Horwich Tri 2020

Last weekend was my return to racing. On Saturday I took on a local 25 mile TT, followed by a 10 mile TT on Thursday. In both these events, I came away with the win. Great results but from limited field sizes of around 25 competitors.

With 250+ competitors, coming from all over the country - Horwich Tri marked a significant step up. Venue changes meant the event was being run as a 35km bike into a 7.7km trial run, with the start in a TT format.

Despite heavy showers overnight, race morning was mostly rain-free - but that didn’t make the road conditions any less treacherous (think slippery tarmac with streams of water crossing the road). After my recent collarbone break, I instantly decided that I would not be taking extra risks. Eyeing up my competitors, it was pretty noticeable many were at peak fitness, ready to let rip and on top of the line equipment. This was a real test.

When the clock struck 8:28 I was underway. To be honest, it surprised me just how rolling this bike course was. Less than 2 miles in and I was already climbing. In Time Trialling there is a saying “To go fast, minimise time going slowly”, this was certainly my approach to the day - going hard anytime the road pitched, then backing off as the momentum built up. The lack of seeding in the start order meant I was passing competitors the entire time without actually knowing where I stacked up in the true race. Ignoring one annoying mechanical with 5 km to transition, losing my front-mounted hydration system, The bike passed smoothly.

Helmet off, shoes on, down a KMC gel and out of transition.

So onto the real test; the run. This was going into the unknown. Sure, I’d been back running for a while, but at nothing above a steady pace in months.

To my amazement, the run legs felt ok. Even more than the bike, this was a hilly course. With a long slow climb to the top of Rivington Pike followed by a steep drop back to the finish. The route reversed would have suited me better but I would take this over a flat run any day of the week.

Annoyingly, it wasn't the leg that let me down but my navigation.

Around 2km into the run 6 paths came together and, with adrenaline pumping through my body, I saw a right turn sign so took the 1st exit. 20m later, I noticed the competitor I had been hunting down, was nowhere to be seen and my watch bleeped "off course". Spinning I saw another competitor following, I shouted "I think we are off course", but he assured me we were on course. This proved to be wrong. 300m later we hit a T junction without any signs insight. In a panic, I glanced at my watch again, it appeared that if we swung left we would meet the race further along. Luckily, this worked and 500m later we were back on track.

Some socially distanced cheering from the family got my head back in the game, over the Pike, safely down the decent and back into the finish tunnel.