Castles RELAY stage 10.

And so it returns, the greatest race on the planet and stage 10 awaited from Llan to Newtown. 12.6 miles of Mid Wales B roads with plenty of climbing. Spent a day in aber show and after a massive babi Cadi meltdown just made the start with 10min to spare. Think I was in good shape and as always Very good athletes on show. Huge hill to start things off, kept it steady as I could and after leaving the hills had a full tank to pick up positions. Took 4 miles before it steadied and then a group of 4 stayed together until mile 9. One big hill and a down hill finish i was home. Only to find i was 1.5 miles short of the finish and already done my Sprint finish. Got home just about. spent. Got passed by 4 runners in last mile. Uggghhhh

Cader Idris Fell Race

So So. 7th 1.34.12

Ok running but no Mountains all year showed with the legs feeling the lack of bulk, even the cycling had been missed.

Started ok and kept things going, should have picked things up sooner half way but stayed with another runner.

Suffered towards the top and excited about the turn around. On the return the feet in agony, new shoes hadn't been bedded in and had cut my feet on the way up. So down was tough.

Ifan Richards came passed like a deamon and was so impressive to see, huge respect. Fastest down hill by a country mile.
Lost my mojo and lost a few positions. Overall position ok but so much better could have been.

Preseli beast bach

1st place. Just short of record

Rad yr Hafod

2nd to the big guy

Red Kite Welsh champ 2018

Had a cold. 7 min slower than last year. 5th

Teifi 10mile 2018

10mile undulating course which takes in the back lanes of Lampeter.  Usually the start of the racing season and gets the body up to speed. 

Things ticking along nicely with plenty of the core work, and constant running helping with overall fitness. Was supposed to give the race a miss and run the Llambed to Blaenvaon fell race on the Saturday but due to babi Cadi and mum on their own for up to 4 plus hours we changed plans. 

Nice weather, good field off we went. Started steady and stayed with the 2nd group at a nice pace, the leader slowly edging away, I was happy with my average and kept with the group. Coming up to half way I was 2nd overall, 15 sec behind. On the return 4 mile leg I upped the pace and felt good closing in on the leader.

 Down to 5sec at one point at mile 8 I couldn't quite make up the last few yards and coming into the finish the legs were cooked. Came in 56.55 15 sec behind Rob Johnson who ran strong to the end. 3rd was Mark Horsman whos putting in some mamouth shifts these days hitting 90 mile weeks and holding some excellent speed. Bravo

Tregaron Duathlon 2018

Awesome race which always deliveres exciting racing, around 1h 15min of racing over the three legs of 5k run, 20k bike, 3k run.

Always some gd athletes attending but this year it was down to the three of us from our whats app, "Felinfach pro tour team" everything it's says but not professional or close to being a team.

Had a gd winter of training, not 100% but consistent, not missing the basic sessions and increasing the edge with the weekend racing.

The trusted cube hadn't left the house in 6 months but had enjoyed a weekly dose of zwift, getting an hour or 45 min effort in when not running.

Turning up to the race I was excited to see how the turbo work would transfer to real life road. Technique would be much improved hopefully helping to hold some power down.

I walked out of the leisure centre with 5min to go and the start gun went off, my watch was wrong!!! Very lucky everything was ready to go with the bike. Headed off with the group through town before the big climb up to pencefn, pulled away in front and felt strong reaching the top. Continued towards the turn before a downhill Sprint to the village finishing with a comfortable gap of 90 sec ready for the bike. 30sec transition I was off. That's a rare one for me, switching between disciplines not my strongest talent.

The route from Tregaron to bont was relatively flat and with the TT bikes behind I knew I needed to hold the lead before the backwards leg through the lanes where I could gain time. But having put the Cube through a once over on the bike stand the night before things were not good. Every effort out of the saddle the gears would jump and the chain would catch on the derailler. I just thought of it as a one off but everyhill was a crawl, something rubbing. I moved by brake adjusters out just in case and carried on the return lanes back to Tregaron. The leader Steff passed me going up one hill then Pooley.

On climbing the next hill the bike came to a stop, no pedaling chain stuck I couldn't move. Luckily i was next to the hedge and fell into it. I unclipped and my rear wheel had jumped out of the frame. The sqeewer had worked loose. I got the wheel back in and sorted the chain and I had a new bike, gutted at such a stupid thing to go wrong.

I put an effort down to gain time and came in probably 2min down on the leader. Thought I could at least make a race of it but to be fair both were running well. 3rd place not the worst but frustrated looking back. Steffen taking a surprising win on his local event, fast running followed by a stunning bike he was definetly the man to beat.

Next year we shall be back. New bike and maybe some tri bars, looks like I've outgrown the CUBE.