Gatorade Series Raby Bay - 6th

Raby Bay played host to the final race of the Queensland Triathlon Series for the 2012/2013 season. I made the late decision earlier in the week to enter the event as I really wanted to be apart of the final race of the series. The short 400m/15km/4km distance for me is about going all out from start to finish and thats exactly what I was planning on doing.

I was met on race morning by a huge deluge of rain while trying to get in a few laps warmup of the bike course. With the amount of rain that fell from the sky I was actually doubtful that the race would still be held. Luckily the rain passed within 20 minutes or so leaving some very wet roads. Being that the course is held around the harbour the roads are often covered in an oily residue as a result of large cars and trailers carrying boats to and from the marina. The course is also quite tight especially during the cycle leg which means that you really can't ride hard for long as you want to as you are constantly having to break for corners. Its a very technical course which adds to both the challenge and charm of the race. 

I made a short video of the course the day before to give you an idea of what the race is like. 

I lined up towards the far right of the swim start and as soon as I heard the starting gun I hit the gas and moved myself in front. I took the lead and stayed in front the entire 400 metres exiting the water with quite a few athletes nipping at my feat. Over 400 meters it's really hard to establish any sizeable gap as its really only just over 4 minutes of swim time.

On the run into transition I was passed by 2 other athletes and went out onto the bike in 3rd. Soon enough though I was back in front and stayed there pushing the pace on my Specialized S-Works Shiv. Because of the wet roads I wanted to stay in front and out of trouble as the last thing I wanted was someone to crash in front of me and bring me down as well. The others in my group were quite happy to sit just off the back of my wheel with a few athletes receiving drafting penalties as a result of doing so. To be honest I didn't pay to much attention to those sitting behind me and just kept riding hard even though I could feel my legs fading going onto the last lap of the bike. It would have been nice to have a few others to help push the pace on the bike leg but thats racing.

I lead the group into the final transition but going onto the run my running legs were having none of it. I really faded badly on the run because of my efforts leading both the swim and bike portions of the race. To me these races are a chance to go hard from start to finish and thats exactly what I did.

Next up for me will be the Mooloolaba ITU Continental Cup in 3 weeks time. There is a solid field lining up for the race and I can't wait to get amongst it!