The following newsletter went out to all Cotswold Classic 2019 competitors tonight :
59hours to go….
Good evening all
This is the last instalment of our pre race emails, so we hope you’re all feeling good and ready for racing on Sunday
In this final mail, I’m going to cover the following :
Forecast, course condition and preparation
Water Temperature
Race weekend Supplies and Support
Fitting your timing chip
Results and tracker
Forecast, course condition and preparation
If you’re anything like me, you’ll be checking 5 different weather apps, and only believing the best one.
The BBC are showing that we’re going to have a largely dry day with little wind:
However, it does look like we’re likely to get some rain on Saturday evening.
With this in mind, it’s worth reminding you all that the transition area is on grass, and not only is it likely to be wet with overnight dew, but there’s a chance that i could be wet with rain.
The BTF rules, and our rules, don’t allow plastic boxes in transition, so what I would recommend to you all is that you bring a large plastic bag (Bin bag, large shopping bag etc) to lay your stuff on top of, or if it looks like it might rain, keep your stuff in so it keeps dry. Having raced on a wet day myself and not used this system, I can tell you from quite bitter experience, that coming in from the bike and having to pour the water out your run shoes before taking on a half marathon is really not a massive amount of fun.
I went out yesterday and marked all the potholes we could find on the bike course with Neon Pink Paint as below, from which you will note the reason I organise events and not anything that involves Art 🙂
The bike course, on the whole, is in quite decent condition compared to most of the UK roads, but there are a couple of spots of note where you really need to keep your eyes open. They are in Kempsford at around mile 12 and about half a mile later at mile 12.5. Both sections are literally only 20-30 foot long, but are littered with small potholes or imperfections (and a lot of pink paint now), so please just slow down for those short sections and navigate your way through. I appreciate we all ride on British roads, so are well used to poor roads and potholes, but I just wanted to make everyone aware of these sections so it doesn’t ruin anyones day. Like you would on any UK ride, just keep your eyes pealed incase I’ve missed any.
Ultimately, you, as competitors, are responsible for fixing your own mechanical issues on course, but in the case of an emergency, we will have 3 motorcycle support riders, who will have some spare tubes and basic kit with them. Please don’t rely on them though, as they could be some time to get to you if they’re helping out somewhere else on the course.
We have a Bike Mechanic on site Saturday to do some last minute check overs too, which I’ll cover later in this email
Water Temperature
Although the forecast for this week has been for cloud and rain, it’s actually been pretty hot down the lake all week (as the colour of my forehead will prove), so the water temperature is starting to creep up again – Tonight, it was 22.8deg.
We’re not out the woods yet when it comes to wetsuits or not, so please ensure you bring kit for both options with you
Although we have to make the ‘official call’ at 5am Sunday morning, We will have a very good idea of how it’s looking when I measure it 5am on Saturday morning, and we will show that in registration, and I’m still pretty confident that we’ll be in the ‘Wetsuit optional’ range, but just in case bring your alternative options for swimming without.
If you’re unsure of the rules and regulations around a non wetsuit swim, please see my email last week with info :
https://www.113events.com/cotswold-classic-2019-pre-race-email/
You’ll have to excuse the fact fact that my spellcheck changed ‘Buoyancy shorts’ to ‘Bouncy shorts’, but I actually prefer the latter.
Also, if it is a non wetsuit swim (I still don’t think it will be), for clarification, I have spoken with the BTF to confirm the rule this week, and you are not allowed to wear a swim skin, or anything on your legs below the knees or on your arms below the elbows, and anything that contains neoprene (ie ‘Bouncy’ shorts) are also banned, sorry
Raceweek Supplies and Support
We will have Joe from Veloworks with us all weekend, who is a super good bike mechanic, and is offering a pre race check over or any repairs you might need doing before the race – He’s also at the bike course Aid station during the race incase you have a problem too big for the moto support guys
You can book slots with Joe on Saturday for any of his bike services through service@veloworks.co.uk or check his website on the below image:
We will also have Tim and his team from Speedhub Triathlon shop, who will have all the last minute stuff you need, and some really cool stuff that you probably don’t need, but almost certainly want.
If you want to preorder any stuff before the weekend, drop him a mail at speedhubuk@icloud.com
Or visit his site on the below image
Fitting your timing chip
There has become a recent trend that we’ve seen of people that are not fitting their timing chips to the chip strap properly, which can result in a lost chip and a whole load of hassle for our timing guys to go back through hours of camera footage to make sure you that all get the right times.
With that in mind, our timing Supplier DBMAX have provided us with a nice video on how to do it properly :
https://youtu.be/zdlquSMoxwc
When you fit your timing chip strap to your left ankle, you must wear either below or under your wetsuit, and please be careful not to pull it off in transition when you pull your wetsuit down from your legs.
Results and tracker
DBmax will also be providing all our timing for the weekend, and have a live update system for our results
It’s not a tracker as such, in that you can’t see exact location, but it does update ‘live’ within seconds of the time you get out the water, go into transition, leave transition, complete bike lap 1 etc etc, so will give your spectators/fan club/cheering squad a good idea of when to expect you and where.
You can find it on our results page at https://www.113events.com/cotswold-classic/results/
Right, that’s it from me now and this is the last email you’ll get from me before the weekend (Unless I’ve forgotten something?), so we look forward to seeing you all in registration on Saturday afternoon, and hope you’re not getting too stressed about getting kit ready for Sunday
I’ll be picking my emails up tomorrow night as I’ll be at the lake all day, so if you need anything from me or there’s anything I can help with, please just call me – It’s what I’m here for
Lastly, and probably most importantly, you’re all racing to have fun, so don’t forget that part as enjoying it is the most important part of the day, and exactly what myself and my team are here to help you achieve.
Cheers
Graeme, Nicci and the 113 Events team
tel 07595 591612
Email graeme@113events.com
