, I’ve been racing on awesome Fast Forward carbon tubulars; a deep section F9R on the front and a disc on the rear, loaded up with Vittoria Corsa Speed G2.0 tubs, which consistently test amongst the fastest tyres out there.

My Fast Forwards earlier this month at the Dukinfield 50m TT.
Still going strong after 10 years, until this race!

When I bought them, the tubs versus clinchers debate was in full flow. The crux was a question of performance versus convenience. Tubs are faster but also a PITA; they need to be pre-stretched and glued, and what do you do if you puncture? However, if you were prepared to learn your craft, then tubs were the choice for maximum performance. And as I learnt in this race, I was well prepared to deal with one puncture, just not two.

Clincher vs tubular vs tubeless 

Indeed, my race wheels have served me well; some great performances and no punctures in 10 years, until this weekend. The only other time I've punctured in a race was at the 2011 New Forest Standard. Meanwhile, clinchers have closed the performance gap, but both are now being surpassed by tubeless. So maybe it’s time to bite the bullet and upgrade to tubeless. So that’s new wheels then. But how easy is it to get tubeless rim brake wheels? Or will I have to switch to disc brakes? Oh well, guess I need a new bike then! See, there is a silver lining.