I have finally got round to getting back to racing after a busy April which prevented me getting to many races.

1^st April – Withington Wheelers 25 TT

First open TT of the year, it started so well with the legs feeling good but soon the lack of fuel and race efforts started to show. Aiming for about an hour I was on target for the first 15 miles. The bike and legs felt very heavy after this point and by 22 miles I was seeing stars and weaving up the road, it turns out the back brake had stuck on and had been dragging for a while. I could not wait for the finish! Final time 1:02:37.

2 May – Congleton Club 10 – J2/1

First evening club TT for me, a strong crosswind made things a little tricky with pacing and the occasional unexpected sideways trip across the road when passing gateways. I managed a good ride (for me) of 23:09 – which is only 11 seconds off PB for this course.

9 May – Congleton Club 10 – JC 5

The regular club course on a cool but still night, having had a heavy weekend training the legs were feeling heavy during warm-up. Working on pacing I aimed for a negative split, hitting the turn having caught 4 riders. Overall I came 3^rd on the night with a 23:12 and a power PB…. And that back brake was rubbing again!

14 May – Wilmslow Sprint Triathlon –

Having not got an entry into the MDTTA 25 Champs – I decided to see what other races were on that weekend. I happened to stumble across the Wilmslow Triathlon with entries still open – I figured I can swim, ride and run so how hard can it be to string them all together – I had 8 days to learn. Lucky for me Budge put me in touch with Alex Lawton who answered some of my rather banal and inane newbie questions, so hopefully I wouldn’t make too many stupid mistakes.

With no previous Tri experience there was no pressure to perform on race day, anything would be a PB and it was just meant to be a bit of fun. Taking the swim easy I clocked a 7:09 for 400m – easyish pace but saving myself for later. The bike leg was easy, apart from the boa dial on my shoe failing in transition so having to get it tightened as best as possible and hope the shoe didn’t come loose during the ride. A short 39 minute leg for the 15 miles left me with energy in my legs and 9^th fastest bike split of the day.  The run – if it could be called that was 6km around some rather posh estates in the back of Wilmslow. I kept the pace up as best as I could setting a running PB for 5km during this leg, but this is where I lost the majority of my time.  Overall 58/648,  10^th in age cat.

Is triathlon fun? Yep. Will I be doing another one? Yep. But first a few more TTs, Mountain Mayhem 24hr pairs with Jason Miles and 24hr pedal car racing.  Nothing like a little variation in racing to keep me on my toes.