Sit thee doon and put it in'th big chonker...

Did a 25 mile TT at the weekend in Cumbria, good ride I thought until I saw the winners time of 50:49 and that I didn't even make the top 20 with my 58:20.. More to my amazement was the size of the chainring on the bike owned by the chap next to us in the car park. Basically if he cornered too far right his chain would hit the ground, must have been 65-70 teeth!! Interesting that a similar chain ring was chosen by last year's British Best All Rounder competition, Lance's high cadence obviously not the only option for success.

Pure moment of comedy a few weeks back when riding up a steep hill somewhere near Blackburn with a friend, as we passed some old bloke in a flat cap, smoking a cigarette he looked in disgust at the small chain ring I had chosen and shouted..

"Sit thee doon and put it in'th big chonker.."

We laughed so hard we nearly fell off our bikes..

Here endeth theenduranceblog.

Living the dream...

Perhaps one of the great things about triathlon is that you get the opportunity to compete for your country no matter what your age.. Last weekend coach Paul competed in the European Tri Champs as an age group athlete.. here is his story..


Last weekend I got chance to live the dream as a pro triathlete. I tried once before to qualify but didn’t make it finally I qualified to race in Holten, Holland at the European champs and wow! What an experience.

At first I was a bit down about my finishing time, I was hoping to go a bit faster. But when I look at it and think top 20 in my age group in Europe and sixth Brit home in my age group that’s not bad for a first attempt.

I struggled in the swim without the wetsuit having legs like lead, but it made you feel like you were actually racing elite and the dive in half way through was mega and best of all my swim cap and goggles stayed in place. Quick transition without the wetsuit and on to the bike, great bike course, closed roads and although narrow at some places I didn’t get stuck behind anyone but I was nearly taken out at one point by a crazy German dude racing past at 100 mph. Oh and I did do a bit of grass tracking when I took my eye of what I was doing for a second, good job there were no kerbs.

Into T2 and off on the run where I again struggled with the temperature, for some reason the heat seems to really effect me on the run and although tried as hard as I could I just seemed to lose all strength in my legs. The run course itself was great bringing you back into the town on every loop through crowds of partying locals and loads of GB athletes who had all stopped after their earlier races to cheer on the remaining athletes, plus my brother and sister in law who had flown over from the UK for the day to watch the race, a big thanks to them for their support. Water stations where plentiful with even some extra ones where the local families had set up their own station and hose pipes for cooling us down

All in all racing doesn’t get much better living the dream being a pro athlete for the weekend, great race, outstanding organisation superb hotel and country and finally not forgetting two trusty team mates to show me the ropes. Cheers Guys!

Bring on the next GB race I’m hooked now..


*I have to say Paul.. the photo does remind me of 'chips' aka California Highway Patrol (showing my age), but I can't help feeling that if you'd eated less of them you would have finished even higher up the field.. Well done pal! (ml)


Here endeth theenduranceblog..

Everybody.. needs somebody

Due to work commitments and coaching duties I rarely get to train with the club any more and spend most of my time training alone. Swimming has never been a personal strength and I have to admit that staring at the tiles can often lead to me leaving the water after 2000m have been completed.. I just can't take anymore. Needless to say, swimming has suffered somewhat but this week I joined the guys at COLT (City of Lancaster Tri) for a couple of sessions and as I hadn't swam with a group for some time it made me realise just how much easier it is as 3000m cruised by without any thought.

There has to be some sort of social element to training, if not, the end result will surely be burnout and failure to complete the schedule.. as I'm working up that way frequently and they were such a welcoming bunch, I'll definitely be swimming there again!

If you swim alone.. why not make an effort to find a local tri club session and do this once per week.. without any doubt you will feel the benefits!

Here endeth theenduranceblog..