Dan, Dan the duathlon man
Ok the sub headline doesn’t quite work but Dan Galpin and Dan Armsden and their 1-2 were story of the first race of the 2019 Guernsey Triathlon Club racing season was a brutal affair battling super gusty winds and cool temperatures. A decent field of over 30 turned up despite the weather including a few of the squad. A un-conventional “sprint distance” with first and second leg runs of equal distance of just under 3k and a 13k bike leg.
I’m still wary of what I can do with my knee situation but was pleased to be toeing the line. Also a bike situation means I’ve rebooted my 2005 Isaac Joule TT bike into service for the next few months and I only finished putting it together the night before the race and had no on road practice time on it.
First run – cautious but a came to T1 in 3rd knowing a decent bike leg should see me closing in on one of my protege’s Dan Galpin and at least holding ground on a Aivis Kergalvis – a training partner and Guernsey Island Games Tri Team member for Gibraltar. I started making good progress, though damp roads from a pre race squally shower meant I was a bit hesitant on the corners. Dan Armsden flew past at Perelle – about half way through the outward leg but helped my focus on my pace. Turning back into the headwind on Vazon was like hitting a wall but I stayed focused and could see I was bringing Dan Galpin back. However a bus got between us at L’Eree Hotel and that held me up as I hung back out of it’s draft zone, overtaking it when it finally stopped, in no time I was past Dan G and into T2.
T2 Slick dismount, glacial shoe change. My damp feet and track session tight speed laces were not a great combination as Dan Galpin re-took me before my foot finally sank down into the shoes and I was off. Little chance now of making the podium and went through the motions on the second run to finish 4th.
Dan Galpin ran through the field and finally caught Dan A who was within a whisker of his first multi sport win.
Behind me squad members Jason Carré (8th) and Steve Smith (10th) had solid performances with Jason pipping me by 1 second for fastest squad bike split.
Photo credit – Andy Dovey – click here to see the full album
