On Sunday 24th September, the annual ACT Duathlon Champs were held in the lovely (not!) area of Cotter/Uriarra.
A small bunch of dedicated (and yes crazy!) Tridents took to the start line for the 10/40/5 duathlon, hoping to blow out some winter cobwebs! (although mine were well and truly blown out over in Lausanne!!) For me, the motivation to race certainly wasn't there - particularly after Worlds champs, but I still wanted to give it a go. I would have regretted if I hadn't.
The weather gods were clearly not in our favour. After a week of sunshine, and 20 plus degree days, Sunday took a turn for the worse when I woke up to overcast skies, howling winds and sprinkling rain. I was so tempted to stay under the doona!! The registration and recovery tents took a smattering and were eventually pulled down because of the dangerous conditions as the morning went on.
At 8am, the females were to first to hit the 10km run followed by the men 30seconds later. The first run was done at a very comfortable pace with Kirra and I running together for the entire 10kms. At this point, the winds weren't too bad, but once we were out on the bike, the weather started to really change. The winds picked up significantly as we rode around the famous undulating Uriarra/Cotter loop. Kirra motored past me on the decent into Uriarra as we reached speeds close to 60km/hr. That then dropped right down to 12km/hr as we took a left turn and climbed out of Uriarra! I managed to keep Kirra in sight until Mt MacDonald where she started to pull away and I couldn't hold on. I guess some days work out, and some don't. The climb out of cotter was probably the worst bit of the ride. Although not real steep, it was certainly draining as you pushed along the never-ending up hill and wind! By the time I had entered T2, the winds were in full force and the last 5k run was a matter of trying not to go backwards or come to a complete halt! I had little idea how far behind Kirra I was, but I made an attempt to chase. I did make up some time, but in the end finished a minute or so behind. I was damn glad it was over as the weather was getting worse and worse by 10:30am! I felt sorry for those still riding (if they could possibly ride with such a cross wind along cotter road!)
The TACT AGM and presentations for age categories were cancelled because of the weather (thank golly!) so at least we didn't have to stand around too long post race.
Well done to the tridents who braved such crazy conditions! We took out the first 3 female placings (Kirra, me, Vicky) for a Tridents trifecta! :D Awesome stuff!
Hope everyone is going well and starting to prepare for some races in the next couple of months!
Shell :)