Due to the sheer volume of items to catch up on , a new format is being trialled to make sure nothing is missed off in this bumper edition of the goings on within the club.
Cycling
Weekly Rides
On the cycling front, things have seemed a little quiet of late on weekends, with a mixture of bad weather and racing taking precedent in members’ mindsets. Rides are weather and number dependant, but as always, if you are planning a ride or looking for a ride, check the members’ whatsapp group for the planned rides, or if due to circumstances, none are offered, why not put your plans in the group and there maybe a taker or two to join you.
Ride For Ryder
5 members took on various distances on the 9th July 2023, for the Annual “Ride for Ryder” Sportive
Katie K, Sally F and Derek did the 90 km, Ryan took on the 130 km and Eugenio went big on the 160km.
Katie K happy with her effort
Time trialling with DRC on a Thursday evening has been a bit hit and miss with the ongoing roadworks on the A38 in and around Berkeley. That being said, Both G and Tricky have managed to get out on one occasion, whilst Dariusz has been heading north with Cheltenham Cycling, completing the B4077 Teddington to Toddington course on a number of occasions. G in due course will do a little excerpt on TT racing the Berkeley course which may entice a few more members to give it a go. As with most things in this sporting arena, “to tri it is to love it” .
Swimming
Several goings on in the water with a number of members taking part in the Swim podium timed swims at Lake 86 in South Cerney. Gav K, Jon M, Mike D and Katie W all took to the water to take part in various distance on the 5th July.
The next timed swim is due to take place on the 2nd August and it costs £10 to enter through the lake 86 site. To enter you can click here but you may have to be quick as the placed may fill up fast.
Separately , Tom S took on an(other) epic end to end swim at Ullswater. 7.5 miles of open water swimming from one end of Ullswater to the other. Starting at Glenriding, swimmers swim all the way up the Lake to Pooley Bridge, finishing at Park Foot Holiday Park in the Lake District, Northumbria.
Tom posted “Ullswater end to end was… tough! Tougher than I had anticipated for sure. The full end to end went ahead, the winds made it almost like a sea swim at times- lots of up and down and getting dragged off course! Think I must have swam over 8 miles in the end… 😆 (can’t be sure as watch malfunctioned). Was also a lot colder than 86/32 which didn’t help! Finished in just over 4 hours. Incredible achievement non the less, well done Tom!
Mel Nunn shared that her and fellow member Lizzie C completed Swimtrek Sardinia where they swam a staggering 25K in 5 days. Swimtrek is a company that offers “swimming holidays” across the world in some of the most picturesque locations. These are guided swims in often beautiful clear waters with a variety of swim distances available. It is not a race, they go at your own pace. Perfect for those who want an active exploring trip.
On the subject of Swimtrek adventures , Sally F has recently completed Swimtrek Croatia, similarly, taking on 5k swimming average over 7 days. Hopefully at some point, either Mel, Lizzie or Sally will pen some words together for members to share their experiences.
Swimming has been continuing at our own exclusive use lake “Ploddy” offering members the opportunity to swim in a serene lake with out a worry for what works out to be less than £1 a swim when you sign up for the season. It continues to run Tuesdays and Fridays from April to October. Should you be interested in Ploddy or what Ploddy can offer you, Contact Pete Jones.
In regards to Pool swimming at GL1, an improved start time of 2030 hours on a Monday night has seen a small rise in numbers to the session led by coach Charlie. These sessions are great sessions that can vastly improve your outlook on your own personal swim and are well worth both the time and the effort. Charlie also updated that she will be taking every 4th session in the pool on a Wednesday night (the one where there is no Monday session in the same week). Contact Pete B or Coach Charlie for more details.
Running
Coached running on a Tuesday has taken a back step during the summer months and there are discussions at committee level to decide how to best progress this and offer members the best opportunities through the summer months. Social running on a Monday, despite John H’s best efforts, too seemed to have slowly ebbed away, maybe in part to the introduction of a Monday night coached swim session. The committee are keen to hear from members in regards to how to best move forward with continuing the running sessions and where to fit them in and to cater for the needs of the members.
As usual, a contingent of members, mainly Jon M, regularly attend different Parkruns across the county on a Saturday morning, the most recent being Mallard’s Pike in the Forest of dean, where Dave H went prehistoric in his choice of running outfit.
Triathlons – Races
Dariusz is an IRONMAN !
Having not long represented GBR at age group level in the World Duathlon Championships in April, Darisuz took on what was set to be the last running of Ironman UK Bolton, which has now been changed to a 70.3 distance. Dariusz took to the red carpet, being eagerly followed by members on the ironman tracker, finishing in an amazing 12 hours 45 minutes for the full course. Well done Dariusz, great work.
Closer to home and no where near the distance , Adey C took to Leominster again to revisit the Herefordshire Sprint Distance Triathlon. Using the event as a marker for progression from the previous year. 2022 was his first year taking on the multisport discipline and this race was only the second event he completed at that stage. One year on, he set himself the target of 1 hour 15 minutes to finish.
Aiming to better the time set previously, 1 hour 22 minutes for the Sprint distance, Adey came home in 1 hour 13 minutes, with the majority of the time made up on the bike leg.
Andy Jones took on the Titan Brecon middle distance on the 16th July, in what could only be described as brutal weather conditions. Travelling alone, Andy soldiered on to complete the course and will in due course provide us all with an insight into his experience on this race.
Jon M travelled alone to Compton Verney, Warwickshire to take part in the “On the Edge” Middle distance Triathlon in the build up to IM WALES in September.
Jon completed the course in 6 hours 33 minutes and described the course as a “Challenging 70.3 littered with plenty of traffic, stops, and unfortunately for Jon, a puncture” and the lack of post race memorabilia , being given a caramel freddo and a bottle of water at the end of that shift across the three disciplines.
7 members took to the annual DRC Berkeley Sprint Triathlon held in the South of the county, ablely supported by Gordy and Ryan. Katie K, Katie T, Martyn, James B, Adey entered alongside Dave and Ruth H who entered as a TTG Relay.
James B sporting new gear and putting into practice all of his training , got a 5K PB and finished a decent margin under his target time. Great work James, the hard work is paying off. The relay team including Dave and Ruth took silver in the relay competition, and Adey was the highest TTGer at 16th Place in what was a very strong field amongst the top three finishers.
In due course, a combined entrant race report will be produced, but a great days racing across the board from all competitors who were grateful for the support and encouragement from G and Ryan. Well done to all involved. A full list of the results can be found here .
Hannah R, Mike D and Darisuz took part in the LPS Standard Tri (Hannah doing the swim bike) at Lake 62.
The majority of which appeared to be off road. Dariusz finished the standard distance in 2 hours 22 in 16th Place with Mike at 2 hours 59 minutes. Hannah finished the Aquabike in 2 hours 2 minutes. Results can be found here . Well done team , great racing.
Upcoming Races
Hannah B is taking on the long course at IM TALLIN on the 5th August. I sure as a club we will all be tracking her on the IM app and wishing her well along the way,
If any other members have races due in August, please share away, and where possible you may find yourself with some support willing to travel or possibly someone willing to enter as well who is looking for another event to fill their calendar.
Social Events
The 13th July saw a club social outing to the Flight Club in the brewery quarter, Cheltenham where a large number of members took to the oche, pitting each other against one another.
A fun evening was had by all, playing a variety of different scoring games on the dart board to keep the entertainment going. A rare opportunity for people to get together without having to get wet, pedal or run or tire themselves out too much. Thanks Hannah R for organising. Keep your eyes on the whatsapp group for up and coming social events in future.
Club Kit
As always there are new items available to the group that can be obtained from Gloucester sports but either emailing, visiting or calling in at their shop. The link to the kit can be found here.
The racing kit window is currently open (although it is due to close shortly as the minimum number has been met). There are a number of new items available for members including a visor, gloves, socks and arm warmers/coolers. Please see the whatsapp group for more details.
In regards to baseball caps, a new cap has been obtained and details on how to get one will be released shortly after some design tweaks.
Anything else…..
The next committee meeting is the 24th July and any updates or news will be communicated from it in due course.
As always if you have any questions or news you wish to share please get in contact with Ryan, G or John H as the member reps, or any of the committee that you wish to speak to.
GO TTG!
