Sneaky extra race :o)

I'll be entering the Shock Absorber Women Only Triathlon at Eton Dorney on Sunday.  (Thanks to Jenny for suggesting it might be fun!)  It's going to be a real fun bash at 3/4 Olympic distance on a flat, sweeping bike course and a totally flat run course on tarmac with a bit of grass right at the end.

I had a miserable time at the HSBC Olympic distance race two years ago (back before I had any idea about what training was, how to do it etc.) at this venue, but a whole lot has changed since then and I expect a stonking good time on Sunday.

Not sure I'll get to race in my new Sailfish G-Range wetsuit (courtesy of my new membership of Team Freespeed Virgin Active - thank you for the incredible support so far guys!) as the water may be warmer than the threshold for a wetsuit ban under BTF rules (22C).  Bit of a shame really as the little try-out I had in it suggests that it's a really quick suit!  Also not sure I'll manage to sustain the three tweaks to my swim stroke that team-mate Matt Molloy suggested this morning; one of them really puts a lot more power in my stroke, but as always with more power it means it's gotta come from somewhere and it's quite tiring when it's not ingrained into technique with a good few hours practice.  That said, 800m swim isn't all that long to really dump out some energy :o)

I'm going to be brave and use the TT bike (though I'm being advised to take advantage of the fact that the team is headline sponsored and run by Freespeed (bike fit studio - Retul certified) and have my bars checked out for suitability for me, so I'll do that soonish but there's not enough time before Sunday) as there's pretty much no need to get up out of the aero-position for the whole bike leg apart from at the end.  Fingers crossed I can do that as it's great experience to rack up for me, given I'm not the most confident in my own ability cyclist.  I so want to get a good go on that bike with the new HED Jet wheels on it (6 on the front, 9 on the rear)!

And I'll be giving these here Skechers Go Run (Ride) a good try out on the run too - they feel spectacularly light but are a lot more cushioned than I'm used to.  Reckon they'll be perfect for the training and run I'll be doing in October - Rowbotham's Round Rotherham (80km Ultra Marathon).

AND there's a barbecue after the race too!  Perfect!

Up, down and pfffft!

Out for a short pootle today to try out my new reclining bottle rack on the aero bars and it started with some traffic, a contra-flow and not feeling too bad at all.  My Planet X Stealth Pro TT bike started to feel really rather exciting to ride.

The usual 3 Hills 80km route was going really well, the first hill got eaten up more easily than ever and I was down on the bars zipping through villages and lanes, feeling powerful when as I was going through the woods I hit some debris.  I thought I had a leaf caught in my wheels - there was a PFFF PFFF Pfff Pfff pfff pfff pf sound, like dry leaf stuck in a spoke slowly disintegrating.  Then FDDD FDDD FDDD FDDD from the rear wheel and I pulled over straight away.  Puncture.  The tyre was flat as a pancake and I was about 3km out from the next sharp hill and on a narrow, fast road with no pavements or grass verge.

And no mobile signal.  I walked a bit, found some patchy signal and left a voicemail for MrTOTKat who I was supposed to be meeting at the top of the 3rd hill for a cup of tea and who'd given me a 15 minute head start.  Just as I got off the phone, I heard the distinctive sound of the Jet wheels he just fitted and he sped past me... I shouted and shouted, but he didn't hear me at all and probably hadn't seen me in the shady woods.

I walked on, stopping in a car park to see if I could call again and try to use the "Pit Stop" canister, which fills the tyre with sealant and compressed air.  The bugger was that instead of pumping into the tyre, it squirted out of the sides of the rubber nozzle.  No mobile signal and a completely un-ridable bike.  So I ended up walking up Crocknorth hill and beyond until I got some good signal, left another voicemail.  And then MrTOTKat called back.  To cut a long and boring story short, I got cold, ended up walking another 2km,  had a chat with some lovely cyclists who gave me a Fudge to eat - which was most welcome at the time - and got picked up just over 2 hours after I'd had my puncture.

So.  I've changed the wheels for my Mavic Ksyrium Elite wheels and fitted the right cassette back on the rear.  Just need to change the brake blocks for ones I know will work on aluminum braking surface and I'm good to go.  I am using the TT bike.  I am OK eating and drinking on the move on it.  I'm peed off about getting a puncture, but I got a 2 hour ride in and I got a really good feeling from the TT bike.

One more decision made and set for next weekend.  Hopefully I can get bits and bobs done each evening this week as we've not got Thursday off to prepare and pack this time.

Second race of the season and my new TT bike

It's upon us already; the second race of the season.  And like the first one it's going to be cold and potentially wet too!  It's going to be an even earlier start than last time as transition closes at 06:15 on Monday (the race director will be on site from 04:30!!)

I'm a bit excited, but not so excited that I'm even thinking about racing on my new baby when I've only just picked him up:-

I call him "Stormtrooper" (thanks to the new chap at Triathlon Zone for putting that idea into my head :o))

I'll be racing on my usual Fuji Team Pro Special Edition now that the guys at Prologue Bikes have made it feel right again.  I had it in for a full service at Evans a couple of weeks ago and it came back with a rattle at the back end, which we thought we'd fixed after taking the cassette apart and putting it back together again, but the rattle came back.  One of the guys at the Wimbleball familiarisation weekend we went to, one Sam Baxter, recommended a shop in Sheen so I went and found it this morning.  Turns out they're really nice guys.  They stripped down the cassette again, found that two spacers were missing (one that came with the wheel and one that came with the cassette), replaced them, adjusted the slightly out of whack back wheel, the rear and front derailleurs and didn't charge me a penny!  All rattling has stopped and I feel confident throwing the bike around the road again.  Much much happier about racing on it on Monday now!