Hillingdon sprint, or my first DNF...

Last Sunday was the Hillingdon triathlon. A short race, not a sprint, but not an Olympic either, and in a strange swim - run - bike format. I was going to go flat out, just to push the legs, the lungs, the heart, and the machine, and it all worked out well until 2K from the end.

That race counting for the London league, I was hoping to push my old club (d3 triathlon) standings with my modest contribution. The field in those races is always very very strong, so it’s never for me a matter of attempting to win anything, but more to loose as little time as possible on the top guys.

I had a brilliant swim, and although I got kicked pretty hard in my teeth (someone out there must have a deep gash in on of his heels!), I managed something like 14 minutes for what was much more than the 600m announced! The following 6K run felt a breeze with very good sensations, hovering around the 4min/Km mark, taking almost 3 minutes out of Matthew of the club, whom I know usually matches me. The run across the field surprised me as once you were stuck behind someone, there was no way to pass them unless you fancied a trip in the nettles, but felt alright overall. T2 passed like a breeze and I didn’t seem to have lost a lot of time before being on my bike for what was going to be 25Km of pure time trial.

I had elected to use my old steed, my 2007 Focus variado, instead of my time trial bike (TT) as it rained hard the day before, and the race was on twisty roads, with some hard sharp climbs. It later proved that I could have ridden the TT, but I preferred the safe option. Pushing hard on the drops, I had good sensations, and I only wanted to see how hard I could go on a normal road bike. It was pretty fast!

That was until 1.5Km to go, after passing through Harefield village behind a damn slow bus that was taking up all the road. Well, I have nothing to complain about, we were on open roads and everyone was on the same conditions. But when the bus pulled over to a stop, I engaged the large chainring to floor it on the last 1.5K and… CRASH!

Not literally, but very close. When shifting to the big chainring, the chain went over it, dangling from the crank, and before I could do anything, bumps in the road sent it through the rear spokes, pulling with it the rear derailleur and locking the whole thing up. It turned out I can skid! Around 10m with the rear wheel locked was quite impressive and stayed upright. Fafing around with the chain, derailleur and wheel for about 5 minutes on the side of the road, I was trying to figure out how to keep everything in place to finish the race. I couldn’t find anyway for those to not swing around too much and risk to get through the wheel again.

With a very steep descent to come, and having had my last fast crash flash in front of my eyes while skidding, I wasn’t going to risk it.

At this point, and according to my garmin I had done 22.6Km in exactly 40min, I had 1.5K to go, which I would have covered around 2'40". I then would have had a 42'40 bike leg, and a 1h21'06" finish. I would have been 26th overall, and a full 7 minutes ahead of Ian, the first man from the club!

swim data

run data

bike data

Now, I’m not dwelling (too much) on my DNF, shit happens, and that’s part of the race (shame that it’s the club mechanic’s bike that brakes!!), but in retrospect, and having calmed down, I think I should have turned down the offer of the marshall to give me a ride back. I should have taken that chain and rear mech in my hands and walk if necessary, but I should have finished.

That’s a good lesson for the next races, and I’m glad for both the fact that it happened in a lesser race (compared to my iron challenge in October) and that I didn’t fall again.

My old Focus is now repaired and I can ride again, but I ruined a rear mech, hanger and a brand new conti GP4000…

Next time, I’ll walk!!

Snapped hanger

Skid patch