The following newsletter went out to all competitors of the 2019 Cotswold 113 today by email;

It’s race week….

Good afternoon all. I hope everyone’s well and getting ready (and probably restless) for Sunday’s race ?
We’re only a few days away, so I just wanted to drop everyone a quick email with a few final points and updates for the race on Sunday.
In this email, I’ll cover the following :

Get your bike booked in for some go faster oil
Weather forecast, lake temps and course condition
Rules and Regulations
Getting there on race morning
Marshals
Live results

Bike servicing and repair
I’m conscious that most of you turn up some absolutely immaculately prepared bikes for racing, but some of you also turn on less well looked after bikes and we’ve seen some proper nails in our transition over the years.
For this year’s Triathlons, we have Joe from VeloWorks offering pre-race servicing and providing our on-course mechanical race support.
During race weekend itself, VeloWorks are offering a pre race tune-up service throughout Saturdays registration period for £20 that can be booked in 30min slots by visiting their website www.veloworks.co.uk. On race morning, they will be located near transition to provide any last minute support before heading out onto the bike course in case anyone needs mechanical assistance to get back into T2.

Weather forecast, lake temps and course condition
The weather forecast for this weekend is looking like we might get some rain on Sunday, although if I was as good at organising races, as Weather men are at forecasting Weather, you’d be turning up to a picnic or rock concert on Sunday and not a triathlon.
However, given that it certainly feels a lot cooler outside today, I think it’s reasonable to assume we’re not going to have 25deg and Sunshine all day on Sunday. We could have 30deg or snow, but it’s certainly worth preparing for all eventualities and bringing some warmer bike kit to put in transition, just in case.
You’re always better to have it and not need it. than need it and not have it.
The lake temperature this morning was 19.6deg, and I’m not expecting it to vary much more than 1-2 deg from that before Sunday at most, so we’ll be well within the ‘Wetsuit Optional’ range of water temperatures.
The run course handles rain pretty well, and is made up of around 50% tarmac and 50% Lakeside Pathing. Some of the lakeside paths are compressed mud, which is under trees so doesn’t get muddy and wet though unless you get a few full days of rain. There are a few exposed roots for around 50m of the course, and if I was racing, I’d wear normal road running shoes.
Today, I have been out and spray painted any potholes on the bike course. The roads around here are generallly in really nice condition compared to the some other areas of the UK, but there are the occasional hole. Most notably, about 0.75 miles from the lake just before you get to an intersection. You’ll obviously be riding well outside the drafting distance on the bike, so should be able to easily spot them, but I have painted them all a nice shade of yellow and red today so they’re a bit easier to spot from a distance

You can now probably see why I work in events and not anything that involves artwork 🙂
We will have 3 motorbike support riders out on the course as well as the BTF moto Ref’s, and the support guys will have a few tubes and basic tools with them. However, please don’t rely on them, and ultimately it’s your responsibility to repair any punctures or mechanicals you might get. They will get to you eventually, but it could take a long time if they’re busy fixing other people’s bikes.
If you get a bigger bike issue, Joe from Veloworks will be at the bike course aid station with a full tool kit (Hammers, Duct tape and zip ties)

Rules and regulations
Sorry in advance for the rant, but this bit is very important
We are governed by the British Triathlon federation, and as such, use their rules for racing https://www.britishtriathlon.org/competitionrules
We are aware that we seem to have had in the past, some racers that want to come along and draft at our races as they think we’re lenient with it, and this is something we are going to make an effort stamp out.
The drafting rules are very clear (we will also have them on display in registration on Saturday), and if you are flaunting those rules to gain and advantage, we will be making examples of people and asking our moto ref’s to be particularly vigilant about penalising people if they feel it’s justified.
Also, we are very lucky to able to race in such a beautiful part of the countryside, but littering from cyclists is a big issue around here. There are circa 60 marshals on the bike course, and each of those will have a bin bag with them. You must not throw your litter anywhere on the course, and you will get ample opportunity to drop it near a marshal or at the aid station on the way around.
The roads are also very quiet around the lake, but invariably, you might encounter a car on the course or pulling off their driveway onto the course. They have as much right to use the roads as we do, so please ensure you give them plenty of space and do not be tempted to hurl abuse at them as they’re in your way or not going as fast as you’d like. We had a complaint from a vicar a couple of years back where he was driving to church in the morning, and got some grief from a competitor of ours and had a few bikes undertaking him. Needless to say, his language on the phone was pretty fruity for a man of cloth, but it’s not something that we will accept from our competitors and we most certainly do not want a repeat of that incident or anything like it.
If you are caught littering, or are in anyway rude or abusive to other road users, it will be a straight DQ without exception or appeal, and you’ll not be allowed to carry on in the race.
Sorry to be very strict on this, but one incident of this nature could see our permission to race in the area pulled for good, so we are going to be very strict on this on Sunday.

Getting there on race morning
The field you use on Saturday, when you come for registration, is the same one you use on Sunday morning.
As per our previous mail, there is a cash payment for parking, which is £2 for Saturday and £5 for Sunday. In order to speed the process up Sunday morning, please make sure you buy your Sunday parking ticket on Saturday. You can buy these in both the field when you pay on Saturday, or at registration.
It’s the one part of the race that really is a bottle neck, so please allow yourself plenty of time on Sunday to get parked up, and please make sure you park nice and tight to the car next to you in a neat and tidy fashion or we’ll quickly run out of space on the day.
The postcode for the race is GL7 6DF and it’s Waterland Outdoor pursuits, Spratsgate lane.

Marshals
We could still use a few more marshals on Sunday.
We have two shifts, which are
Bike 05:30-11:45ish
Run 07:30-13:45ish

Both start with a briefing in the race control tent at the above shift start times, and if you have anyone that can get involved, please get them to head to the briefing’s and get themselves signed in, kitted up and briefed, and we will welcome them in with open arms.

Live results
The link for the live results / tracker are is on our results page, which you can find at https://www.113events.com/cotswold-113/results/

Right, that’s going to be the last email you get from me before this weekend unless anything really urgent comes up
We hope you’re all looking forward to racing with us as much as we are to welcoming you to our start line
See you at registration on Saturday afternoon

Cheers
Graeme, Nicci and the 113 Events team
tel 07595 591612
graeme@113events.com