Almost finished. Mike M swim 1hr, Turbo 5:15 bike including a stint on front of the pro peleton. Still running and currently in 3rd. Roy and Simon are fighting it out and of the bike in just under 6 on the bike. Kelda flying and smiling alot on the run now and looking good for a high 10

Provisional results show Kelda coming in at 10:57 and winning her age group, nice work!

Results for Barca

Relay team: 9:54
Kelda: 10:57
Simon Covell: 11:55
Roy: 12:36

Hi Folks

Yes, indeed I did win my age group and duly got to stand on the stage and be awarded a nice piece of glassware resplendant in my RAF Tri cycle top (in a sweltering hot hall but hopefully the picture will be worth it!).

Quite an adventure really, had a last minute tube change before swim start which meant not spending the time queueing for the loo which had reperscussions later on ... solid swim with difficult navigation; too few buoys and safety boats really, and very, very salty!

The first hour of the bike was uncomfortable waiting for the advertised WC to make its appearance at an aid station, one finally appeared at 36ks! Anyhow, once I'd waited for some local to finish I lost about 5 minutes all told but went much better thereafter . Posted a 5:45 which was a good 15 minutes up on Roth but only really accounted for the lost time on the swim.

The weather all day was clear blue skies little wind and high 20s by the time I hit the run it was el scorchio on the 4 lap, pan flat exposed coastal road. Went through half in 1:47 nicely on schedule but the wheels feel off a bit on the second half as the wind got up and the heat took it's toll. Finished in 3:49 and 10:57:02. Given Roth is 1.5 miles short on the bike and a k short on the run a pretty similar peformance I guess. Really pleased I was 20th overall and the 6th fastest age grouper. My new steed was just AWESOME, joined the ranks of super-bling I'm afraid. Mick and I don't think we've ever seen so much bling at one race but the funny thing is at least half have the most c**p bike positions! Had forgotten quite what an Alpha Male event IM distance racing is!

Still have things to learn from so reckon I can get nearer 10:30 if all goes according to plan ... may be Challenge Copenhagen next August

Now some down time, still beautifully warm and sunny out here, no planned training till November 1, yipee!

K

Bling bike not automatically putting the athlete in the top half of the race............I am shocked. Not.

Congratulations to all finishers, and especially you for the win Kelda. Sounds like it went to plan and all came together at the right time, well done!

A little under 5 hours 20 minutes is way off what I hoped for, but there is a very good story. I'll try and keep it brief.

At the start of the bike there is 3km of narrow, twisty turny road before you hit the main road and start the laps. After a few km of my first lap the pro pace line, consisting of the pros in (I think) 2nd to 7th or 8th places, came past me on their 2nd lap. I'm not sure what came over me but I tagged on the end of them and then had THE most amazing cycling experience of my life. I stayed with them for over 30km, including taking my turn on the front of the pace line (lets hope there are some good photos!) and after an hour my average speed was over 40kmh. Even after I was dropped and settled back into my target pace I still went through 69km at an average speed of 38.5kmh. Needless to say I ran out of energy and had the most painful 30km between 135 and 165kms when I could barely manage 24kmh before the re-fuelling process kicked in and I finished like a man posessed.

A full report will be on my blog but every time I think of QCB I'm grinning like a Cheshire Cat; it was THAT good. Respect to all finishers; there was some very poorly looking people at the end (including Simon and Roy). Mike was brilliant; after his swim he was out on the course supporting like a maniac and helped out with the changeover in T2. Ant also suffered from pacing problems on the run; at halfway he was on for sub 3-hours but eventually finished in 3:32. The team finished in under 10 but there is plenty more to come. On A Limb was also supporting noisily; it was all very much appreciated. Thanks!

Anyone fancy making up a relay team in 2010 at either Copenhagen or Barcelona?

Mmmmmmm Relay.

Check out the link for Graeme Stewart's race report.

http://www.totalracingint.com/that-was-challenge-barcelona

Those of you who visit Tri Talk might recognise the user name mentioned in para 4!

Pesky Sith

Mark eventually you will give in and join the dark side.

Runner needed for the Outlaw, has your name all over a good time and plenty of time to pull out with a girly injury as well!

Ah you know me so well

I realised today that I knocked over 2 minutes off my 25 mile TT PB on the first part of the QCB course. Not really surprising that my legs fell off later!

Can't count that time T Man!! The 'pace line' thing discounts any claim on a TT PB

I've decided that I would really like to go back to Barcelona next year and do a proper job on that course (proper as in around 4 hours 50 minutes).

So, I need a volunteer to swim and a volunteer to run. Anyone up for it?

Check out the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W63OJJTXim8

In particular have a look at 8:58 - 9:00 for Roy being checked over by the doctor!

he was in a bad way but suprised he didn't have Tri-UK somwhere in the background. I have scoured the shot many times now but still nothing...is he slipping up on this free media coverage!!!

Looks like the runner might be sorted. Anyone interested in swimming a fast open water 3.8km in Spain?

Me... losing my touch???? i hope not!
i did have my TriUK race belt on but you will see i chose to support the other RAF guys and girl in Barca with my RAF Tri kit (despite the problems it caused my under-carriage, needs more padding!)the film is as i crossed the line and the legs buckled with the added weight of the gong hung around my neck, just b4 i was wheeled away to the med tent. full report and pics on my blog:
http://royb-raftri-triuk.blogspot.com/
A great race, tough conditions, but nice to get an IM in b4 the end of season?!
enjoy