RACE 30 - THE BRIDGE TRIATHLON - 26 June

So car packed (all except the Prostate Cancer shirt which needed a quick rinse and dry overnight), alarm set for 4am and an early night.  Up at the crack of dawn for a quick breakfast and then off around the South Circular to the A2 and out of the SE of London. Traffic unsurprisingly light so reached Dartford just after 5am. Fortunately I'd followed the race instructions and came off the M25 at junction 1a as the bike course for the event was actually on the dual-carriageway around Dartford so there was no access any other way. Quite a few competitors reached the registration area a bit flustered as they had been following sat-nav directions ~ which of course didn't take into account road closures.  



We parked up on one of the industrial estates service roads and made our way to transition to rack our bikes etc.  One thing quickly became apparent. A low lying estuarine area, adjacent to remnant marshes, with areas of standing water and shallow lakes, with a warm humid morning equates to one thing. Hoards of mosquitoes!  One thing I hadn't thought to pack was insect repellent ~ yet another lesson (painfully) learnt!

Found my pre-race cuppa and took some photos.  Longish views to the Dartford Crossing (more information at the end), pylons everywhere because dominating everything was the Littlebrook Power Station.  According to the information on Wikipedia it has the forth tallest chimney in Britain (215m or 715ft).  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Littlebrook_Power_Station )


The racing started at 6:30 with the first of three waves of Olympic distant triathletes (1500m swim, 40km bike and 10km run) while we were due to start at 7:25.  Wandering down to the start got chatting with fellow competitors along the lines of which races have you/are you doing; does the swim look awfully long to you? how many laps are we meant to do on the bike? .... and so on.


Got talking to a really nice guy about what exactly we were doing here in the middle of an industrial estate, early Sunday morning being feasted on by insects and soon to plunge into a rather muddy looking lake. We were given our race briefing at which point the race organiser dropped a couple of bombshells. He explained rather gleefully that the swim was actually 800m not 750 due the layout of the lake and the bike ride (as some of had gather from the fact that the 40km races were doing seven laps of the course while we were doing four) meant that the cycle was also long being actually nearer 24km long. That only left the run which he assured us was the right length though there were some highly sceptical glances. However without further ado we all slithered down the bank and into the lake with the mud/sediment (or at least I hope it was) squeezing up between my toes. At this point I wondered whether I should have strapped the blisters from yesterday, but knowing what happened last time I had decided not to.

Finding my natural position near the back I noticed that at least two of the men and one of the women hadn't bothered at all with wetsuits ~ a sure sign that the open water swims were getting warmer, comparatively that is.  Then it was off for a 800m ~ steady breast stroke as per usually, keeping pace with the slower front crawl swimmers.  It was actually quite enjoyable, the water though murky didn't give the impression of being dirty, the wave was a nice size so there wasn't much congestion around the turn buoys, the views were OK as you were low in the water you mainly saw reed-lined banks ~ all-in-all really not unpleasant!    



Then up a floating ramp with a helping hand from a marshal (no being bodily hauled out like last week) and a trot to transition.  On with the bike gear, not a lightning change in my case, and onto the bike.  The bike course as I'd mentioned was one half of a dual-carriageway with a number of roundabouts to negotiate.  The inclines were slight - merely a single change of gear down - making for potentially very fast times.  I'd been eye-balling some of the kit in the transition while waiting for the start of my race and there were some very serious speed machines.  After a lap I realised I was going roughly the same speed as a couple of others and a race ensued.  I'd take them on the inclines, one or other would take me on the roundabouts or flat sections.  I really got into this private race almost to the exclusion of all else until someone bellowed "you expletive cheating doubts on my legitimacy - stop expletive drafting!" 


Unfortunately I realised that is exactly what we had done in effect.  Under British Triathlon Federation (BFT) most amateur races are non-drafting and as I noted at the Lakeside race (number 28) you get penalised for doing so. The envelope as they call it, is 7m behind the cycle in front and 3m to the side.  The only time you are meant to go into this envelope is when you are overtaking.  We'd been cycling no more than 2m back from each other so effectively had been gaining an advantage. Needless to say I slowed and took the remaining laps a lot more carefully.  Another lesson learnt ~ it isn't a cycle race, it is a time trial and you shouldn't rely on others to pace yourself.


I must admit I found the whole incident upsetting and ignorance certainly isn't a defence as I knew the rules, I just got distracted. The whole thing preyed on my mind even after the run so I went and found a marshal and 'fessed.  I think he was a bit surprised but was very kind and understanding and agreed to get the race organiser so I could tell him.  If anything he was even kinder and more understanding, and explained that while I had been stupid, they didn't have race umpires out on the course as due to the number of cyclists it was actually impossible to apply the non-drafting rules rigidly.  Its a bit like driving along a motorway.  If you leave the distance you are meant to from the car in-front, someone will pull in, meaning that you are constantly having to slow to keep the right distance.  This isn't really feasible if you are trying to go as fast as you can. So while very appreciative of the sympathy and understanding received ~ certainly lesson learnt!

Back to the race, off the bike and into run gear.  The transition area was congested and I found  that the neighbouring competitor had inadvertently covered my running shoes and socks with his wet suit - result - wet shoes and socks.  So not a speedy change, dragging wet socks on isn't easy and I decided they were a necessity to protect my blisters.  By the time we started the run, the sun was out and it was getting pretty toasty.  The run route was basically along some of the estate - mainly in the areas where the estate construction was on hold so it wasn't the most photogenic. I think this is expressed quite well by the professional photographer (Sussex Sport Photography - who incidentally did the photography for race 29 amongst others) who wrote on his blog "For those of you interested and looking for your pictures from the latest Bridge Triathlon (which the web analytics says many of you are) - sorry but we agreed late on with John the race director not to cover the race, as all the others we have covered there haven't sold. As one person on tri-talk said last year - "It's on an industrial estate and not very pretty - why would I want a photo of that?" - so point taken. And - since last months has also not sold, (despite hiding the industrial estate) we would be silly to push the point." Which about sums it up. So a hot run which like the bike was quite congested with no idea whether you were passing or being passed by someone in your race or one of the earlier waves. At least on the run I couldn't be accused of cheating for drafting.  In actual fact there was one runner I started keeping pace with but after a stern talking to myself, upped the pace and found my pace and not someone else's.


Then after talking to the race director, packed the car and was off home.  Again pretty light traffic, well it was still before 10am.  So home again for shower, Sunday papers and some quality sofa time.


RESULT: 17th out of 71 in a time of 1:27:33


As its name suggests, Dartford was once a fording place over the River Darent where it crossed the road from London to the Kent coast. The River Darent is a Kentish tributary of the River Thames and its name is believed to be from a Celtic word meaning 'river where oak-trees grow'. North of Dartford the Darent receives the waters of the River Cray from the west as it passes through Dartford Marshes and Crayford Marshes, where it forms a boundary between Greater London and Kent.

Dartford Marshes are a fragment of marshland that once stretched all the way along the Thames estuary. What remains is a collection of arable fields, grazing land, motorcycle trails and scrubland criss-crossed by drainage ditches. Dartford Creek (River Darent) meets the River Thames and there are some mud flats exposed at low tide.


Quite a surprising selection of birds occur at this somewhat small area of degraded habitat, particularly during the spring and autumn migratory periods, although a good number of species winter here too. Breeding birds are restricted to mainly common species although Black Redstart and Peregrine Falcon have both bred at Littlebrook power station.

You can see from the image the lake we swam in (extreme left) and the dual carriageway we cycled on (bottom of picture). The buildings are finished but the gaps are still there.  The entrance to the tunnel with a park is visible to the left of the bridge.  The oil tanks are for the power station which is just off picture to the left. Historical background can be found ~ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dartford_Crossing 
Some interesting information about the bridge itself is at ~  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Elizabeth_II_Bridge For instance that on completion, the bridge was Europe's largest cable-supported bridge. As of 2010 by main span length it is the second largest cable-stayed bridge in the UK behind the Second Severn Crossing (6 m longer and opened in 1996) and the 44th largest cable-stayed bridge in the world.