10 April 2014

Queensland Sprint Triathlon 6th April 2014

I still haven't seen official result on QT website but Frank Mahoney won M50. 
His celebrity status is built on winning just about every M50 Tri in Australia
My view as I walked down to transition area at Clontarf on Sunday

Interested to see how bikes were set up for transition and running gear for later.

This place is actually called Pelican Park!



I'm never going to do this!

Wet suits were allowed because of possibility of stingers. The water temp was probably 22/23oC.

 Frank (White grey wet suit)  is extreme left below.

Maybe if I cant run and I cant bike!

Love the long shadows cast by the early morning low sun.


I was interested in the riding styles





How closely do they uphold the no drafting no blocking rules?


Must be tough job calling drafting and blocking.

 Frank in white and grey top enjoying the warm conditions at sunny Clontarf!









I think this lady finished second, good style.

10 comments:

Joe Bloggs said...

Don't know who the dude in the grey white wetsuit but it wasn't me. It might have been the solitary follower.

Wetsuit ruling is 24 degrees and above, they are not allowed for age group athletes. I suspect the temperature was above this, however there was a special ruling that we were allowed to wear them because of the concern for stingers, even though it turned out there wasn't any.

The wetsuit allows a faster swim due to the extra flotation it provides.

Very good race conditions, calm water and wetsuits and a fast bike course, flat and no wind. Official cycle time includes transition however with this removed, I did around 30 minutes for the 20km, so 40kmh average.

There is a time penalty that has to be served in the penalty box if you get caught drafting. Passing on the left can get you disqualified.

David said...

40kmh average!!!!!!!!!!!

I should not even consider giving it a go!

Jumping Jack Rabbit said...

I just mentioned the 40kmh so as to intimidate the solitary follower.

A few things to consider:
I was riding a time trial bike complete with aero wheels and aero helmet which allow faster times than your road bike.
Whilst my ride was good, my run was not so great, and someone such as yourself running 2 minutes quicker would only have to average 37.5kmh for the same result.
I have been training and racing over the longer distances so that helped to be able to do a fast speed for a short time where you don't have to worry about nutrition or drinking.
They were good conditions for cycling with only 4 U turns.
The course was flat and nil wind so it is easy to deliver fast km's, one after another, which helps to keep that ave speed up
You don't have to worry about cars, traffic lights etc
It's a race so you are pushing harder and getting better results than you ever would in a training ride.
And finally, see how much dribble this gets from the bagpipe smoking looney tunes guy!

The lone piper said...

After weeks of goading and bitter snipping at each other via twitter , it would appear that one of the keenest rivalries in Australian sport is set to reach it's inevitable climax at Minipiini Rark Run on May 3rd . "Mad Dog" Frank Mahoney (alias the Pelican) has taunted Lord Garmin that his days of being World Park Run champion could be drawing to a close and that he is keen to inflict a humiliating defeat on his wounded nemesis and prove once and for all that he is more than just a one leg wonder in regards his duathlon . The 'Pelican' , as he is known to his flock of passionate groupy female followers , has been a rising force in track and road running in recent times and apparently has his sights firmly set on taking on the highly popular and lucrative Park Run circuit that Lord Garmin has claimed as his own personal fiefdom for so long . The 'Lord ', as he is now referred to among evangelical Park runners , has just returned once again from the sporting wilderness that saw him rise like an avenging phoenix from the ashes of yet another near career threatening injury which now sees him posting extraordinary times in training broadcast to a hungry world media via garmin connect and which has subsequently given much comfort and hope to his league of long suffering but insanely loyal followers . Such followers are now referred to as Garminites and have legally registered themselves , with the Lord's blessing , as a religious movement with subsequent government tax concessions . Entries to the post race gala reception have been capped at 80% age grading and mobility challenged geriatrics (over 60) will not be admitted as the Govenor Genetal's residence does not cater for wheel chair access . In fact the GG has a zero tolerance to any forms of geriatric tomboy foolery masquarading as informed literary comment .

The Technical Official said...

The illegal passing, drafting and blocking rules are partly managed by the technical officials on motor bikes, and partly self managed by the athletes themselves.

They will have several motorbikes being ridden around the course, generally travelling faster than the cyclists and thus they are coming up behind you generally without you knowing it.

The motor bikes will have a rider on the front, and a technical official on the back. They will be looking ahead to see if there is any riders sitting too close or sitting to the side and thus blocking.

It might take 30 seconds for the officials to reach that group of riders and if you are still sitting too close rather than having made a passing move, they are going to nab you, that is show you a yellow card and you have to wait in the penalty box for 3 minutes.

When the officials are not around, people can draft as much as they like, however since an official can appear at any time, they even do quick U turns out of sight, then the threat of that 3 minute penalty keeps most cyclists honest.

Pacing off someone is allowed, that is travelling the same pace as them and keeping the legal distance, however you run the risk that the official might still think you were too close.

This morning down at the Gold Coast, I was closing in on one guy slowly just as the officials came up behind on the bike. They slowed down to check if I was going to draft, and I made sure I put in a bit of extra effort to make it a clean pass.

The preferred option is to just be on your own so that you don't have to worry about getting busted.

Sometimes the officials give a caution, ie warn you to stay back or warn you to stay left in you are in the middle of the road without giving you a penalty. Other times they will ride up to a big group and just pick an obvious rider drafting and they get the 3 minutes.

You get more drafting when there are head winds as riders tend to bunch up, especially the weaker ones.

The technical official should have said...

Very similar actually to mud wrestling . What the Pelican is saying is that people are inherently dishonest and are always on the lookout to draft or throw rocks concealed in mud balls if they think they can get away with it . Sometimes the notion you have to take a risk (cheat) and hope you're not caught out is accepted now as being a virtue and not an indictment. Very sad reflection on a society that no longers counts sportsmnship as a worthy virtue to aspire to . To guard against this on the 3rd of May at Minipinni Park Run trained snipers will lay concealed in the dense undergrowth . Anybody seen cutting corners or engaging in unsportsman like conduct will be shot . It's all in the fine print . You signed the waver and you take your chances . Cheat and your dead . No time penalty . Just eternity to contemplate whether it was worth elbowing some poor beared and befuddled geriatric out of your way to gain that coveted extra 0.1% age grading that would make all the difference between attending the GG's gala breakfast or having to be turned back at the front door with that cruel and biting comment , " 79.9% age grading is not good enough."

His Lordship said...

Real men don't wear Lycra and worry about time penalties for drafting . Nor are they obsessed with water temperature . The colder the better , preferably 3 degrees. Real men manage women's mud wrestling teams or engage in contact sports like Park Running . It's a poor sport whose outcome is decided by the stealth of motor bike mounted officials armed with measuring tapes eager to rub out an honest effort to gain a perfectly illegal advantage .

The technical official said...

Sources close to Lord Garmin suggest he may be poised to set an egg and spoon world record at this week"s North Lakes 5k Park Run . His Lordship , as he is known to his league of die hard supporters , has been seen practicing in training and refining his technique in this the oldest of human sports that has it's roots at school sport's days the world over . It's no secret the Pelican would also like to feather his trophy nest with this most glamorous and prestiges of world records . When asked how he preferred his eggs , his Lordship quipped (impishly) that he preferred his eggs hard boiled in an obvious taunt at his rival the Pelican who prefers the softer boiled variety that he believes balances easier on his shovel . One thing for certain is that someone will be left with egg on their face and there can only be one winner .

Park Run Australia said...

In a scandal that is set to rock World Masters's Running it can be now revealed that the so called "Barnsley 10k List" is nothing more than an elaborate hoax perpetrated to show the gullibility of the average Park Runner . The instigator of the hoax , David McSweeney , alias Lord Garmin , did not deny he was the source behind the hoax but said his motive was to raise public awareness at how easy it is to convince people of the most outrageous of statements if cloaked with the most waffer thin linings of authenticity and posted on a respectable forum . Lord Garmin twitted that you should never believe something just because it appears on his blog . Practice discrimination at all times . The lie to the list was revealed when Ron Jepson who led the list was found to be nothing more than a trans gender male mud wrestler turned failed flaming bag piper with affiliations to the Free and Independent Scotland Movement championed by Lord Garmin and Sean Connery . He was unavaible for comment as he had died one month before the phantom race he is said to have competed in and the cause of death was listed as being related to severe burns incurred from his exploding bagpipes at a performance he was never fully trained to perform at .

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