Silverstone 9-up Team Time Trial – Captains’ report Rev.A
Costs in 2016
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Each team entry costed £270. The club subsidised one third of the cost. Each athlete contributed
with £21
The committee agreed £50 extra for social expenses (drinks, snacks)
Total cost for the club £320
As a comparison, the cost to the club for 1 hour at Headington Pool is £100 (£70 venue, £15 lifeguard, £10 head coach, £5 assistant coach)
Reasons to include in next year’s list of activities subsidised by the club (what is the outcome of the club
expense)
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Great team bonding event. It has always been successful in the past with integration of a small
social sponsored by the club immediately after the race followed by a dinner in Oxford paid by the
athletes (30 people at Mario Pizzeria last year)
Charity event. All profits are distributed to local and nationally recognised Charities. One of the
current and long supported charity partners is the Hand Cycling Association UK.
Raising profile: the event has a national participation and coverage. The race is highly competitive
and attracts athletes of very high level
OxfordTri participation has always been successful and one of the highlights of the club as a group
event
OxfordTri has always participated since the event started in 2012: 2 men teams in 2012 and 2013,
2 men teams and 1 ladies team in 2014, 1 men team and 2 mixed teams in 2015, 2 men teams
and 1 ladies team in 2016
Jenny Greig managed in 2014 to raise interest with the ladies and enter a full ladies team for the
first time. This increased ladies’ participation and inclusion in high performance races (club champ
participants in 2016: 47 men, 23 women)
Participation has always been high 18 – 27 athletes + support. Last year’s race event on club
champ attracting similar number was only Banbury triathlon (27 athletes); Blenheim had total 14
athletes over 2 days; Costwold 15 athletes; Stowe 15 athletes over 3 distances; some events had
as little as 3 athletes. The triple relay event was another success and had 42 athletes participating
and received a small contribution out of the social budget
Perfect photo opportunity with all athletes wearing club kit. Photo can be used to raise club’s
profile on website, press, social media, and simply help bonding relationships
It supports Bicester Millenium CC (they organise the TT at Weston on the Green which is popular
between our members) and strengthen the collaboration between all local clubs
The race and the training sessions leading to it are extremely relevant to triathlon: racing at high
intensity (interval training), bike handling. Skills to be considered and achieved when participating
to age group, especially with draft legal races becoming more popular
It is a great opportunity for the coaches and captains to learn more about the athletes and spot
talents
The series of training sessions leading to the race offer variety to the training calendar in a period
when the turbo sessions are suspended. Besides it is a great opportunity for coaches to develop
their skills, offering new challenges to the standard routine (it is the only series of coached cycling
session on the calendar since the club offers only club rides and coached static cycling). Coaches
organising the pre-race session did not receive any expenses. These included 3nr. coached theory
+ practice sessions and 3nr. invitations to practice at Weston on the Green airfield coordinated by
the captains
Feedback from Participants
Hi Alain
I think it was the best Silverstone I've been to (And this was my 5th), 3 teams all in Ox Tri kit looked great.
We all seemed pretty well drilled. No one complained of groups splitting up because of "Big Balls" on the
front.
A similar build up and format next year would be good.
Thanks again to you for organising and the club for sponsoring
Regards
Jon Durrant
Hi Alain
Firstly I totally agree that the event was great fun and a success. Generally triathlon is a highly individual
sport and the chances to compete as a team are pretty rare. It is good for team spirit and club ethos to do
these types of events. The social afterwards even though it was late and everyone was tired was really
great too.
I haven't seen the official results as yet and how our teams actually did vs the competition of 'proper' cycle
teams who are well drilled and have been practising TTT for months, but it is a bit frustrating that we are
not actually that competitive in terms of speed. Partly because of availability and also because everyone
has their own training for multi sport and different distances, the pool of cyclists we select from is quite
small and also there is quite a range of ability.
My only real suggestion would be that given we know it's going to happen and that it needs some proper
preparation, to get it into the club diary a bit earlier so that we might better a stronger group of cyclists to
select from and more training time.
Cheers
Nick Wenban-Smith
From my perspective Alain - this year was extremely well organised, the practice sessions (albeit I couldn't
make any of them) the slickness of getting signatures and numbers, the kitkat's and beer (sorry I missed
that) the turbo warm up in the garage all brilliantly organised by yourself and Tracey.
As for the event itself, we do too little as a team and so the opportunity to get a quality ride in with quality
people was amazing, I can't thank enough, all the gents in the team I was privileged to be part of. I looked
at the results for us I think we were 1second quicker than last year! But about 45secs slower than a couple
of years ago. One things for sure though we were so much better organised (on the track) than I've ever
experienced before. Getting 8 riders to the finish line, for me, is far more of an achievement than the time. I
think we finally learned how to do it properly!!
Thanks again it was a blast.
Sean Nicolle
Hi Alain
Silverstone TTT is one of the highlights of my season. It gives us, as individual athletes, the opportunity to
bond, build relationships and work as a team. This year was no exception. It ranks as the best of the 3
times I’ve done this event for many of the reasons that Sean outlined.
The planning and communication was excellent throughout. Organisation on the day was second to none
and the banter throughout was amazing. The turbo session in the pits really topped it all off and was such a
great idea.
In terms of the results, we can be proud of ourselves and it was a PB for me in the event so I can be well
pleased. It was an absolute pleasure to be part of such a great team and I loved every minute!
Thank you and Tracy for all the hard work and organisation that went on behind the scenes.
Tim Thorpe
Hi Alain.
For me this was a great event, I had been really looking forward to it, and I hope we can be involved again
next year.
The organisation was excellent, both on the day and with the pre-event sessions. Taking the time to preregister everyone was a good call. Also agree that the turbo's were a good idea to get everyone warmed
up and ready for the show.
I think the time spent as a group in the training sessions really paid off with a much more coordinated effort
on race day. I'd argue that some additional sessions closer to race pace would have been the icing on the
cake. However, it's rare to be able to get a large group together for the training rides. Potentially for next
year would be to add a couple of turbo sessions to the pot for when the weather was bad (as one time this
year) or people can't make it. With a structured interval session we'd still get some gains even if not riding
in the group. Ultimately, practice practice practice...
It could be worth considering a club TTT rulebook - for example, we were debating communication up to
the race itself. By developing a loose set of rules everyone would be aware of the protocols up front, would
have time to practice, and hence not have to think about it on race day. This would also readily allow
reserves and team swaps without the need of re-familiarisation. (I've been thinking about this for road
safety on our road rides, but that's a different discussion!)
I definitely consider this a worthwhile event for the club to be part of. As others have pointed out, it's a rare
opportunity to come together and race as a group and bond as a unit. It's a difficult skill to master when
used to hammering it out alone, but one definitely worth learning. It's also good promotion for the
club. Silverstone is a popular event and a presence there can only help attract members, particularly those
new to, or looking to triathlon who have the itch.
Silverstone is somewhat bittersweet for me. My dnf was devastatingly disappointing, however, I really
believe that our team performed brilliantly on the day. That goes for the other gents team and ladies team
too. The photo's are testament to a good and coordinated set of teams!
So, thanks all that helped organise, all that raced and all that helped make it a great day.
Rai Alsemgeest
Hi Alain,
Thanks for organising this again this year, it's always a highlight of the club calendar.
I think it's a great event and great for us to be part of it. As well as supporting BMCC (who's time trials at
Weston many of the members like to attend) it also raises money for charity. We are also affiliated to CTT
for time trialling so it's great to use that as much as possible to help our members become stronger cyclists.
In terms of the club, I think it's a great event to promote Oxford Tri and triathlon in general, it's great to see
three teams in full kit mixing it with the cycling clubs.
It was also great in terms of being a team event, something that as triathletes we don't do very much, being
a mostly individual sport. From my point of view, this was a great aspect as I met lots of people in the club
that I hadn't met before and got to know a few other people some more too, that I'd only briefly met in the
past. The more people bond together, the more I think they'll also be willing to help out when it comes to
volunteering (Blenheim, pre-Blenheim, lake safety, club race organising/marshalling, BARTT, etc. etc.) - the
club relies on volunteers so the more we can do to get people together, I think the more people will help the
club.
All in all, I think it's a fun and sociable event that we should continue to attend and I don't see any reason
why we shouldn't do so in future.
Thanks again,
Doug Woollett