Hey All, I hope everyone’s well and not melting too much in this weather ?
Hopefully by now you’ve all had a good read through newsletters numbers 4 and 5 as these have all the info on the race
if not, you can find them here : FOUR and FIVE
We’re only 3 sleeps away from race weekend, and it’s looking like it’s going to be a scorcher, so in this instalment of the pre race emails, I’m going to cover the following :
Weather /Water temp
Briefing / Race info pack
Does your bike need some lovin’ or any kit you need
Results / tracker
Prize Giving
Beach and Country park access
Parking / Traffic update
Weather/Water temp
As you will have undoubtably felt over the last few weeks, it’s been bloody hot.
The forecast for the weekend is for it to get even hotter
There’s a few implications to this, not least, the Water temperature
We work in line with the BTF’s rules on Wetsuits, and when they’re optional or not allowed
The water has to be measured on race morning at 90mins before the start of the race, so for us, that’s 04:55 at three points around the course.
This morning, the Water temperature was around 21.4 and climbed to about 23 during the day, but will drop again overnight.
Over the next three days, it’s looking like it’s going to be very hot, although I still expect it to be below 24.6 on race morning barring any real sudden increases.
This realistically should put us in the ‘Wetsuit optional’ range, although I will keep everyone updated as the week goes on, and we’ll have a much better idea on Saturday at registration – I’ll also post updates on our facebook page so please give that a like or a follow.
However, even assuming we’re in the Optional range, I’d strongly recommend that you put some thought into whether you really do need to wear a full wetsuit or not, as even at 22 deg, that’s really quite warm and the insulation afforded by a Wetsuit can cook you in no time, which is a hard place to get back from for the rest of the race.
There are a couple of spots in the lake where you can stand up and take a break, and you’re welcome to do so. It’s also good practice to occasionally pull your wetsuit neck open at the front and flush some cooler water into it.
The bike course aid station is around 10-11 miles into the lap, so please ensure you have plenty of fluids on your bike to get you started to at least this distance.
Not everyone uses the aid stations at all, but be mindful that it’s a good chunk into the course and you’re going to be getting out the water very thirsty so will want drinks straight away from your bike.
The run course has a good amount of shade for about half of it, but some of it is quite open. We have three aid stations on the run course each lap, which are roughly equidistant. And we’ll try and set up some hose spray points too
Briefing / Race info pack
Although we have 2x non compulsory briefings on Saturday at 13:00 and 16:00, there is a compulsory video briefing where you get to see my face for radio talk you through the key safety points for the race. I’m starting to hate these videos as having worked in the heat at the lake all day today, I look battered. Anyway, please can you all make time to watch that before the weekend, and the link to that is HERE
Hopefully, by now you’ve all digested the race info pack. It not, you can find that HERE Does your bike need some lovin’ or any kit you need
Our friend Tim Lewington of Speedbub triathlon store will have a shop at the race this weekend, so if you need some last minute kit (ie a race belt, as people often forget to bring those for their race numbers)
I wouldn’t suggest ordering a brand new fancy TT bike to race on this weekend, but if you wanted one, they can sort it.
Speedhub will be offering last minute bike checkovers on the Saturday at the event cost will be £10, and checks will include:
Brake check: Make sure the brakes are working properly Make sure pads are OK and cables Tension.
Handlebars: Make sure handlebars are tight and safe includes aerobats and extensions and pads
Gears: Make sure gears are working
Tyres: Make sure tyres are safe and tyres pumped up
If you wanted to book your bike in with them for a check over, or order any parts for them to bring with them on Saturday, please drop Tim an email at speedhubuk@icloud.com Results / tracker
If you have family or freinds that want to track your progress over the weekend, our timing partners (DBMax) will have a live results tracker online on Sunday
Before the weekend, I will upload the link for that HERE
You can also access that straight after the race to see your own results, category positions etc.
Prize Giving
I think it’s important to explain why we don’t have a prize giving ceremony at our race first :
Our race, as I hope you’ve felt already, is aimed at everyone. There isn’t anywhere at the lake enough away from the finish line that we can hold it, and it’s super important to us that anyone still racing out there towards the later stages of the race doesn’t feel like the race has finished without them and that they’re an inconvenience or burden to the rest of us, as they’re really not
Subsequently, we don’t want people out on the run course on their, potentially first lap, and us looking like we’re wrapping up by having a prize giving. The alternative is that we hold the prize giving at 3pm, but as we found out when we did this before, most people don’t stick around for it, as the fastest athletes on the day had finished around 10:30, and it’s not fair to expect them to hang around for that long.
Therefore, although we do have some pretty cool trophies for our age groups (18-49 and 50+) 1/2/3 and for Aquabike, Relay and Bike/Run. we ask that if you have finished in a position to earn one of these, you come to the race HQ tent after the race and we can present them to you there. Don’t worry if not, as I will post them out in the next week or so
If you’re not sure if you’ve won one, speak to the race HQ or timing guys at the finish line and they can double check.
Beach and Country park access
The guys that run the beach and country park, are kind enough to let our spectators/competitors walk through the beach and country park to get to lake 32, which saves a walk down the side of a road.
However, it’s super important that anyone walking through does not try and use their facilities, largely the beach or the kids paddling area. The reason for this is that they have very strict health and safety regulations, and are only allowed a certain amount of paying customers that they will provide life guard and safety cover for. If our competitors or spectators try and use these areas, they will quickly go over their quota, and they (and subsequently me) will be a whole heap of trouble.
When you park in our car park, you will get a green wrist band from us that will allow you access through their gate, and to turn right and walk through their car park to lake 32 where our registration, start and finish is.
On Sunday, spectators will be allowed to spectate from alongside the run course that goes through the beach and country park, but must not under any circumstances go near their beach or kids play/paddling area please
Because of how busy the Beach and Country park is going to be on Sunday, we will not be giving wrist bands to any spectators arriving after 10am on that day, and they must walk along the road to the Lake 32 entrance.
If you are coming along as a family on Saturday, or you have spectators that are arriving after 10am (when the B&CP opens) it’s, of course, ok to book into their as a customer through their website and they can use all the facilities they want. It’s a cool place, and will also mean that your spectators can park literally right against our transition area. They charge around £20 for a car
If it’s not full already, it will be very soon, so it’d be worth booking in advance, and their website is https://www.cotswoldcountryparkandbeach.com/
Alternatively, they can park at Neighbridge Country park, which is a 10min walk to the lake, and has a pay and display carpark that costs about £3. It’s also on our run course, and where we host the main run aid station. The What3words for Neighbridge car park is: ///uniforms.hedge.saddens
Please ask them not to park in the residential area of Somerford Keynes, as this is a private road.
Parking reminder & Road closure update
Please be reminded that you will need to bring £5 cash for parking each day. It will make everyone’s life much quicker and easier if you’re able to buy Sunday’s parking pass on Saturday please. We will only sell Sunday parking passes to competitors, and spectators are first come first served on Sunday AM.
The carpark can hold around 670 cars, which is ample for all competitors and a good chunk of spectators, but with the weather looking very hot, we’re expecting a lot of spectators, so will fill up early. With that in mind, please see the above section on alternative parking locations should your spectators wish to come along later on.
For those of you coming from the North down the M5, please note that there are overnight closures on some sections of the A419 up to 6am, so allow yourself enough time to follow any diversions.
Parking is a field with a Single gated entrance, and as such, although our team will get you all parked as quickly as possible, you need to be realistic and expect a delay to get into the field and parked up. Please plan your arrival time accordingly
Right, that’s it from me for pre race emails
I’m going to be at the lake for the rest of this week, so will really only have decent access to my emails in the evening, so if you have any urgent questions, please just give me a call on 07595 591612
We’re looking forward to seeing you all this weekend, and hope you all enjoy the last few days of your taper before hitting the turbo button Sunday AM on our start line.
If anything changes between now and race day, I’ll get another email out to you all, but if not this will be the last one (which I’m sure many of you will be glad about)
Cheers and happy tapering
Graeme, Nicci and the 113 Events team
graeme@113events.com
07595 591612
