Mark Yeoman report from his first Triathlon of 2016

Our Triathlon Brand Ambassador Mark Yeoman reports back.

There's nothing worse than the thought of the first race of the season. Not knowing how the winters training has gone or 'what the hell am i doing racing in this cold'. With many starting their seasons off with some duathlons, I resisted and stuck to my plan. 

Besides the early rain and low air temperatures I was feeling positive about racing. Although pool based triathlons don't allow me enough to capitalise on my swim speed I knew going off last that I could chase everyone day for added motivation. My new Huub swim skin gave me the early edge over the other faster swimmers setting the fastest swim split of the day. The transition was close to the pool but I still wanted to protect myself from the cold so I opted to put on my gabba top to keep toasty. 

Out onto the bike and into the local traffic but this allowed me to find some warmth as my legs were frozen and felt numb. The bike course was a technical twisty affair with numerous left hand turns. I tried to say opened minded about the traffic but you still feel that you are giving away valuable time to the others and once again the fastest bike split. On the second lap I felt stronger and was able to push on. Coming back into transition I was looking to chase down a club mate. 

I was unsure how the run would go with cold feet and brand new shoes. Slipping on my colourful Asics Hyper Tri shoes I was hoping that the shoes gods would be giving all the blisters to those doing the London marathon. The run was a three lapper which twisted and turned around the local park. Trail, path and XC all thrown in. Lap one felt sluggish but by lap I felt dare I say, strong. I've worked hard on this and by lap three I was pushing on. Light on my feet and passing people at will. I finished with a 18.08 5km so super duper. 1st overall, course record by 5mins. 

Super excited about the season now and looking forward to next weeks adventures in Northampton 

Thanks for the early support guys. 

Our Ambassador,Kaylegh Adams

We would like to introduce our female ambassador,Kaylegh Adams.Below a quick introduction from her.

From the age of 13 sport has been a massive part of my life. From this age I started swimming for my local swimming club. I started off swimming for just 2 hours a week but this very quickly progressed to swimming 8-9 times each week. Fitting this in around school was stressful but to me at that point keeping fit and staying in shape was very important, so no matter what it took I made it work. As I became one of the older swimmers in the club I soon figured out that I had joined the sport late in swimming terms and I was never going to be able to compete with those swimmers that had been training since they were 6/7 years old. This spurred me on to try other sports, one of which was triathlon. I took part in my first triathlon in 2014 and I came second in that, just behind a world class athlete. I then tried one more and managed to win, I then knew that triathlon was the sport that I wanted totake further; giving me new challenges both physically and mentally.  I got myself a proper coach who had me training around 12 times a week (which seems a lot) but when it is something that you love, it’s something that just comes naturally. Once I had qualified for the World Championships, the day before my 18th Birthday, everything began to happen very quickly.  Sponsorship opportunities happened and I became somewhat of a ’local celebrity’, something I still struggle to both accept and deal with!. Once I had finished 9th in the world and then 2nd at the Europeans everything became much more serious and people including other competitors started to want to talk to me about what training I was doing, what races I was doing and how fit I was feeling which then became a constant internal battle with myself.  Self doubt started to creep in... Every time someone asked me how fit I was feeling, I would wonder if I was as fit as I could be; if I had trained as hard as I could do; whether I was indeed capable of competing at that level.  I was always asking these questions internally...  Did I need to add in extra training sessions; whether I needed to up my game... this was my own internal argument and it really didn’t matter what any of my coaches said...  I was full of self doubt. This has a detrimental effect on athletes both mentally and physically (believe me, I speak from experience!). I began to get injured and fatigued which, I now know was a direct impact of my continued overtraining – my continued self doubt and the negative effect that this has on the mind.  A human body just cannot cope with so much stress both physically and mentally. With this in mind, I thought that a new coach may be the answer to all of my problems. I swapped coach and this was the best move I could have made at this time.  My original coach is and will always be important to me and I have so much to thank her for however, for me at that time a change was as good as a rest as they say!  The sessions were different, more challenging...  This stopped me over training and has just forced me to adapt and force my mind to work in a completely different way.  I have different challenges to focus on.

 I am writing this now as I am considering all of my options within all 3 disciplines that make up triathlon.  Cycling is definitely the discipline which I enjoy the most.  There is no hard session of cycling that has ever put me off. I love the burning sensation in the legs and the buzz it gives you after, without mentioning how much cool kit you can get to dress up in for each ride. I feel that the pressure of sport, performance and constant training has really affected my enjoyment of the sport of triathlon and am hoping that a complete change in training with my coach Mark Yeoman will be just what the doctor ordered to allow me to keep excelling in sport as after all, sport is one of the best ways to make friends, keep fit and keep your mind and body healthy.

I would like to thank Stefano at Saddle Drunk for all his support on my triathlon/cycling journey and I hope that many other people are able to experience his amazing kit while taking part in one of the best sports that there are - cycling. Ride fast, ride slow, just ride.

An affascinating long weekend in Mongolia

Last Wednesday night I flew out from London to Mongolia to be hosted by the Mongolian Cycling Federation to discuss a potential partnership for the future.

I met with Kris,from Kuai Sport Promotion in Beijing to travel together into Ulan Bator.For both of us was the first time travelling to Mongolia and the excitement was fuelling our feeling of joy.

Arrived in UB, Naran Zundui the general secretary picked us up to take us to the hotel & then to visit the beautiful Genghis Khan Square and the museum of the History of Mongolia.

Another Local delicacy.Yak Meat

Another Local delicacy.Yak Meat

Naran, prepared us an intense program for our 3 days visit in UB and the first evening we had the pleasure to meet up for with the President of the Mongolian Olympic Committee,a former Olympic silver medallist to discuss about cycling in Mongolia.

The following day we travelled around to various cycling sites in the capital to then finish off at the office of the Mongolian Cycling Federation situated at the Olympic Centre in UB.

I presented the MCF with the samples kit for the National Cycling Team to discuss the potential relationship of SD to be the Kit Supplier to be worn by the National Team at UCI world championships, UCI races & at the Olympic Games.

SD is pleased to announce that the Mongolian Cycling Team will be wearing SaddleDrunk clothing until the end of 2020.

To celebrate the great news for us, Naran & the president took us to dinner to an amazing  Mongolian Restaurant.

The Mongolian cuisine is a rich diet consisted mainly in Mutton,Yak,Horse & beef products. The landscape is ideal for those animals . Green Grasslands with the freedom to move,free from pollution & clear blue sky, made those Mongolian delicacies on the top 3 on my list out of 56 countries I have visited so far in my life time.

Genghis Khan Square in UB

Genghis Khan Square in UB

On Easter Sunday we were whisked away from UB to the “TERELJ NATIONAL PARK” on a 4x4 vehicle , which made me that we were not going via normal roads but off-road. Infact I was not wrong ,I was just astonished by the sceneries of the landscape , the piece and calm of the surroundings ,the warmth of the people along the villages and the stunning Mongolian Ger Villages.

Some local delicacies

Some local delicacies

My conclusions from this short trip is that I will return to Mongolia to visit more of this beautiful country.I will certainly spend more time in this country which it is 5 times the size of France.

Terelj National Park

Terelj National Park

I would like to say thank you very much to Naran for the great hospitality and for looking after us 24/7. Thank you very also to everyone we met that made us welcomed.

Stefano.

Cycling in New Zealand

After copious number of enquiries about cycling in New Zealand,I have asked our friend Daniel Carruthers to tell us about riding in NZ.After a long spell in Asia, Daniel has returned to his motherland.Therefore with great honour I leave to Dan to tell us about that.

In recent years, New Zealand has been heavily promoting their NZ Cycle Trails to attract more overseas cyclists to visit and discover NZ by bicycle. If you have been considering New Zealand as a possible destination for your next cycling holiday, then make it happen: it will be an experience that you will never forget. Depending on what type of cyclist you are, there is something here for all levels of ability. If you are a road cyclist or mountain biker, there are a multitude of events to choose from!

Since re-locating to New Zealand last month after living in China for six years, I have taken part in the REV Cycle Race and also New Zealand’s longest standing MTB race, the Karapoti Classic  50km of rugged old school mountain biking through native NZ bush. In a couple of weeks I will take part in events here in Rotorua: The famous 24hr MOONRIDE, and the Rotorua to Taupo 100k Flyer.  Pretty much all year round you can find good cycling events to enter if that is what you would like to add on to your cycling holiday.

The REV 100

This was an event I had been wishing to take part in for a while. It’s not an easy one with 1500m of climbing packed into the 100km, with most climbs only going for 2-3 minutes so its an intense ride up and down on the NZ chip sealed roads, but the amazing countryside scenery and the numerous quiet narrow twisting roads make up for the demanding course. We even zoom by the world famous Hobbiton Tour site - The Shire! Definitely does look like scenes straight out of the Lord of the Rings. In fact, there are numerous Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movie scene locations dotted all over New Zealand - you could really turn it into a Lord of the Rings cycling tour if you have the time. This event also has UCI 1.2 status, which is for the professional or elite riders and is a separate event to the 100km event I did.  I did not have a current UCI license, nor was I in shape to compete with the best cyclists in New Zealand! This event is always held in late February each year and there are a number of other events on at around the same time frame so multiple events could be done if racing is a priority of yours.  However, if you are here for cycle touring then discovering the seldom travelled on trails and roads can be researched on the New Zealand Cycle Trails website.  

Karapoti Classic

This is New Zealand’s most iconic, toughest and gnarliest race. Canadian mountain biker Cory Wallace, who races all over the world, remarked that it was a proper old school style track! If you ride mountain bikes and are up for a serious challenge, I recommend signing up for this 50km event. It traverses through the rugged Akatarawa Ranges (close to Wellington). This event was established in 1986 by the Kennett Brothers and is the longest standing MTB event in the Southern Hemisphere!  The course begins with a Le Man’s style start with hundreds of riders splashing their way across the river to begin the 6km ride up the Karapoti valley.  It is a fantastic course that challenges the very best of mountain bikers yet is still achievable for weekend warriors. The climbing in this race is so steep that you will need to grovel in the granny gear to get up and over. However, many riders got off to push as it was not any slower that way. I noticed on one of the steep climbs that there was a long unbroken line of riders, half of them pushing yet keeping the same pace as the ones riding!  I first did the Karapoti way back in 1994 as a fresh faced 19-year-old university student and was too chicken to race the 50k event so I downgraded to the 20k recreational event. It’s always been on the back of my mind to nail this 50km event: perhaps it was a 21-year-old dream of mine that was finally realized upon my return to NZ. Since I was coming back with some great fitness after some big training months in Chiang Mai, Thailand, I had high expectations that I would do well in the race by going under three hours and would glory in my name being added to the coveted SUB 3hr club. If you can achieve a time below 3hrs, it is a highly respectable achievement as more than 15,000 riders have raced the 50k but only 600 riders have ever gone below 3hrs over the 30 odd years since inception. 

However, despite a good first half where I was riding in the top 30 in the expert/pro-elite category and on target for a great sub-3hr time, my legs just cramped up at the base of Dopers Climb and I had to stop for 10 minutes. I could not even walk. I finally did get going again, but had to stop an additional four times as I struggled to survive. It was a big mistake to ride with a Camelbak full of water and just relying on GU and bananas. I finally made the last river crossing just before the finish and rode straight into waist high water, my bike being completely submerged. I stumbled across and then road the final 200 meters, crossing the finish line with a time of 3hrs and 15mins. The GPS moving time was 2hrs 43. I will come back next year to chase the elusive sub 3hr time!  The winner did 2hrs 10 mins, which was one of the fastest times ever recorded. Anton Cooper from New Zealand (U23 MTB World Champion) holds the record time of 2hrs 7mins.

The Karapoti is definitely a bucket event to do should you plan to visit NZ with your mountain bike. 

If you do wish to plan for a MTB holiday in New Zealand, then check out www.ridenz.co,   an awesome website to  create your own itinerary for mountain bike riding in Central North Island. Rides can be filtered according to your ability level.

MTB photos credit :  marathon-photos.com

Thank you Daniel,for the great article.We all looking forward to receive more info from down under.

Happy Easter for the SD TEAM.