Bristol Triathlon

[Ed Stevens]

Overall I thought BAD did an excellent job. It seemed mainly for novices, but there was still a handful of experienced sprinters. The arrangments around the site were reasonably good, but it did take a bit of walking around to find things. There was always a BADie to point you in the right direction with a smile.

The swim was good, but not currently sure of my swim time, as I started and stopped my watch within 1 sec lol fast swim, I thought when I got out. I thought the markings on the floor of the pool were a bit close to the wall, so I never managed tumbleturns.

Out of the pool there was a run to the bike, it appeared to be longer than Westonbirth, with a bit of a dodgy section made me wonder if I should take my trainers to the pool. It wasn't as bad as it looked, they did give the route a little sweep of sharp stones. T1 was a long time, had a fight with my jersey, not easy getting on when you are wet.

The bike route started on a slight hill, it was a bit of a way into the ride I got comfortatble. There was marshalls at every junction, so no worries. I was wondering where they all came from, seemed everyone was BAD, only 5 [as far as I am aware] from KIT.

The run was the bad part, the surface was rough, uneven, and narrow, but it was a test. Running down into the route I had to jump over a Golden Retriever! He was taking his walkies, and his ownera little in front on the right. With the route being narrow, I didn't have much chance running round, so went over him. He seemed happy being in the way! En route back [the route was out and back] The dog and the owner were in my sight again. This time on a wider 'path'. But the dog wanted a sniff, and the owner wanted him on the left, right, left, right, left, I could see them fighting when I was thinking make your mind up! Shall I jump over the extension lead...? Lucky the dogs interest waded, and I ran round on the right!

Until I got off this 'up-even surface' things were easlier, but I happened to of hit barb wire as I did, I tried to grap the post to keep my balance on the turn. Something that should of be covered.

Overall good event, considering its their first.

I am awaiting the results, my watch said 1;12, but I didn't time the swim. Still looks like a pb [?]

[Philippa Crocker]

great report Ed though it looks from the results like you were DQ's??

other results:

1st Chris White (NOT KIT) 1.07.41 (5.48,40.23,21.30)
31 Neil Kerfoot 1.17.33 (6.43,46.36,24.14)
92 Graham Anstis 1.25.24 (10.50, 46.30, 28.04)
113 Derek Johnson 1.27.26 (8.32,53.42,25.12)
165 Rachel Johnson 1.34.02 (8.51,56.22,28.49)

well done to all

[milko1]

What happened Ed, you were going well when you passed my marshalling point at the Severn Bridge roundabout ??

[Ed Stevens]

What ?

I was dqf for what? posting these comments? John you tell me, what did I do wrong?

[Ed Stevens]

I recieved the email [below] from the organizers, but confused, never been in this situation before, and dont actually understand this either. Feel free to tell me what is 'foot down' I can't exactly fly... [my name is Ed short for Edward, not ED THE DUCK!] WTF? lol

Ed,

The DQ was for breach of a mandatory stop "foot down"at point 1. Prior to the event the Bike marshal,Race Director and Race Referee were at pains to agree amongst themselves and emphasise to Marshals at the relevant points that we had to be 100% sure that the numbers were correctly recorded and verified, because of the severity of the penalty.

The DQs are judgement calls and based on the fact the referee cannot be at each place, he relies upon duly authorised marshals to give accurate reports.

You were recorded to have missed both Stops "1" and "2" .

It is naturally disappointing to be DQ'd or penalised in any form and I do sympathise if the competitors feel unjustly treated. But the decision to DQ remains and times will not be posted officially.

[milko1]

We were all told at the Marshalls briefing that there were compulsory stops at two of the the right turns and persons at those points were told to note the numbers of people not complying, in fact they were given a note book to record, stop 1 was at the top of the hill shortly after leaving transition where there was a right turn and stop 2 was the right turn just before the end of the bike, about 20 mtrs from the dismount, disapointing as it's probably only a communication problem, to be fair to BAD, this was stated in the finals as extracted below

"There are four right-hand turns on the course. Two of these are compulsory stops. The first is at the top of the hill – Junction 2. The second is on returning to Tockington village – Junction 11. The marshals at both these junctions will direct you to halt and place one foot on the ground. Even if clear, a failure to complete a compulsory stop will result in disqualification".

The foot down means you must unclip one foot, place it on the floor and stop. It's just a safety issue, you probably did not hear the Marshalls as you were in race mode.

Just bad luck Ed, and lesson learnt I suppose...We've all been guilty of not reading the final instructions fully. You can be sure it's nothing to do with the posting on this board

By the way BAD really looked after the marshalls, nice Bacon sandwich, goody bag of food and an event T shirt - not bad

[tim03]

This is a bit OTT isn't it?

I mean if you obey the rules of the road then surely that should be sufficent.

Next year they are going to gatso everyone!!!

Rather ironic that they DQ'ed you for this yet at Bath tri I caught a BaD Tri'er drafting all the way up Dunkerton hill, not even subtly, they were 4 inches off the guys back wheel.

Bet you wouldn't have been DQ'ed if you had full BaD Tri kit on though.

[Ed Stevens]

John I had to stop reading your message, let me just clear something up- I have a communication problem. This is not fair on me.

Just a bad triathlon, not bad luck. Yeah Tim you are right, I am a Hogweed as I enjoy the rivalry amounts running clubs, but since there is not many tri clubs in Bristol compared to running clubs I thought the rivalry does not exist in Triathlons [between clubs]. Seems I am wrong, as I was in KIT kit at Bristol tri. Well, I was doing good wasn't I john?

[Steveraff]

Ed

I must admit that I did read the race details on Sunday to see the route (it actually passes my house!). I did notice the bit about compulsory foot down on the right turns. It may seem harsh, but as John says, a lessson learnt. There was a female triathlete dq'd at Burnham last year who won the race by miles and was also upset by a similar rule and evenually had to just accept it.

I know you have a communication problem and if they had relied on a verbal briefing to pass on this message, they would have made it very unfair.

Sorry Ed, but you are getting into some good form and its not worth getting too upset by this.

[milko1]

Ed, Steve's right put it behind you, you were going like a train when you passed me and I can assure you wearing KIT clothing would of had NO influence on your DQ ,obviously there is bound to be rivalry between the two Clubs but it's a very friendly rivalry I can assure you.

[Ed Stevens]

made myself look a bad loser haven't I?

I never did experience the right turn foot down rule before. So this is where l was DQ? It wasn't actually clear where l was DQ, I thought its was mounting the bike at the school entrance/crossing the road. I want to learn something out of this. Is the same rule

on all triathlons?

[Steveraff]

Ed, don't worry about being upset/disappointed. We have all been there and I could write many pages of the mistakes I have made in triathlons. The important message and learning point is to study the instructions very closely and check out the course and especially transition areas (in and out, etc). All races have different rules and should be thought about by competitors beforehand. An example would be the Highworth tri last year. I had never done it before and it statted that you had to dismount at the road an push your bike to the transition area, down a lane and through a field. When I got there, I checked it out and worked out that I would be better leaving shoes in the pedals and run in socks to the transition area. This saved me quite a bit of time.

[gingerwizard]

Ed, I emailed the organisers to thank them for putting on a good race, but also asked why you were DQ'd. I explained in my email that you have difficulty communicating, and would have been unable to hear the race briefing. It was pointed out to me that the compulsory foot down rule at the two points on the course was indeed explained in the online race brief, which I hadn't read as I know the course. Under the circumstances, I think it is best to try and put it behind you, and is a lesson for us all to read the race brief, even if we think we know the course!
On a more positive note, I personally think the team at BAD tri did an excellant job with the race, the bike course should be quite fast (if it wasn't so d**n windy and if I had bothered to do any training!) and the run course was good fun too. The T shirt was also good quality.
I hope this race becomes a regular fixture, and if it is repeated next year, maybe we can have a bigger club turn out there, maybe even make it some sort of unofficial club championship race?

[Ed Stevens]

I gotta admit it was the best goody bag I had in 4 years racing.

I didn't feel the need to read the rules, as I have done enough triathlons to know the ins and outs, or at least I thought. I am learning.

[gingerwizard]

Ed, it is a mistake a lot of us have made, thinking we didn't need to read the rules, only to find things different on the day to what we expect. Don't be too hard on yourself (or them) over it, one of those things, move on to the next race with an important lesson learnt.
What other races are you doing this year?