I've never done a tri before and am doing the newcastle foreshore tri at beginning of feb. It's really short (ie. 500/700m (?) swim, 20km bike and 5km run) and I'm confident about the swim and the run, however I am only picking up a bike at Christmas so will have a measly month to prepare....with no cycling background to speak of....

Apparently it's a fairly hilly course, will one month be enough preparation on the bike to complete my first tri? Since the CC half I've dropped back to ~60-70km / week running and I go for a couple of ~1km swims per week - how much riding can I expect to have to do, 20km isn't very far on a bike is it!!??

Any advice / personal experiences welcome!!

I did my first mini tri a couple of weeks ago, 300/13/3 after getting my first bike about 6 weeks earlier. My bike training consisted of a total of 230k (average of about 30k per session with 3 or 4 of those being bricks), and I found the cycle leg the easiest of the three. 20k is not far at all on a bike, I would equate it to a 5k run as far as effort is concerned.

The only thing I would do differently is to streamline my transitions a bit more, next time I will probably go the elastic laces and no socks.

Good luck, and make sure you let us know how you get on.

Mike

Shan I'll come for some rides with you, but I would say THE MOST important thing is not your legs, but your bike-handling skills!! Your ability to safely handle the bike in with other riders around you / in a group, around turn-a-rounds and anything unexpected. You will be sharing that narrow course with a lot of people, and it can get hairy.....we'll sort you out but!!

edited to say: yes I am a fussy ex-roady!!

Hi Shankate,

Don't panic too much about the 'hills' in the Newcastle Foreshore - the steepest part is going up to the hospital where you turn around just before the cnr of Church and Watt streets. Its actually a very fast bike course so practice practice practice between now and February. Littleblackpug is right on the money - get your handling skills first and then focus on the next big thing which is learning to spin at a relatively fast cadence.

Cheers.

Danny