Windsor Elite Triathlon: - Many thanks to Neil for this account of Windsor Elite Tri.
We were glad with a reasonable hour for the start of our race, with the 1st wave of the weekend off at 6.00am. Again, as usual with the elite waves, it took a while to get everyone in line, maybe some athletes are always looking for that edge on the swim start. Soon the swim strung out with one leader out the water with over 20secs lead with the rest to follow. Dave and I followed shortly after both coming out of the water in the top 10 with Dave one position in front of me.
Quick transitions and off onto the bike, Dave put his feet in his shoes straight away which cost him a few seconds, I hung on a mile or so, but we were both in the chase pack along with some strong athletes including the eventual winner, Steve Worthington, and Rich Allen.
A fast first 15 miles travelling 28-30mph on the flat soon saw us catch the front pack. The next few miles saw a few attacks but with little success, Dave and I took our spell at the front. I tried to give Dave a heads up with a few miles back to transition and then there was a slight break off the roundabout, I got myself towards the front and got on the back end, Dave just missed it taking a wide corner. The few seconds lead soon went as it was at the end of the bike leg, Dave and I were well positioned which is essential at Windsor due to having a small side pavement into transition.
I went out onto the run in about 5th just ahead of Rich Stannard and Marc Jenkins with Dave just behind. The run saw some fast pace stuff, the eventual winner being a slight shock. Dave and I finished well within the top half of 50 athletes. I finished in 1.56 in 15th and Dave 22nd in 2.00hrs.
A very strong field this year as on previous years I would of broke into the top 10 and top 15 for Dave. A great result for us both and valuable experience, an amazing debut at elite level for Dave.
