Club Duathlon champs anyone

[huw williams]

So. I've had a request to sort out a club Duathlon championship at the end of the seson and I like the idea. We have club champs in road racing, TTs, Track (when it isn't cancelled), hillclimbs (when they aren't cancelled) and various other sports and pastimes. As there are a number of decent multisport athletes in the club (no Andrew that doesn't include combined cycling and darts events) it might be a goer if enough people are interested.

So let's discuss it and see if there is sufficient interest. Personally I'd pay money to see Sylvain, Stuart, Paul H and others go at it over a run/bike/run course

Don't worry it'll be late enough in the year not to infringe on your regular Surrey League season's.

Among points for consideration are:
1) Should it be on the open road? If so I'm thinking the club RR champs course at Horne. Advantages - close to home, good HQ. Disadvantages - traffic
2) Should it be on a circuit? I'm thinking Hillingdon - advantages - good for spectators as you can see the action all the way round, easy to control, no traffic. Disadvantages - further away to get to.
3) Format - road racing or TT ie drafting allowed on the bike section or not?
4) Distances - If Hillingdon for example, I'm thinking in the area of two hours for the race which will be somehwere in the region of : 2 lap run, 20 lap bike, 2 lap run - but we'll amend this as appropriate

All ideas welcome - let's get the ball rolling. If there's enough interest I'll make it happen

[thePinkDreamMachine]

sounds AWESOME...

will input more later...

[Paul H]

Sounds like fun. I think the bike should be non-drafting otherwise the race will be all about the last run which would favour strong runners like Matt and myself.

[huw williams]

[quote="Paul H"]Sounds like fun. I think the bike should be non-drafting otherwise the race will be all about the last run which would favour strong runners like Matt and myself.

[mlocke]

I'd be up for this

However I disagree about the drafting rule.

I have never been to Hillingdon but would think that the likes of Paul & Stu would just ride away on the bike from everyone meaning at the start of the run there would already be big gaps if drafting were not allowed.

If drafting was allowed then those who are not quite as quick could try to cling on as long as possible. It would still be hard for people like me as hanging onto box hill is tough enough. Those quicker riders would have to ride harder to get away.

I think then there would still be a group to contest the run

Also is there no way to make it a tri and not du (i am getting better at swimming now :0) )
Locky

[huw williams]

Ah Mark, Mark, Mark...

If only you knew the can of worms that to this day splits the triathlon world over this very issue. We'll have to end up with majority opinion here I believe, based on how many riders put their hands up for the event, but let's debate it at least so people get an idea of the issues.

To my mind;

Run 1: Would greatly split the field due to differences in ability. But anyone going fast enough to open a significant gap on run 1 is going to compromise their performance on the bike. My thoughts are keep the 1st run short enough so that there are no massive gaps by the time people get on the bike.
Bike: Strong riders can make up a lot of time or open gaps here but again - if there was no drafting you'd have to seriously measure your effort or compromise your final run.
Run 2: We'll make it long enough so that anyone who's paced themselves better has enough time to come through and catch riders who went off too fast.
Also a longer final run might serve to make you think a bit harder about your speed on the bike section.
So possibly the format could be; run x laps, Bike x laps, run x + 50% laps

Anyone else's thoughts on this?

Regarding a club Triathlon - this would be very limited by being able to find a suitable course near water that you'd be brave enough to go into. So highly unlikely given the number of competiors/amount of work involved. A duathlon puts the event much more within the scope of a lot more riders (and saves the organiser a major headache)

[Paul H]

If drafting is allowed, as a strong runner my strategy would be the following:

Run1 - Just do enough to keep up with the front runners

Bike - sit in on the strong riders and do no work at the front

Run2 - run full bore

If drafting is not allowed, somebody like George and his one toe could gain a couple of minutes on the bike and might open a big enough gap to hobble over the run course and win. I think this would be better as we are a cycling club so most peoples strongest discipline would be the bike.

Dont mind the location.

Huw - how much does it cost to hire hillingdon? I might mention this to SLH.

[Dominic]

Non-drafting and on a circuit. The circuit then negates any issues about drafting that may arise from trying to keep your distance on an open road.

Might have to start running again to have a crack at this

[quote="Paul H"] If drafting is not allowed, somebody like George and his one toe could gain a couple of minutes on the bike and might open a big enough gap to hobble over the run course and win. I think this would be better as we are a cycling club so most peoples strongest discipline would be the bike.

Huw - how much does it cost to hire hillingdon? I might mention this to SLH.

[carl f]

I'd defo be up for this,great idea
I think it should be 2m-12m(12 laps if we can get hillingdon)-1m and non drafting
This will make it a nice quick sprint. A 2 hour+ duo is to much at the end of season
Oh and please don't make it 4th Oct!
Count me in please.....
Carl

[mlocke]

I more than accept the point about being a tri - would probably put a lot of potential people off and also location would be nightmare (kind of expected that point really)

Not totally in agreement about the drafting though but agree the majority rule should apply.

I am just thinking of the following scenario:

Take a 2 mile run, 10 mile TT & 4 mile run

Done individually my times would realistically be around 14 mins -- 31 mins -- 30 mins

My times above are based on being fresh and doing them individually, not one after another ala Brickin it!!

Now I have no idea how fast folks such as George & Stu run (leaving Paul H out of this as he does the lot of em quick i reckon) but I do know that they would do the ride (a 10 mile TT) several minutes quicker than me & I wouldnt imagine they are that much slower than me at running if at all!? Maybe they could correct me??

I do seem to recall Geroge getting down to the low 20 mins for a 10 last year??

That would be a lot of time to make up over the run.

Now (assuming the first run the group stayed together) if drafting were allowed then the faster runners/slower riders could try to hang on for dear life in the ride - then this would compromise their final run as they would have had to try so hard in the ride. The faster riders would have to try harder to get away in that section to compensate for the running.

For the fast runners/ fast riders we could always trip them up and push them off the bikes

[huw williams]

Hey no-one said it was gonna be easy to win this thing, we are after all trying to find a club champion. Anyway Stu will be sick by then and George only has one toe (allegedly) so I reckon you're on the podium with those splits Mark

[-Adam-]

Actually, I like the sound of this.

Obviously I wouldn't be a competitor!!

But If I can, I would be willing to marshal or something, if only just to watch you all running... hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

[Rob C]

Should be on circuit, easier to manage and open to younger members
Drafting should be allowed, the first run will open things up more then you'd imagine. I reckon Paul H and Matt C must be running sub 5 min miles for their efforts i.e. fast. Be surprised if more then a few people could cope with that pace. That said a shorter distance will encourage full on blood in your mouth running.

2-10-2 for distance. Nice and short without too much of an advantage to either runners or cyclists...

The second run will bring much viewing pleasure. Do GB's sell ACC crop tops or hot pants?

[Stu Merckx Man]

this sounds like a great idea. i would be well up for this.

im in favour of no drafting, as it is a championship after all !