Today the inaugural Lithgow Triathlon was held at the Lithgow City War Memorial Olympic Swimming Pool. I decided to compete in it in the event a few weeks ago when I was in Lithgow preparing my bedroom and looking after my cousin Emma & her friend Laura who came over from Scotland.
I did some preparation although I did not do much running. There were 3 divisions for the ride. Firstly there was the main event which involved a 400 metre Swim, 20 kilometer ride and a 5 kilometer run. The next was the Preliminary event – Which involved a 200 meter swim, 10 kilometer ride and a 3 kilometer run. and the Try a Try (for the Kids) which involved a 30 meter swim, 1 kilometer ride and a 500 meter run.
My decision to go in the Preliminary event was based on the idea that it was for people who wanted to have a go. I felt that the main event was going to be a difficult one to do straight off. The information was based on www.insanecycles.com.au/lithgowtri/Run.html
I have to say that I got back to Lithgow late last night from Ruth’s. I got up at 06:00 and got myself fed and watered. It had been raining the night before and it looked like it would be a toss up to see if the triathlon was going to go ahead. In the end I got myself ready and headed off to the pool. I took my running shoes (new cheap runners for the run), a towel and a bottle of sunscreen in a bag I got from Victoria Park Pool.
I got to the pool and registered. I got number 209. The organisers wrote it on my arms with a permanent marker. The event was nominally a local event but it took on a more competitive flavour when some riders from the Bathurst Triathlon Club turned up. I got some helpful advice from them when I set up my bike. There were some locals however. I met Joe McGuinness who was there with his wife. There was also a guy from the local mountain bike club who was both officiating for the Preliminary and Try a Tri event and competing in the main event.
I was a bit surprised when the Preliminary was held first. I had not kept up with the website and was not aware of this event being the first event. I got myself ready in a flash. I decided to swim in my nicks (I used the Bib nicks). I put on my sunscreen and arranged my towel, cycling and running shoes helmet and gloves on the bike and on the ground below it.
When we were directed to the starting area, I got a surprise as to the competition. I thought I would be competing with people like myself that were going to be giving the event a go, people with my fitness basically.
Instead I found that I was going to be competing with quite a few younger competitors people in their mid teens. I also competed with some older women. It became clear who was going to give me the most grief.
We had a lap around the pool which was marked out with bouys (yellow drums anchored to the pool floor at 4 places). We would then do the ride and then the run.
When I jumped into the pool for the start I got a pleasant surprise – the water was 27 degrees. We had to swim diagonally to one buoy and then anti-clockwise around the pool. When we started my lack of swimming prowess was obvious. I barely kept out of the way of the older women. I suspect that the triathletes who train regularly at Centennial Park would be rolling around laughing at us. The older women wound up doing backstroke and I did my best to keep going.
When the first transition came around. I just got a head of the old dears and was walking my Shogun Katana out to the road as they were fumbling with their helmets. I set off on a cracking pace with up the hill towards Sandford Avenue I turned into James St and went down Sandford avenue past the hockey fields where I had camped for the first night of the great escapade. We turned into Coalbrook Street and rode through to Geordie Street before turning onto Barton St for the ride back to the pool and around again for the final lap.
It was on this leg, I pegged back some of the people who had been ahead of me. Starting with a young guy on an MTB and then a guy with a tattoo on the small of his back, riding in a pair of board shorts, helmet gloves and a pair of runners. I did suffer the ignominy of being lapped by a younger rider who looked half my age.
When we finished the ride We had to dismount at a ramp before the racks where we had kept our bikes and our gear for the next transition. When we got back to the pool he was able to just leave his bike and gloves at the rack and begin his run, while I changed my shoes. For both of us and one of the old dears the run leg became a fast walk in the tradition of Cliff Young. I got a couple of cups of water from the SES drink station and brought up the rear for the finish at the pool.
It turns out I did better than what I expected finishing in a bit over 58 minutes. After I returned to pool I got myself sorted out for a rest. The Try a Try was held next and went quicker than those of us who did the preliminary. When that was all over I the main event riders came out to show us how it was really done. Particularly the Bathurst Triathlon team which dominated the event. They had some really good bikes and wore the triathlon gear made by netti.
There were also a good number of amateurs in the main event who kept them honest. I watched the ride with particular interest. There were a mixture of road bikes with aero bars and MTBs, with a hybrid and some ancient bikes in the mix. In it was a good day and a lot of fun was had.
