On Sunday the 4th August I competed in the prestigious Allerthorpe Classic, known and mentioned in Triathlon220 magazine as the fastest Olympic distance triathlon in the UK it certainly did not disappoint. In 2016 I came close coming 5th overall, so doing the race again I wanted to improve. I woke up on the morning of the race with a pulled muscle in my back, not ideal. However after a long warm up on the indoor bike and a lot of stretching I managed to loosen up. The race started with a 1500m 2 lap swim involving a section where you had to get out and run. I started strongly leading the swim for the first lap. I backed off slightly during the second to save some energy and exited the water in 4th. It was then a 40km TT ride, something in the past which has been a big weakness of mine. Going into the race I didn't know what to expect as 90% of my cycling is done on the MTB, even road cycles and commutes to work. However I settled in on the TT bike well and stayed on top of the gear completing the 40km cycle in 58:15 at 41.2 kph! This was a 5 minute improvement from 2016. I came off the bike in 2nd place just 10 seconds behind the leader. Running being one of my strongest elements I was confident and quickly took 1st during the first 500m. I then ran consistent 3:45 km for the 10 km run which was longer and closer to 11 km. I finished the race strongly and in a time of 2:00:55. It felt amazing to win, especially in a strong field featuring 3 previous winners of the race. It was also my first win since my operation last year and just felt amazing to be back. I would like to thank Race Off Road for the coaching this year as I really am starting to feel strong and better than I ever have. I would also like to thank Precision Hydration for supporting me with my hydration strategy as I used to suffer from cramps. Even when pushing to my max on hot days I feel great and don't cramp anymore. I would also like to thank Vee Tire Co, 33Fuel, ESI Grips and Limar Helmets for there continued support. My next race is XTERRA Luxembourg where I will be lining up in the pro category again.
0 Comments
What is XTERRA? Xterra is a form of triathlon which takes place off road, often know as cross triathlon. It follows the same format as a normal triathlon Swim – Bike – Run. The swim is always outdoors and can be in either a lake, river or even the sea. The swim section is always 1500m and depending on water temperature can be wetsuit or non-wetsuit. The bike section takes place on a MTB. The courses are in a XC mountain bike style, often rolling terrain and many courses feature more technical sections like, man made jumps, burms, stairs, elevated wood sections and drops just to name a few. The technical features vary per course as each event organiser adds there own flair. The bike is either a over 1 or 2-laps with distances varying from 30-40km. The run is a trail run over mixed terrain gravel paths, cobbles, woods and forest, mud and tarmac. The distances are usually standard around 10km. (photo - stair section @ Xterra Belgium) How long does the race take?
Generally the pros take around 2 ½ to 3 hours depending on the course and the conditions. There is a huge variety of ability in the age group race with a great mix of athletes competing or completing. What kind of kit do you need? Due to being off road the type of kit required is different to that of a standard triathlon. The swim kit stays pretty similar a tri-suit is worn under a wetsuit you then need a set of goggles and hat (provided at the race). The bike is where there is a big shift in terms of kit required. The MTB’s used are hard tails or full suspensions usually XC bikes or medium capability trail bikes. Along with a MTB you usually need specific cross triathlon shoes (to save precious seconds) or normal MTB shoes as there will be sections of the course that you will have to get off and run, making road shoes unsuitable. You can use a normal road or aero helmet, using a super aero TT helmet is usually not done. The run can be done in either standard racing flats or trail running shoes. It depends on the nature of the course and the kind of terrain you will encounter. My friends over at Race Off Road have a great summary video which I will link here. What events are there? With Xterra there are 4 tours the Pan-America, Asia-Pacific, America and European making more than 100 races over 30+ countries across the globe. Each in a super interesting and picturesque environment. For UK athletes the European Tour is the most accessible with over 14 events around the continent there’s plenty to choose from. Along with Xterra there is also the ITU and ETU World and European cross triathlon championships where you can represent you country. In the UK there are a few cross tri events in Scotland as well as a Scottish cross triathlon National championships. In England the biggest event is the Pippingford Cross Tri put on by Eventrex UK. There are also a few off-road duathlons which take place over the winter. Everyone should give Xterra a go at some point, it’s a great discipline of triathlon, enjoyable and entirely different. For triathletes who love adventure it’s 100% for you. Over the past couple months I have been running the Vee Tire co. Rail Tracker in 29x2.20. An XC race tyre at heart the tread promises low rolling resistance as well as good grip on a range of dry surfaces. At first glance the tyre comes well packaged in a box. I received the 185 tpi Synthesis side wall Tackee compound tire. Taking the tires out of the box the they were super supple and the rubber as promised, super tacky to touch. The tyres don't have a claimed weight on the website so I took out my scales. The tyres came in at around the 680g mark which is pretty reasonable for an XC race tyre. Setting them up as tubeless was simple. I used Joe's Sealant as well as Rimpacts foam inserts and even using a tight foam insert I manged to get the bead onto the rim easily, using a floor pump to inflate. The tyres width once fully inflated at 22 psi was around 2.3, which is slightly larger than the advertised 2.2. No problem for me as my forks and chainstays were large enough to accommodate. First impression of the Rail Trackers were good. They roll super quick, faster than the Maxxis Aspens which I had been using previously. I think this was due to the extremely supple casing which at 185 tpi is high, a casing usually reserved for World Cup XC racers. The grip in the dry was also impressive. On loose gravel surfaces to dry single track I found it would rarely let go. Lent over grip was also good, as the tyre features elevated side knobs. I also used the Rail Tracker for the British National XC Championships at Cannock Chase. The conditions on the day were appalling, heavy rail, extremely muddy and almost un-rideable. On that day grip even with a mud tyre would have been difficult. I found the tyres manged to hold there own once I lowered the pressures to 16 psi and managed to provide enough grip even in the slickest mud. By no means a mud tyre I was comfortable enough and managed to finish 9th on them at the British Championships. Since then I have been riding them in all ranges of conditions and surfaces.
The Sythesis sidewalls stand up well to abuse and even at low pressure with a Rimpact. I suffered no cuts even on rocky sections at low pressure. This tyre in comparison to a Maxxis Aspen offers lower rolling resitance as well as more grip in the dry. It is also fairly low on weight and easy to install. However in super wet and muddy conditions I think the grip is not quite there. However as an out and out race tyre for dry days (As it was designed) it is super rapid, super gripy and really durable ! Something which is often not mentioned is the low price. It is really affordable offering World Cup level performance on a budget. The brown sidewalls also give the tyres a high end retro look, also available in black. I have no problem recommending the Rail Tracker and am currently testing the highly coveted Rail Escape, a more all round XC / Trail tyre. The review will be following soon. I would like to say a massive thank you for Vee Tyre Co. for sponsoring me, the products are incredible and I look forward to working with the company going forward. You can check out the whole range of tyres here and check out Vee Tire Co. UK insagram here. Race Report: 3.8km - 53:05 - 7th On Sunday the 7th of July Epic Events held the Derwent water open water swimming race in Keswick. This was my first open water race of the year and my first open water race since 2016. The race was 3.8km in distance so was also my first full Ironman distance swim. Epic couldn’t have chose a more picturesque venue and the weather on the day was close to perfect. I had come into the race off the back of a big three week training blog, so although I had good fitness I went into the race carrying a bit of fatigue. I started the race fast and managed to tuck into the front swim pack after the first 200m around the first bouy. The pace was high from the start with a strong group of swimmers starting to strong out the pack. I continued to follow but found myself slipping further back. After the 2000m mark I had dropped to about 30 seconds back from the lead group and from there I continued to loose time and ended up swimming on my own for the remainder. Overall I was pleased with the result. 53:05 is a time competitive with the pros in Ironman events. It was also great practice for the 1500m distance in Xterra events and means my swimming is on track for Xterra Luxembourg. I would like to thank my girlfriend for the pictures from the event and for helping me take my wetsuit off when I couldn’t move my arms. Big shout out to Epic Events for running a well organised and well marshalled event, I will be back in the future hopefully a bit closer to the front. And finally I would like to thank my sponsor Precision Hydration for supporting me with hydration products this season. The electrolyte tables helped me perform strongly over the distance as I am not used to not being able to take on fluid during the a race. Next race is the HSBC National Cross Country Championships, at Cannock Chase on the 20th July, so more miles on the bike to follow.
|
ArchivesCategories |