Sandman Tri - Race Report

Well, its now been 3 weeks since Helvellyn and I'm knackered.

The week after Helvellyn I decided to race Bala Olympic.  Maybe not the best idea, as I was still pretty sore and the highlight was while struggling to get out of my wet suit I tore the scab off my hand.  It was a fun race though and I got round in under 2 hours for 8th place.

The next week was Sandman Triathlon on Anglesy.  The second in the series after Slateman, I really wanted to do the race and have a go at winning it.  Most of the swelling had gone down and although painful the wounds on my hands were healing nicely.

Race day was the best Anglesy has to offer with gale force winds and heavy rain.  Always Aim High did a great job though of creating a great atmosphere in tough conditions and although a little rough they even managed to keep the swim by moving it to the far side of the bay much to all our delight.

It was a beach start with a run into the sea for an out and back course.  It went quicker than expected but I think that was down to the rough conditions making it interesting. I picked up the pace on the way back to the beach and was surprised to exit in the top 3 (very uncommon for me). 

A brisk 1k run up to transition I arrived to struggle out of my wetsuit and find everyone else piling in just behind me.  I exited t1 in third with Arthur Connell and we proceeded to push a pace to try and give us some room.

This is where I have to apologise to my mate Ben who I borrowed some Zipp 404's from.  Now when I said I would look after them I didn't realise I would be racing over speed bumps. I can happily confirm though that at 25mph the Zipps easily coped with the speed bumps although I can feed back Zipp could do with putting more flex in for the biggest bumps.

I rode with Arthur for the first 40k of the bike swapping the lead a few times before we turned back into the wind for the last 20k.  This is where he pushed on and I just couldn't keep with him.    the wind was blowing me all over the road so I rode in by myself until Chris Prior caught me just before the end of the bike.

 Arthur blitzing the bike

 

 

Chasing Arthur

 

Out onto the 10k trail run, finding Chris and myself running together chasing down Arthur.  I have ran a lot of miles with Chris and it was nice to have company (for the first 5k only though!)  We caught Arthur at around 4k and I then had to figure out the best time to drop Chris.  I managed to do this at the 6k point and it was just a case of keeping the pace going to the finish.

 

Crossing the line was great and a relief that the serious race season was over.  Chris followed in close behind with Arthur holding on for 3rd.

http://www.tdl.ltd.uk/race-results.php?event=1249

So that's it now.  Season over .... at last.   Time for a few beers now and to put on some winter pounds.

Sandman is due on Channel 4 on Sunday 28th October at 7.30am. 

Helvellyn Tri - Race Report

Well its done, and although not the most enjoyable race I've ever done it was the toughest.

On Saturday we travelled up to Glenridding after I earned some brownie points by plumbing in the new washing machine.  Its not quite a completed bathroom but got me in the good books for a while.

On arrival the village was buzzing with triathletes and every other car had bikes on the roof.  Its a big race in a small village and we had taken over!  A nice meal and a pint of the local brew that night and I got off to sleep pretty well.

Race morning and once racked met up with club mates Andy & Mig.  The Sun was just coming over the top of the mountains and starting to warm up the valley.  A perfect race day.

The 1600m swim went pretty well and the lake was a real beauty to swim in.  I came out the water in 16th (22 mins) and set about trying to make up places on the bike. 

As previously mentioned Nick at 69 had done a final fettle on the bike, even lending me and fitting the 28/11 cassette from his own bike.   The bike just felt perfect (not like when I set it up!) and I started taking back the places I lost on the swim at a steady rate. 

By half way I caught the leaders Chis Joyce and Jon Fletcher and decided to push on and try to build a gap on them to make the run a little easier.

Towards the end of the bike is The Struggle.  A 3k climb which ranges from 10 - 20%.  By the top you are bolloxed but there is a crowd of supporters lining the road cheering you on so you can't help but smile.

The Struggle - Its steep

Jon though was not that easy to drop and by the time I got back into transition I had only built a one minute lead on him, though, I had set the fastest bike split of the day.

Out onto the run and I had already made my mistake, it was a hot day and I had only drank 250mm out of my bottle on the bike.

The Run!

For anyone who did the race and thought - did the leaders run up here then the answer is no!  I lasted about half way up the first of the 2 major climbs before I admitted defeat and started to walk the steepest bits. 

It was at this point I spotted Jon about 200m behind me tracking me in.  .

The Squirrel Edge Climb

I told myself that if I could get to the top of the mountain without being caught I could still win it and bought myself a bit of false hope as I climbed up Squirrel edge still in the lead and started my decent hidden from his view by the cloud cover.

Unfortunately though as we descended beneath the clouds he caught sight of me and started to claw me in.  It was a race to the finish off the mountain with both of us throwing ourselves down the trail not wanting to put ourselves through all that effort to give up the win.

Jon was the first to fall with a 'light' tumble down the zig zags (a steep path which winds its way down the hillside).  He was up quickly and kept reducing the gap to catch me about 2 miles out from the finish.  In truth I think I did a pretty good job to hold him off for an hour and although he beat me fair and square, I made him work for it (it makes me feel better to think of it like this).

Shortly after he made the pass though Helvellyn showed me her teeth.  On a fast rocky section I clipped a rock and fell head first down the path.  It happened so quickly I just remember picking myself up looking down and suddenly thinking - this hurts.  A big flap of skin was hanging of my palm and my knees, thigh and shoulder were scuffed up. 

I hobbled the final 2 miles down the valley to the finish line by the lake.

So - overall a bloody tough race, well organised with a great atmsosphere. Just not to be taken lightly!

If you fancy this one next year - enjoy!

Oh - Andy unfortunately had a puncture on the bike and decided to save his legs for Bala next week. 

Hero of the day was Mig though.  He achieved his target of sub 6 hours but got dehydrated and had to stop the van to be violently ill on the way home.  Yes - it was one of those races!

Helvellyn 2 days to go......

So the legs have just recovered from Mondays fell run.  I'm not sure if anyone is interested but I have listed below my taper.  I try to reduce volume and keep intensity but being self coached you always question yourself.

Tuesday was a very slow lunch time run and washing the TT bike.

Wednesday evening was spent at the track on 16*400 reps (not the best for sore legs) and a steady swim.

Thursday was a rest day, with the evening spent stripping the tt bike down and not being able the put it back togther.  Rosie suggested taking it to Nick at 69 Cycles to fix it, but I had a male pride issue.  In the end I moved the 'workshop' into the kitchen, opened a bottle of red and sorted it.  Anything  but that embarrassing walk of shame where you take your bike in to get fixed properly!

Today I squeezed in a 10m ride at lunch at race pace to spin out the legs.

Tonight I picked up a pair of zipp 404s from Ben (a willing friend!) and took them over to Nick to fit a 28-11 rear cassette and some new TT tyres on.  I've ridden The Struggle on a 25 but in truth it will save the legs with the 28. 

I then rushed over to Christleton for a 30 minute swim (10 fast 200s ). 

Tomorrow I take Rosie away on her weekend to the lake district.  She suspects something is up but I'll wait until Saturday evening to mention the race. 




 

Helvellyn - 6 Days to go

Less than a week to go and I decided last night to abandon my bank holiday DIY Monday plans to run a fell race instead

This made utter sense as a 'sharpner' to me, however, Rosie (the better half) was a little disapointed that the bathroom is still not finished 11 months after starting.  Technically it has a bath, shower, toilet and sink so that's good enough for me, although she differs on this view.

The race was part of the Cilcairn village show and involved a run up and down Moel Fammou.  I took it steady over the first 1k and pushed on as we started to climb.  I managed to pull away and a thanks has to be said to Ian Houston from Wrexham Tri for shouting as I was going the wrong way.    By the top I had a decent lead and could concentrate on the practising the descent.

I'm a little worried my descending sucks but it felt pretty good and I held onto the lead to return to the village in first.

The video is at the top and thanks to a nice guy called Huw.

Black Cats and Walking Under Ladders

Only a quick blog as after a couple of bad luck races in June and July I've not been racing much. 

My A race for the season was Ellesmere with Deva thrown in the next week.  Both were thwarted on the bike with a puncture at Ellesmere Taking a new record of 15 minutes to fix and a gear problem at Deva causing a DNF.

Still could always be worse.

I'm currently just prepping for Helvellyn Tri next Sunday.  Its a hilly one which should suit me and although I worry I've not done enough training (work has been very busy) I'm sure it will come together on the day.

 

I know I'm running well and swimming ok, so it will be down to trying to not lose too much time on the bike. 

 

 

 

 

Bala Middle Distance Triathlon

Well I'm glad that is over.  If anyone ever hears me utter the words iron and man in the same sentence please just slap me!

Bala Middle is a step up in distance from what I normally do with a 2k swim 51 mile bike and 20k run and presented me with a whole host of things to worry about and try to learn.

Particularly

• Fuelling (apparently a pork pie on the bike is not advised)
• Pacing myself and not going off too fast (in defence I never go off too fast, I just finish slower than I intended)
• Coping with the weather

(Kenny's fuelling strategy was organic but lost him valuable time)

On race morning I travelled up with club mate Kenny and for once I drove.  Apparently when he suggested we share lifts to races this season he didn't mean he was going to be my personal chauffeur.  Its been nice though to have company at races, even if its Kenny ;-) and although snug in Rosie's T reg Micra, it was comfortable enough.

The weather was perfect and apart from a cold lake at 13C it was set for a great day.  The swim went well and rather then push hard, I held back slightly and sat on some ones toes opting to save my energy.  I must admit they were probably ready to hit me by the end of it as it was the same person for the whole 2k.  Sorry!

I came out the swim in just over 30 minutes in around 15th and headed out on the bike on a bit of a mission to make up some places.  My race strategy was to push hard on the hilly bike but make sure I slow to refuel at pre set points.  This went well and although I made it into 6th at one point on the bike I eased off with 10 miles to go to refuel and came in off the bike in 8th.

Out onto the run I felt pretty good and soon started catching people.  By mile 3 I was into 5th and feeling good.  Approaching the turn around point I clocked Oliver Milk coming back about a minute ahead and knew if i kept the pace going I would soon catch him.  5 miles from home I caught him and in a rather civilised manor we exchanged pleasantries before I pushed on.  In truth the wheels started to fall off soon after but I kept it going to the line to come 4th in 4 hours 8minutes.

So overall I was very happy.  I got the pacing pretty good and fuelling spot on. 

The only cock up was forgetting the sun tan lotion - some interesting tan lines!

P.S. Kenny had a good race to come in on 4 hours 44mins though club performance of the day was Carolyn Hume who knocked 30 minutes off her previous time.  It was actually a different bunch of faces to the Olympic races and made it nice to catch up with people afterwards.

Race Results
http://www.stuweb.co.uk/race/gp/

Slateman Triathlon

This weekend was the Llanberis Slateman Tri and (thanks to the organisers!) a hyped up defence of my win last year. Chris Standidge had entered again as well as Paul Mountford (just out of retirement) and some other good athletes so the pressure was on.

To add to this the organisers (Always Aim High) had done an amazing job of getting the event televised on Channel 4 (Sunday 3rd June @ 7.45am).  Now as an amateur this was all new to me and I had the added worry of not looking like a pleb in front of the camera.  Yes, I excel at looking like a pleb.

For the race I was convinced Chis was going to beat me.  Better athletes would have more confidence but I didn't.  I still saw my win last year as a fluke and had it in my head Chris was there to make a point. 

Race day was great weather and 750 of us were racing.  The atmosphere was really good and apart from a cold swim it was set to be a great race. 

First pleb move of the day was at the sign in desk where the lady politely asked me my race number (which I hadn't checked at the board at the start of the queue).  Back I went tail between my legs to check my number.  Bollocks, I was number 1.  A little embarrassed, I went back to the same lady who asked me my number again and I murmured number 1.  She looked at me confused (like I was an idiot) and before I explained I was an idiot and had struggled to remember the number '1'.

Next was a TV interview with which went well until club mate Andy gave me the Vs in the back ground and I lost my concentration.  That and I also hadn't had my pre race constitutional.  Smile at the interviewer , try and say something interesting/intelligent and try not to let one rip.  Does Ali Brownlee have this problem?

Shortly before the start they announced a reduction in the swim by 250m to 750m.  as a slower swimmer this was good news!

I was off in the first wave and decided to save getting in until the last moment.  My theory was it was cold and I was a wimp so I warmed up on the side.

Once in it wasn't too bad and apart from a bit of a bun fight in the first 200m I settled in with a group and sat on some toes.  Coming out of the swim I was in about 15th but being on a mission made up quite a few places climbing out and running into transition. 

A decent T1, I hit the road in 6th and about a minute down on Chris.  I quickly got down on the bars and into my race pace.  I couldn't see anyone ahead and for what turned out to be the only time in the race I was by myself.  About 2 miles into the ride you hit Penny Pass.  Its a 4k climb you grind out in the small chain ring.  Now this was pleb action number 2 - Check you don't have a 23-11 cassette on your disc when racing hilly welsh courses. Still I was feeling good and was flying up the climb funnily enough!

Half way up I had passed a couple of riders and was joined by the motorbike and camera man enthusiastically asking me if I was going to catch the others.  In a world of pain I muttered something about 'trying' before it zipped off to the front again. 
Up over the top I had caught 2nd & 3rd and could see Chris ahead.  I had a plan of trying to keep him in sight but to my surprise I was catching him.

Now this was a first for me and not something I expected.  I was so excited I nearly pooped myself when I passed him up the hill out of Capel Curig.  Nothing was said between us but that's racing.  We both wanted to win.

We swapped places for the rest of the ride enjoying the great support in the villages as we passed through before I managed to pull a small gap on him in the last few miles.

Coming into T1 was surreal with crowds clapping, the commentator getting excited and the camera bike following me in.  I don't think I will ever have an experience like that again..

A quick T2 and I was out onto the run only to find the same motorbike camera crew riding with me.  Up the zig zags I thought that would be the last I see of them but back they appeared again, this time on a quad bike! 

My legs seemed to feel more tired than last year which was probably down to the Chester Half  Marathon the week before but I pressed on unable to see if anyone was gaining behind.

Chris Standidge on the run

I needn't of worried though, as I crossed the finish line 4 minutes clear of second.  Chris unfortunately got caught on the run by Paul Mountford who had a cracking run to claim second spot. 

I haven't spoken to Chris yet but he didn't seem too happy.  In defence though He had just got married and spent 2 weeks on honeymoon so I don't think he was on full form. 

In the ladies race Beth Hughes from Chester Tri left it to the last minute to catch Rosemary Byde on the run. I race and train with her partner Chris and know Beth has put a lot of hard work in this year so it was nice to see her reap the rewards.

In fact I would declare the race as a successful English raid over the boarder by Chester Tri with loads of impressive results including Andrea Meagan as first female vet and Neil Thomas getting second in his age group in the sprint.

Next big race is Bala Middle in 2weeks where I'm hoping for a top 5.  69 Cycles have just got me a Rotor Q ring for the TT bike so it will be interesting to see what its like.

 So final thoughts for Slateman are

• The organisers put on a great race
• The marshals were all great - very vocal and encouraging.
• Chester Tri ruled the results!
• 69 Cycles should get on the TV
• I managed not to let one go in front of Annie Emmerson

The Great Bike Robbery of Otley

I've been struck by bike thieves before but never in front of my eyes.  This weekend was Chester Tri's club training weekend in Malham and the low light of the weekend was the attempted robbery of 4 bikes.

It was Saturday afternoon and 7 of us set off at 10am for a days riding.  45 miles in we stopped for our 2nd lunch stop (my kind of riding) in Otley, stacking our bikes up against the wall outside the cafe.

After 40 minutes we had eaten our lunch and discussing our route back when Jill left her seat to walk round the building to the outside loo at the back.  On returning from the loo Jill spotted 2 men picking up 2 bikes each and trying to jump on the back of 2 waiting scooters.

Jill screamed and ran after one of the thieves who was holding a bike on either arm sitting on the passenger seat of the scooter as it started to accelerate away.  Jill being Jill grabbed hold one of the bikes and refused to let go (I can understand why Andy is a quiet man...).  As the scooter accelerated the passenger was holding onto onto 2 bikes and the full weight of Jill being dragged along the road.  After a few meters though she had to let go as she only had so much skin to scrape off.

While this was going on the second guy was struggling to balance 2 bikes while trying to jump on the back of the other waiting scooter.  Thankfully a passing shaved head & tattooed goth (surreal)  was on hand to grab the bikes off the guy telling him "no you don't".  Brilliant!  Goths are great! He looked pretty scary and the thief panicked and fled with his accomplice on the scooter and no bikes.

While this happened the rest of us were sat in the cafe.  My seat meant I was looking out to where Jill was when she screamed.  Confused I could see her running and looked out the front window to see bike wheels in the air.  Unusual for me I twigged very quickly and jumped out of my seat and ran out the cafe shouting as I went, scaring the shit out of the old grannies supping their tea.  (N.B. - none had heart atacks luckily).

Out the door I found Jill in a heap on the road and the scooter racing away with 2 men on board and 2 bikes being held by the passenger.  I didn't stop and gave chase on foot in my cleats clip clotting at 4 minute mile pace ...... it can be done with the right motivation!  I made it 300m up the road before I gave up on chasing on foot. 

Looking around in a panic I started waving cars down, jumping in the back of a black Peugeot and shouted the coolest line ever "chase that bike!"  A life long ambition ticked.

Luckily the driver and his wife had seen the robbery happen and were up for a chase, so off we set down the road slowing to check side roads as we passed. 

The scooter was now long gone and after a mile we were approaching a major round about where it dawned on us all we would most likely loose the trail.  On the approach to the round about though, up a side road on our left I spotted a scooter rider sat on his bike and his passenger walking out of a garden. 

Screaming to stop I jumped out of the car and ran the 40m up the side road to the scooter.  10m off they spotted me (not hard to see in full lycra and cleats running at full speed) and the rider started to accelerate away while his passenger jumped on the back.  It was too late though and I was close enough to lunge and grab hold of the riders shoulders. 

I think they thought they were home free and must have had a hell of a shock with a cyclist clinging onto their back.  They protested their innocence as the scooter accelerated and as the scooter picked up speed I had to let go.  As they accelerated away I ran into the garden to find the 2 bikes hidden to be picked up later.

Within seconds 2 other cars turned up who had seen the theft and offered help to drive the bikes back to the cafe and reunite the bikes with their owners.  I couldn't help but smile as one of the bikes was Paul's brand new Raleigh which he had only picked up a couple of weeks ago and was absolutely smitten with.

The rest of the afternoon was spent in the police station as Jill got her injuries photographed (technically mooning the police officer - a first she said but none of us were convinced) and the rest of us drank tea.  The scooters were apparently stolen and I don't hold much hope of finding the culprits but you never know. 

So lessons learnt?

1. Always use a bike lock
2. Never make Jill angry .... scary.
3. Thieves - Never nick triathletes bikes ....... we are tenacious and can run!

Ryan Hall

Hope you find this Interesting.  Its a pretty good video explaining the theory behind running track sessions.

Out of interest Ryan Hall is one of the USA's fastest runners with a marathon PB of 2.04.58 and qualified for the London 2012 marathon earlier this year. 

Harlech Tri was abandoned today due to the bad weather.  A bit gutted but it was pretty bad out there and the smart thing to do.  Still had a good pub lunch in The Lion Hotel with friends so not all bad.

Chirk Triathlon

Well, that's the first tri of the season under the belt and what a cracking day it was.

We had a massive turn out from Chester Tri with over 70 racing from the club.  With so many friendly faces it was great to see everyone racing to achieve their own personal goals.

My target for the day was to be as close to Chris Standidge and Paul Hawkins as possible and break the hour.  With Paul setting off 3 minutes behind me I knew this meant making sure he was not ahead by the finish line.  Simples!

The swim went well, a bit too well, as I exited the 400m with Hamish, Aaron and Dan just ahead.  Now these guys are fast swimmers (sub 5 minutes) and something should have twigged - I was pulled out at 350m not 400.

Photo courtesy of Sport Pictures Cymru

http://www.sportpicturescymru.co.uk/chirktri2012.html

In and out of T1 fast (that transition training paying off) I only had Dan Craigen ahead down the road and set about tracking him in which I did at the bottom of the hill.  The bike went well and by the turn around I had pulled some distance on Hamish and Dan but could also see Paul working his way through the riders behind me.  Head down on the return and I made it back into T2 without being caught by Paul.
I had a quick transition and out onto the run.  With only 400m of flat on the run its my kind of course and I was soon probably the only competitor enjoying myself. 

I crossed the line in 59.02 and a rapture of fire over my swim split (it was only at this point I twigged but looking back it was clear I had only done 350).  I offered to fes up but everyone already knew!  As it wasn't my fault 44 seconds was added to my swim and I even kept my third place - Everyone happy.

The Top 10

446

Paul

Hawkins

Starley Bikes

Male

Senior

118

00:04:55

6

00:35:12

4

00:16:48

5

00:56:55

1

MS

449

Chris

Standidge

Chester Tri

Male

Senior

119

00:04:58

8

00:35:43

5

00:17:07

7

00:57:48

2

MS

441

Peter

Brook

Sixty Nine Cycles

Male

Senior

117

00:05:44

28

00:37:41

11

00:16:22

3

00:59:47

3

MS

143

Liam

Lloyd

WelshTriathlon

Male

Senior

38

00:05:00

10

00:38:55

17

00:16:20

2

01:00:15

4

MJ

146

Iestyn

Harrett

WelshTriathlon

Male

Senior

39

00:04:49

2

00:39:40

22

00:16:46

4

01:01:15

5

MJ

412

Mark

Russell

Bolton Triathlon Club

Male

Over40

109

00:05:54

35

00:38:20

12

00:17:12

8

01:01:26

6

MV

430

Arthur

Connell

revolution bikes

Male

Senior

114

00:06:11

44

00:37:01

7

00:18:18

12

01:01:30

7

MS

422

Paul

Carmichael

Chester Tri

Male

Over40

112

00:06:10

42

00:37:28

8

00:18:32

15

01:02:10

8

MV

437

Jimmy

Kershaw

ootri

Male

U18

116

00:04:59

9

00:41:04

31

00:16:49

6

01:02:52

9

MY

443

Hamish

Shaw

Knutsford Tri club

Male

Senior

117

00:05:00

11

00:37:29

9

00:20:35

52

01:03:04

10

MS

http://www.wrecsamtri.org.uk/documents/RaceResults2012/Chirk2012results.htm

Back to the others in the club though, the best parts of the day were,

1. Les nipping out to watch the grand national the day before and returning 10 pints and a curry later.  He seemed to be confused why he struggled on race day.  I eventually got him to admit the beers might have impacted his performance after the race.
2. Rob Monk - Was really impressed with Robs times, he moves well for an oldy with a dodgy ticker.
3. Jimmy Kershaw from OOTri who was caught by Paul Hawkins at the end of the bike but dug deep and stuck with him for the entire run posting one of the fastest run times - and he's not even 18. 
4. Chester Tri's ladies. Dominique and Beth claiming 1st & 2nd with Linda 1st over 50. 

So a good start top the Tri season.  Next up is Harlech Tri and Chester half marathon, but the big one is Slateman Tri in May which is now being televised.  Will be putting some extra hard hill sessions in prep for that one!

Finally - Liverpool Half Marathon 'Monster brick' went well last month, 1h 15m 4s in windy conditions, so happy with that.  Even got to cycle through the Mersey Tunnel both ways.  The knee is also on the mend.  I can still feel it but its nearly there.

Pete

Bottom Brackets......... A dummy's guide.

BB30 vs English 68mm or perhaps BB90?????

I'm sure the bike companies keep it as complicated as possible to keep us from truly understanding whats going on.  So this is my simpler version.  Detailed enough so you can blag it down the pub, but not be so boring people call you Alan Cronin.

The fundamentals
The bottom bracket is the mechanism which sits in your frame and connects your crank arms together. It is made up of a spindle which connects your crank arms and a bearing at each of it to allow it to spin freely in your frame.  Every bike has one and in general the stiffer and lighter the better.

English 68mm

The original bottom bracket before it all got silly.  It was called 68mm as that's the width of the bracket that sat in the frame.  A couple of design points on the  picture above to note are the square spindle and the small diameter bearings which screwed and sat internally in the frame. The whole thing sat in the frame with just the square spindle poking out.

English 68mm - V2

This is where Shimano did their stuff (as well as others).  3 big steps forward were made.

1. The spindle moved from a square taper to Shimano's Octalink system which used splines creating a closer more secure fit. Shimano patented this system but other manufacturers got around this by creating their own shared version called Isis.
2. They moved the bearings to sit outside of the frame.  This allowed larger diameter bearings and lengthened the width of the bracket to over 90mm (but its still called 68mm as it fits a 68mm hole)  This all made for a stiffer bracket
3. By moving the bearings out of the frame, the spindle diameter could increase to 24mm.  Because of this increase the spindle became a hollow tube and thus lighter.

BB30

Originally a Cannondale design the BB30 refers a 30mm diameter crank and thus larger bearings. If you remember from above Shimano's Hollotech 2 crank is only 24mm. 
The big differences are;

1. The larger crank and bearings are stiffer (better power transfer through the pedals).
2. The frame's bottom bracket has a wider diameter to allow the over size bearings be pressed directly inside the frame and thus be narrower.

BB90
The latest innovation by Trek  So if your still with me, you would make the common sense assumption that if a BB30 refers to a 30mm diameter spindle then a BB90 will mean a 90mm diameter spindle?  Of course not!  The 90 now refers to the width of the frame. Trek has simply taken a 68mm bracket with the extra 11mm external bearings on each end and widened the frame width from 68mm to 90mm to swallow up the bearings.  (68mm + 11mm + 11mm = 90mm).

The theory is that by beefing up and widening the frame around the bracket from a 68mm width to 90mm they can attain a new level of stiffness.  The bearings are again just pressed into the frame.

So that's it!  Hope it was useful.

Dambuster Duathlon

Last weekend saw me packing up my kit and heading over to Rutland for the British Age Group Duathlon Champs.  A friend Kerry kindly offered me accommodation with her boyfriend Will the night before, which was perfect as they only live a few miles from the start. 

So race day arrived seeing 600 athletes racing over 10k run, 40k bike and a 5k run.

Firstly my learning's (excuses) from this race

1. If a race has British Champs in the title then it will be competitive.
2. My 10 hours of weekly swimming over winter didn't help my biking.
3. Duathlon is nasty and hard.
4. Who is race ready at the begining of March?

The first run around the lake was crazy, I ran a 33.43 10k and only logged the 20th fastest run, over a minute slower than the fastest. 

Then came the bike where I acted as a mobile chicane for the rest of the field......... it was pretty depressing stuff as slower runners just kept on filing past.  Although from this vantage point I got a great view of all the drafting being done!  Why do people cheat?  Very annoying.  I clocked a 1h 11m bike averaging 21mph.

By the final run I was out of the top 40 and had lost a little heart.  Still I saw it as a good training session and headed out to get my moneys worth (cheap skate!).  Back running I cheered up a bit and clocked the 11th fastest run completing the 4.6k (it was short) in 16.18 to come in 34th overall.

So although not the race I hoped for, it was a good stake in the ground and really bought it home that I have a lot of work to do on the bike before the tri season starts next month with Chirk.

Tomorrow is a monster brick session with a cycle on the TT bike to Liverpool to race Liverpool half marathon.  I'm starting my build period in my run up to peak in June so lots of tough days like this to come.

When Les (my old house mate) came to stay this weekend I was nicely suprised he had bought me Chrissie Wellington's new book as a present.

Even nicer (if you click on the photo) was the signed message to me from Chrissie...................

Unbelievable.  Got to admire the effort though!

Blackpool Masters 1500m Swim

Although I had a great season last year, I had a review of my times and decided if I wanted get faster the swim was an 'easy' place to make an time up.

So since my last Tri in September I've been swimming 5-6 days a week in an attempt to strengthen my biggest weakness.  'Easy' it hasn't been but after 5 months the culmination of this was the 1500m North West Masters champs in Blackpool on Sunday.  A proper swim meet with proper swimmers and unfortunately no running involved.

So at 7am I rolled out into the car and headed off (the usual 30 minutes late) for the swim meet. After red lining Rosie's Micra up the M6 I arrived just in time to meet up with Chris, Toby, Tracy and Les from Chester Ti who were all racing the 1500 as well. 

If you haven't raced in a swim meet before it involves a 45 minute open pool warm up followed by hours of waiting where you cool down again!  I have to say the Blackpool pool was the best indoor 25m pool I've swam in.  The floor at the shallow end of the pool is hydraulic and lowered for the day with timing mats hanging over the end of each lane to automatically record the time of each 50.  Very cool. (I'm easily impressed)

There were 6 heats with the slowest first, I was snuck into the the 5th heat racing against 7 other swimmers with predicted times of between 19m 59s to 22minutes.  I was targeting sub 21 minutes which meant I had to average under 1 minute 24 seconds per 100m.

My race soon came around and before I new it I was on the blocks being told to take my mark.  An electronic buzzer fired and we were off.  60 lengths to go.  Chris Malpas had advised me just before the start not to swim the first 100 too fast so I purposefully held back to find myself in last place at 100m.  Turns out I had it spot on and I actually swam 1:17 for the first 100 which was faster than I thought.  I then settled into 1.25 100s for the next 600m.  By 300m I had caught up a couple of slower swimmers who had gone off too fast and had nicely settled into my pace. 

One of my worries before the race was loosing count of which length I was on but I needn't of worried as at the end of every 50 a card was turned counting down from 60 to 0.

By 700m I felt I had broken the back of the race and picked up the pace.  It was one of those funny increases in pace where you put in more effort but as your more tired it equals out at the same time!  It did the job though and my 100m times dipped below the 1.25 mark.  (not that I had a clue at the time).  With 100m to go I started sprinting and as I hit the timing pad for the last time I looked up the see 20.56. Job done.

Splits are below.  Looking back I think I got the pacing spot on.

DISTANCE	TIME	50 SPLIT	100M SPLIT
50	37.72
100	01:17.9	40.15	01:17.9
150	01:59.7	00:41.8
200	02:40.9	00:41.2	01:23.0
250	03:22.5	00:41.6
300	04:04.5	00:42.0	01:23.7
350	04:47.3	00:42.8
400	05:29.6	00:42.3	01:25.1
450	06:12.1	00:42.4
500	06:54.7	00:42.6	01:25.0
550	07:37.7	00:43.0
600	08:19.6	00:41.9	01:25.0
650	09:01.8	00:42.2
700	09:44.6	00:42.8	01:25.0
750	10:26.2	00:41.6
800	11:08.4	00:42.2	01:23.7
850	11:50.3	00:41.9
900	12:32.6	00:42.3	01:24.2
950	13:15.1	00:42.6
1000	13:57.1	00:41.9	01:24.5
1050	14:39.6	00:42.5
1100	15:22.2	00:42.6	01:25.2
1150	16:04.4	00:42.2
1200	16:46.4	00:42.0	01:24.2
1250	17:28.9	00:42.5
1300	18:11.3	00:42.4	01:24.9
1350	18:53.3	00:42.0
1400	19:35.8	00:42.5	01:24.5
1450	20:17.2	00:41.4
1500	20:56.9	00:39.7	01:21.1

Next up is Dambuster duathlon in 2 weeks so I'm currently throwing in some last minute panick biking but I'll talk about that another time.