The Reefathlon is definitely one of my top 5 favourite events on island. The timing of the Cayman Islands Triathlon, Reefathlon and Cayman Islands marathon worked really well this year compared to last year.
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| Just before the race start - Photo courtesy of Clement Reid For those not from the Cayman Islands a more detailed description of the event can be found on the website: Reefathlon Event description |
Basically the event comprises an all out 19 mile [30km] cycling time trial. Here is a snapshot of the route map posted on the website by the Cayman Islands Cycling Association:
Last year the Reefathlon was scheduled the weekend before the triathlon which is when most of the triathletes start tapering. Competing in the Reefathlon shortly after the triathlon this year was ideal.
I have pretty much been tapering since the 30th of October as I competed in the Cayman Islands Triathlon on the 6th of November and the Jamaica triathlon on the 13th of November. I thus felt confident going into Sunday's 30km time trial as the 40km bike leg in both the Cayman and Jamaica Triathlon's prepared me well for Sunday's all out 30km TT.
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| My good friend Marius and I shortly after finishing the 30km TT in tough windy conditions |
Of the four Reefathlon TT events I have competed in over the last two years I believe that Sunday's event definitely had the windiest conditions which made for a tough race. I could feel that halfway into the TT my legs were burning so I did not feel too confident being in the lead as time trialing is Jerome Ameline's strength. Jerome did 42min flat for the Reefathlon in May of this year which is a superb time.
I was aiming for a time of 43min and expected Jerome to beat me due to his time trialing strength. At the end of the day I managed to beat Jerome by just 6 seconds which I was very happy with as this is the first time I have won the Reefathlon TT event.
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| Coming around the bend at Frank Sound Junction - (Photographer: Clement Reid) |
I would like to say a big thank you to the race photographer Clement Reid for being able to use his photos on my blog entry. Clement's website can be found here http://clementreid.com/
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| Having a chat to my friend Marius and my wife Jana just after the race. |
