This is getting silly...

[andygates]

...I mean, me, the baby-eating Bishop of Bath and Wells, at a triathlon training camp? With my reputation?

Sunday, Wellington. A chance to work out what the hell happens at transitions, and ride the route so I can gauge what gear to put on the fixie. Just barely enough time for a bike day and a Saturday swim. Holy crap, that got very real very suddenly!

I'm not there to leer at tri girlies. Really, I'm not. 'ello darlin', your number's a bit smudged, let me touch it up for you...

Comments

[andygates.livejournal.com]

Well, the main reason is the most noble one: I only own a fixie and a slicked up MTB. The fixie is lighter and faster, and having seen some of the utter sheds people ride in these little amateur tris, it's very ample.

As for the why of it, cyclists coming to tri tend to treat the bike leg as a time-trial, and time-trialling on a fixie has a long pedigree. There's this whole simplicity thing. You put your head down and pedal: that's it, nothing else, and it's very easy to do. The "race of truth" to quote a great many Frenchmen. A time-trial on a fixie is as pure and simple as bike racing can be. They're also very light (no gear mechs, no heavy shifters, no cassette, no extra brake) and very reliable.

Time-trialling on fixies is usually reserved for fairly flat, short courses. Testing (test=UK slang for time-trial) in a 10 or 25 mile race is not uncommon and you'll see a couple of riders at an event doing it. But it's quite unusual at a 50 - just because the longer course is more likely to have variable conditions.

If you overgear, it demands such a pace that really hurts (which is why mine is called Nero, 'cos he's purple and cruel). RB is right, I don't want to blow up on the bike leg; countering that I grind more than she does and I spin out at lower revs too; I usually tool along on 68" but have ordered a couple of extra sprockets and will change to one or other after a recce of the course.

I'm sure it's no accident that Torque Master is just a sniff away from Torquemada, you know...