‘I turned up at Stowe School to see some of the most amazing sights, stunning buildings, perfect playing fields and blue skies.

The swim was good but the water was so dark that drafting was incredibly hard, I struggled to see the person in front. However, the two laps soon passed, then it got hard as I cramped getting out of my wetsuit, before an 800m run uphill to to the bikes, whilst carrying my wet wetsuit.

The bike was a long 60k undulating course, however the wind and the road surface made it feel almost alpine. The two laps passed and heading towards transition I saw a red flag and several emergency vehicles. An accident had closed the road, this required a 2.5k diversion. However I was so tired it took me several minutes to understand the instructions. As this bike ride came to a finish there was one last surprise – an evil short sharp climb, pure evil.

Then the run, I expected it to be hilly, but hadn’t prepared to run down hill, it’s bloody hard, worse than uphill! Strangely I was told the standard tri was a 3 lap run so I eased off, until I learnt it was actually only 2 then I finished as hard as I could. I finished 4th in AG and 13th male. As tough as it was it was an incredibly picturesque and beautiful race, for my first Olympic distance race it was a tough introduction, but I didn’t show weakness.’

As raced and reported by Tim Ferguson

A merry band of Viceroys boys headed to Grafham Lake for the Anglian Water Olympic Triathlon hosting the final 2014 European qualifier: Clarkie, Mark Yeoman, Peter Bell and Matt Storr. All triathletes pushed themselves to their limits, lining up against some of the best age groupers in the country trying to achieve the qualifying standard for the GB team at the Europeans in 2014.

The approach of Viceroys to the race was mixed:  Clarkie had considered not racing as he was still not feeling on top form  from the race the previous weekend, but thought he’d give it one more blast before the end the season; Peter went there with the intention of testing myself against a quality field and seeing just how much he’d need to improve to get to the GB qualifying standard; having limped home last  Saturday, Mark was under no illusions that only having ran 3x 5km in 5 week, a tough 10km was going to be too much for even him.

And so the race began: ‘ The race ended up being a test of how much I didn’t want to have my first DNF rather than how fast can I go and could  I finish in the top 3 in the 45-49 AG,’ explained Clarkie. ‘My swim went well,  I got some good advice from Mr Yeoman about the charge to the first buoy and keeping right as the wind would take a lot of swimmers off course.  I swam well, got lost on the last bouy as full sun in your face meant no one could see where they were going! But I came out the water in second place which was great for me, a PB for the distance.’ Meanwhile Peter was certainly not so happy, claiming a ‘Shockingly bad swim, and worse, I have no idea why. I took Mark’s advice about where to line up at the start and went fast at the gun. However, for some reason I struggled sighting the buoys and I spent a lot of time zig-zagging across the course. I was devastated when I came out the water, only to find my bike being one of the last still on the rack!’ Mark the Shark had a good swim and lead the way but the final buoy eluded him in the sun and he went off course, frustratingly losing the chance of setting the fastest swim. Continue reading →

Thorpe Park was the latest tri venue for Viceroys Tim, Simon C, Simon P, Lara, Jon , Kate, Suze and newest VTC member Ian Talbot, who had barely finished filling in his registration forms before being embraced by his new team members. An early and chaotic start for most (Lara just returned from a work trip to Germany where she didn’t sleep and wasn’t fed; Kate & Jon both forget their race belts; Ian was complaining of sore legs from Wednesday’s run…) actually meant all entered the face fairly relaxed after sharing woes with fellow Viceroys in transition.

The swim was predictabley cold, but what none of the Viceroys banked on was the huge amount of weed on the first 2 sides of the 750m swim route. This did not put off our 2 speediest Viceroys Tim and Simon Colvan though as they cut through the water in 14:30 and 14:57..

The bike course was flat, fast and familiar, which made everyone happy. Continue reading →

Viceroys new breed of ‘Super Cyclists’ race at weekends too – ditching the swimming and the running for pure speed, we tracked down Kevin Argent to find out  a little more about what cycle racing involves… and much is still a mystery. Although you may have asked, “What distance do you ride Kevin?” or, “How far was your race?” this remains an unknown as he just tells us about the adrenaline rushes and good bits from his weekend race at the Hillingdon/ Surrey closed course summer championships :

‘After last week’s reckless riding from other racers I wanted to make sure I was either in the break away or at least in the very front come the last 300 meters! So this week I stayed in the middle to front of the peloton for most of the hour only dropping back to talk to the other guys from Nunns London and talk “tactics” . When the hour came round I was feeling fresh and fast but found that I lost touch with the lead group so the best I could hope for was 5th? With the 5 lap board out it was all to play for and I sat inside the top 15 and played safe.   Continue reading →

Alan ‘Clarkie’ Clark has wowed his fellow Viceroys this season as he has took the club championship’s Vets’Swim, Vets Bike title and made it to the Euros –  amongst other accolades, but how did he do at Hyde Park, racing for his country against the best in the world?
‘Grand weekend away at the world finals.

When I first thought of having a crack at qualifying last year I thought I’d stand a good chance of getting a place and looking at previous results thought I’d do rather well if I got in. This proved to be totally misguided as every lycra clad 45 something in my age group clambered for a chance to race in GB spandex in front of their friends, family and any other random person who made the mistake of asking what they did in their spare time. Continue reading →

With all the action going on at Hyde Park this weekend, I looked to get away from it all. However, after a calf injury four weeks ago and no running, I was apprehensive about whether I should race. I headed to Kent to do race 6 of the Ocean Lake Sprint.

Whilst racking I got some looks – well my bike did. Then I saw a Hyde Park wrist band – he had raced the day before: 17.50 5km split – one to watch I thought. Then I saw Dan Sim – Mr Rapid and frustrated that he’d got a flat the day before also – suddenly this was a race and not test.

I hit the swim hard and had a good gap by the first buoy. I can into T1 with about 30seconds lead and sub 10min splash. Out onto the two lap course I was settled in and soon noticed that Dan was close and 3 & 4 where back some way. This was extended further by the end of the second lap as Dan and myself came back in. I kept him close on the first 1km but then eased back to ensure that my calf didn’t go pop. On the second lap only 9 bikes had been racked so I thought I’d better lap a couple for fun 🙂

I came home 2nd overall. Fastest swim, 2nd fastest bike and 3rd fastest run – one more race before winter – hopefully I can get a couple more miles in before Sunday. Ideal race next season for anyone looking to get into sprint triathlon in a relaxed and cheap race’

As raced and reported by Mark Yeoman

“Where History is Made,” is how its website’s proclamation – and 5 Viceroys –  Colin Hinsley, Alex Rothwell, Alan Harris, Alan Clarke, Deon Coetzee sustained a gruelling training and racing schedule to qualify for the ITU World Championships Final at Hyde Park over the days of 13-15th September.

Colin is our first Viceroys to tell us about his sprint tri: ‘I  had a wonderful day….  very  anxious to start, then getting even more nervous (I had to go for a 2km run  before the start to burn off the nerves).  The swim was great, mixed it up  in the middle of the wave, drafting from start to finish – the nicest compliment  of the day was from my wife “I told my friends…. you’d come out in the  middle  – but you popped out towards the front”.

As the rain fell  down, I jumped onto my bike and was making good headway until my aero bar broke  off on a speed bump.  I then spent the next 2 laps gripping on for dear  life around every corner – with one hand holding the brake and the other holding  two aero bars.  After another lengthy run through transition, I thought I  had better make up for the easier than normal bike leg.  I kicked on into  the run, feeling better than usual and drilled the first km.  From that  point on, thankfully, I was spurred on by friends (and others) cheering – which  was a huge boost.  It was a special moment to cross the line and then enjoy  the banter with all the other athletes in the finishing pen – despite the  drizzle. Continue reading →

Lara and Colette headed to Dorney for the Diamond Triathlon – an Olympic Distance Race -and battled it out together. The race started with drama for Colette, as she was just minutes away from missing it, still struggling to get her wet suit on as everyone entered the water! So, blood pressure through the roof and adrenaline pumping the race began…

Lara remembers: ‘I managed to hold onto Colette’s toes on the swim (literally sometimes – sorry Colette!) We exited in the first group other than one girl who was way out in front. I had a super fast transition and exited T1 second, despite falling over taking my wetsuit off and crashing into the barrier trying to get on my bike with calf cramp!’ Colette’s transition was much more leisurely as she calmed down from her dramatic start and a wide swim which had added a few extra metres to her 1500m.

So, on to the bike and 8 laps of Dorney Lake. Colette ‘felt all was going well until the wind got up and then bang, like cycling though treacle. Continue reading →