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.

Manchester Triathlon Club Mallorca Training Camp 2023

Training camps are of course great fun, but in terms of training benefit, while they can be high reward, they are also high risk. 

Get it right and you get a fitness bump that can set you up well for race season. Get it wrong and at best, you might need a few weeks to recover with no net gain, or even worse, you get ill or injured and thus botch your season.

 

I've been on some great camps over the years; Tri camps with the club, Mallorca bike camps with Andy Cook, and DIY trips to Club La Santa, and have experienced both ends of the spectrum.

 

In March 2013, I had a cracking week with MTC at Kinetic PB in Spain, racking up almost 30 hours, we thrashed each other in the hills, and got plenty of swimming and running in on top. I got away with it, and this launched a breakthrough season.

Highlight of the week: the Inaugural MTC Easter Sunday Aquathlon (Photo credit N.Heystek)

In 2014, my first time to Mallorca, again I rode long and hard, smashing it up many of the classic climbs. But a week later I got really ill; 2 weeks off sick, another 7 weeks with not much training, had to defer my A-race and even then, still notched up my first DNF, at IM Mallorca. Hopefully I am a bit wiser now.

 

Indeed, for the Manchester Triathlon Club’s 2023 Mallorca camp I was determined to try and be as disciplined as possible, enjoy it but not overdo it, and hopefully get the fitness bump. The main focus was cycling, Mallorca is after all a cycling paradise. The roads are good and generally quiet, the drivers courteous, and in April the weather should be hotting up so getting out on the bike should be a joy. Meanwhile, the plan was to just keep the swimming and running ticking over.

Five wet-suited-competitors exit the swim leg of the Aquathlon neck and neck, closely followed by Ramsbottom's answer to The Hoff (Photo credit N.Booker)

Monday: Jacky and I arrived late Sunday evening, so picked up the rental bikes early Monday morning, then took them out on an easy 60k route to Campanet, including a coffee stop at the Coves. 60k, 2.5 hours all Zone 1.

 

Tuesday: I had already taken a strategic decision to get my big ride in on the Tuesday. The Sunday before we travelled, I’d raced the Wilmslow Half Marathon, so in the week running up to the camp I was in recovery mode and by now was well rested. The rationale was to get the big ride in early rather than later in the week when I would likely be fatigued from back-to-back riding. Also, the rest of the gang were arriving today so an easy/short-ish bike-test route was planned for tomorrow. 

 

Charging out of transition: channeling ones inner-Hoff is clearly contagious (Photo credit E.King)

Jacky rode with me along the flats to Santa Maria del Cami then I went solo up to Valldemossa, down to Soller, up and over to Bunyola, up Coll d’Honor, to Orient and back via the foothills. 158km, 6.5 hrs with only 1% of HR time above Zone 2.

 

Wednesday: as planned, an easy group ride to Betlem. 60k, 2 hrs, all easy with only 13% in Zone 2. Plus an easy 30 minute run before breakfast and a 10x 200 easy swim in the afternoon. Great to catch up with the rest of team-MTC!

 

Thursday: Fran and Alan wanted to do the Lluc route, plus Calobra, in the clockwise direction, my preferred way around, so after a 30-minute easy run and quick breakfast, I rode out with them. Coll de sa Batalla up to the monastery at Lluc is an iconic climb and the temptation to go for it is strong. However, I kept my discipline, constantly eying my Garmin to keep my heart rate down. A brief rest at the top then solo down the fantastic descent into Port de Pollença and along the coast back to Alcudia. 80k, 3 hours, all Zone1/2. Felt fresh and went for a swim, another easy 10x 200m.

Pamboli in Port de Pollença

Friday: my plan was to do another clockwise loop, Santa Maria-Bunyola-Orient, but the youngsters wanted to go for a big ride, Orient-Bunyola-Soller-Puig Major so I reversed my plan and rode with them as far as Bunyola then solo’d it back along the flats into a headwind. 105k, 4hrs, only 5 mins with HR above Z2. The early start meant no morning run but there was still enough time in the day to get in an easy 30 minutes followed by 30 mins easy swim with the pull buoy.

Saturday: rest day! A lie in, laundry and a full body stretch. An easy 40k ride out to Cala San Vicenç with Jacky, including a pa-amb-oli stop in Port de Pollença. Then I gave the bikes a bit of a clean.

 

Sunday – part 1: Another easy 30-minute run as the sun came up, then a group ride out to Cap Formentor, and for the first time my discipline went a bit AWOL. As soon as the road went up, the group shot off, and by trying to keep my HR down I got dropped. A few minutes into the climb and now properly warmed up, the animalistic part of my brain decided to give chase, pumping out a 2023 10 min power PB. We regrouped at the lighthouse and on the way back, Alan, Rich T, Chris and myself decided to throw hand grenades at each other. Coffee at PdP, then a hard drive into a headwind back to the hotel for lunch and a swim, another easy 10x 200m. In total, I racked up about 25 mins in Z3/4, but it was great fun. 

Practicing their running off the bike skills on the way back from Cap Formentor (Photo from S.Rose)

Sunday – part 2: the highlight of the week – the inaugural Manchester Triathlon Easter Sunday Aquathlon. A 300m out-and-back sea swim starting and finishing in the shadow of Hoff Tower, a quick transition just off the beach, followed by a 2k run around the block, half on the road/pavement and half back on the beach, followed by a 20m egg-and-spoon race to finish, once again next to Hoff Tower. A handicap wave start based on predicted times meant that it was close racing. Net effect, a 13-minute VO2max effort. 

 

Monday: I fancied another decent ride so one option was Bunyola-Orient, but I had done it already and the youngsters had plotted another big ride, Lluc-Puig-Soller-Bunyola, so I went with them. However, up to Lluc I realised that the week had caught up with me so at the top I made my apologies and noodled back to the hotel on my own. 3hrs, 70k, all Z1/2. After a quick lunch I crashed on the sofa and slept for a good hour or so. Glad I got my big ride in earlier in the week, and glad that this time the more rationale part of my brain won the inner debate.

 

Taking it steady up to Lluc but still hot! (Mallorca Bike Photos) 

Tuesday: last day, woke feeling refreshed so went for another easy 30-minute run then a leisurely ride with Jacky out to Petra, including a beautiful detour into Totally Unnecessary Valley. 3.5 hrs riding time, 80k, all Zone 1. Then one final swim, another easy 2k.

 

Scores on the doors: Over 9 days, about 35 hours including 717 km on the bike, 9700 m swimming and 29k running. So, while I certainly had a great time, in terms of training benefit, did I get it right? Will I get a fitness bump that sets me up well for the season? Or did I overdo it and nuke my season? The proof of the pudding will be at the Outlaw Half in 5 weeks’ time! Bring it on.

 

Meanwhile, thanks to all our club mates for making it such a fantastic trip. It’s wonderful to see the vets enjoying our sport as much as they did 10+ years ago. It’s also inspiring to see the relatively newer members and youngsters embracing the sport, and to see their endurance and triathlon skills improve.

 

And finally, big thank you to MTC Head Coach Sarah and Rich H for organising, coaching, route planning and most importantly making it such great fun – the aquathlon was genius and the trip was perfectly rounded off with the award ceremony. Bravo!

[Edit: it's now Saturday morning and looking good. Avoided picking up any bugs on the way home, a S,B & R done, feel fresh and looking forward to a 25m TT this afternoon] 

 

Wilmslow Half 2023

Today marked the 6^th time I’ve toed the line at the Wilmslow Half. I’ve had some great races and tussles in the past, including a 1:21:xx in 2016, but I wasn’t expecting great things today. 

Training has been going well but it’s been largely easy volume, alongside swimming and biking of course, with very few hard runs or interval sessions over winter. 

 

Wilmslow Half results (2010-2023)

I had a great day at the Grizedale Trail 13 in February, smashing out a 1:43:xx for the V50 win, but this was going  be a very different kettle of fish; a hard, flat road surface and way more competitive.

Also, as this race confirmed, my PB days are well and truly behind me. Synthesizing all this, I reckoned a pace of ~4:20-4:30 mins/km was realistic, yielding a sub-1:35. Add in a bit of race fever for good measure, hopefully sub-1:30.

V50 win at the Grizedale Trail 13

Early on, I found myself clipping along a bit faster than target pace, but that’s ok; its net downhill on the way out so while you have to be careful not to go out too fast, you might as well capitalise while you can.

 

Within a few k, Paul Barrett came along side and tried to goad me into following him, but as much as I love our competition, I was having none of it and stuck to my rhythm. 

 

Went through 10k in 42 minutes and felt good. Raised the pace a bit but then remembered that the back half is net uphill and into the wind, so settled back down. Same again with 5k to go; tried to step it up but with no hard miles in the legs, I was feeling a bit tender so settled down again.

 

Approaching the finish, I saw a race clock tick over from 1:28:59 to 1:29:00. Wasn’t sure how far I had left to go but thankfully it was only a few hundred meters, and I bagged a gun time of 1:29:51.

Rocking the Hoka Carbon X2s

So very happy. A long way off my PB but as alluded to above, I have reconciled with myself that while the glory days are over, I can still put in a good shift and enjoy it. Very happy with the pacing, with identical normalised gradient paces for the way out and the way back. Also, not bad off just easy volume although the quads are a bit trashed. Onwards!

 

Meanwhile, Jacky did great in her second half marathon, shaving some time off compared to the Manchester Half last October.

PS: I raced in a pair Hoka Carbon X2s. Picked them up cheap when they got superseded by the X3. They are not really a supershoe like the Nike Alphafly etc, but it’s my first foray into the carbon plate territory, and I quite like them. I have however splashed out on a pair of just-released-to-the-general-public Hoka Rocket X2s. These are supposed to be the bomb, so looking forward to testing them out in the next few weeks.

Hoka Rocket X2s fresh out the box

2023 Kuota rebuild project

I bought my first ‘proper’ road bike back in spring 2009, a full carbon Kuota Kharma with a 10 speed Shimano 105 (5600 series) groupset for £1,250. A few parts got replaced here and there but after 7 years of adventures it was starting to get a bit ropey. In January 2017, I spotted a 105 groupset at Chain Reaction Cycles going for £377, so I decided to upgrade to the 11 speed 5800 series.

2017 Rebuild (Click image for a closer look)

I had been tinkering with my TT bikes for some time, but this was my first rebuild project. I stripped the bike right down to the frame and rebuilt it, adding some new hand-built wheels from Paul Hewitt. What a revelation – it felt like a brand-new bike, which it basically was: while the frame is how you normally recognise your bike, all it does is stop all the components (and you) from collapsing onto the floor in a pile.

Anyway, in December I got a tip off that Wiggle had a good deal going on 105 groupset, so in January, I treated myself to a late Christmas present and bought an R7000 series. When it arrived all the components were just wrapped in bubble wrap rather than the original Shimano boxes. Also, it had a SRAM chain and a hotchpotch of cables.

New groupset - as advertised and in reality

I reckon Wiggle were having a clear-out, off-loading old stock as apparently Shimano have discontinued the mechanical rim brake version of 105. If I was buying a brand-new bike, sure I’d upgrade to disc brakes and maybe electronic shifting, but at today’s prices that would cost what, £3-3.5k? Whereas for £300 I reckoned I’d get another 4-5 years out of this set-up.

The groupset came with a braze-on front derailleur whereas I needed a band-on. Rather than fiddle about I bought a separate R7000 band-on for £29.99, so I have a braze-on going spare if anybody wants it.

Dismantled

I had already invested in the various tools so dismantling it was pretty straight forward. As always, getting the bottom bracket out required some brute force. The headset etc looked ‘okay’ but while I was at it, I thought I might as well replace the bearings, so got a couple of FSA bearings for £21 each.

New headset bearings

All the old bits went into a box which I will take to the Charity Bike shop in Chorlton, leaving behind the bits I needed, i.e. the frame; forks; stem, headset bolt and spacers; the handlebar; the seat post and clamp; the saddle; and hanger. These all got a thorough clear, degrease and I removed the rust from the stem bolts.

Meanwhile, I also treated myself to some new wheels, a pair of Prime Attaquers from Wiggle (£299.99), as the brake surfaces on the old ones were getting rather concave. I decided to switch from 23mm to 25mm tyres, but stuck with Schwalbe; their Pro Ones are a great all-round option which rarely puncture. I’ve still not been convinced to go tubeless, so I finished them off with some latex Vittoria inner tubes – sweet! Wheel set all together, £395.22

New wheels - Prime Attaquers

The bike has always had a compact chain set (50-34) with an 11-25 cassette, but to aid my aging legs up the steep climbs, this rebuild allowed me to ‘upgrade’ to a 11-30 cassette which easily slotted on to the rear wheel.

The rebuild was fairly straight forward. Greased up the headset bearings, fork in, spacers, stem and handlebar all reassembled. Shifters put in place and tightened up. Bottom bracket, crank set, front and rear brakes, rear and front derailleurs. Then all the new cables; outers cut to length, inners threaded through, tightened up and cut. Next the chain!

A few years ago I switched to waxing the chains on my TT bike. Another revelation: waxed chains run really smooth and keep your drive train so much cleaner, in turn prolonging the life of the components. But molten waxing does require a bit more work and I still wanted the convenience of a chain lube for my road bike. So I opted from Ceramic Speed’s UFO Drip ‘liquid wax’. (£30 – not cheap compared to regular lube but is well recommended). To ensure that it would bond with the rollers of the chain, I thoroughly got rid of all the production grease using my usual protocol, i.e. several washes in white spirits followed by rinses in methylated spirits.

Liquid Wax

The chain was then cut to length, using the LARGEST COG & LARGEST CHAINRING method as per the awesome Park Tool video, and mounted it with a SRAM quick link. Then, aided by more Park Tool videos, the front and rear mechs were aligned and adjusted. 

Final steps, handlebar tape from Prime with screw-in bar ends (£15). This is always a challenge, but I did ‘okay’! Bottle cages and Garmin mount, a final check of all the bolts, run through the gears, job done.

The final product

Overall I’m delighted with the final result and can’t wait to test it out in the hills, but I’ll have to wait for the weather to break. And what I hope will feel like a new bike for a total of £814, good value for money. There was also a total of maybe 4 days of labour, but it was a lot of fun.

The bottom line

The one thing I haven’t mentioned is the pedals, and this is where another late Christmas present comes in. I could have just recycled the Ultegras but … …

Since 2012, the bike has had a PowerTap hub built into the rear wheel. This meter was arguably the power meter that brought training with power to the masses. It was much cheaper compared to alternatives available back then (QUARQ, SRM), and a fantastic piece of kit, reliable and bomb proof. Since then the market has exploded with a wide array of power meters now available. But a few years ago SRAM – who own QUARQ – acquired PowerTap and shortly thereafter discontinued them! I could have recycled the PowerTap G3 hub by having it built into a new wheel, but … …

Assioma Power pedals!

The last time we went on a cycling camp, I hired a bike out there. Much as I love my Kuota, air travel is stressful enough these days without worrying about boxing up and taking a bike. It was a great experience so we will be hiring again this April. But hire bikes tend not to have power meters, and if your meter is in your wheel or crank set, it isn’t easily transportable/transferrable. However, if I had a pedal-based power meter … …

I was never tempted by the original Garmin power pedals. They had so many problems launching the product and early on there were lots of problems. But those days are behind them, so I decided to take another look. However, after reading DCRainmakers latest reviews, I opted for the Favero Assioma system, and I went all in, opting for the DUO rather than the left-side only. 

And they are very nice! Easily switched on, paired with the Assioma app to activate, connected straight with my Garmin computer, and a piece of cake to add to the bike. They require LOOK Keo cleats (included) which I will need to switch to, but I can’t wait to try them out.

And what about mudguards? As you may know, I’m a fan when it comes to group rides in winter. I’ve been using the ‘clip on’ CRUD Roadracers Mk2 for years but they have been discontinued and I’ve kind of had enough of them, I wanted something a bit more substantial.

So I took a gamble and ordered some SKS Raceblades. It took a bit of fiddling about, but I managed to add them without too many problems. However, the front one was catching the gear cables under the down tube, and both blades seemed quite far away from the wheels.

New mudguards - SKS Raceblades

Maybe I could cut the metal stays a bit shorter? My hacksaw wouldn’t touch them, so it was DREMMEL time! My favourite tool made easy work of it. I sawed ~1cm of each of the 4 stays, sanded off the burrs, remounted them and bingo, problems solved, and the mudguards now fit really nice.

I know I’ve said it already, but I’ll say it again, I can’t wait to get out and give it a test ride.

UPDATE: Great ride in the hills today, everything worked really nicely. Enjoyed the 25mm tyres and the 30T cog on the steeper sections was nice. Really pleased with my 'new' bike and my rebuild job. However, as soon as I went on the drops I realised they were tilted up too much. Easy to rotate down but will need to move the shifters back up which means redoing the handle bar tape - doh!

Cracking ride!