Curry and Comrades in Capel Curig: Snowdonia Showpiece 2017 Part 1

So it was time to go again: Once More Unto The Breach. Last year it was Leicester, this year it would be a lake. Every year as the clocks strike midnight and the final strains of Auld Lang Syne play out in the local pub it becomes a cue for us to wake up the following morning and set something for us that will define the forthcoming calendar year. Nowadays barely a month goes by during the year itself without someone I know coming up with some extreme challenge, like riding twice across the country in one day, climbing a local hill 100 times on a BMX in the name of "Everesting" or going under 5 hours on the Ride London (a big hand before I forget to Darren, Emma, Ste and Tony for achieving the latter today). For me, it had to be something completely different after last year's emotionally exhausting half marathon on the streets of Leicester so with many people going for longer events, I thought why not try and see how I get on at an open water triathlon? Next task was to find a suitable race and it didn't take me long to find one, the legendary Snowman Sprint Triathlon in picturesque North Wales.

Set in the heart of the Snowdonia National Park, this event is one of three single or double header races organised each year by Always Aim High Events. You can enter a sprint, standard, full, legend "half ironman" or the double headers known as the Savage. You get a sizeable discount if you enter all three savages (and go into a league where combined times across all six races win the title) and the three events are the Slateman held in mid-May, the Snowman which used to be in November but is now at the end of July and the Sandman in Anglesey held every September. Something for all to have a go at, but for my part I was just dipping my toes into the sprint distance which would be one 400 metre loop in the lake, a 31km bike leg taking you through Betws-y-Coed and Llanrwst, then a technical 5k run featuring plenty of off road ascents and descents. With a couple of open water sessions in the bag at the Eccleston Delph and a well-used wetsuit acquired just to get me through to the end of my first season, I packed the car on Friday morning and, after a couple of stops for work-related reasons, I crossed the Welsh border, high-tailed it down the A55 and turned off behind someone I presumed was going to Capel Curig just like me. Well, we did both wait at the Dolgarrog roadworks for enough time to allow Nick Grimshaw to get through six songs in the top 40 (none of Lee Stinch's favourite artist Ed Sheeran though) Once past this extremely annoying roadblock me and the Toyota "Two Bikes" Yaris in front of me moved quickly through Betws-y-Coed and onto Capel Curig to park up at registration or, in the case of matey-boy ahead of me, probably drive to his palacial hotel to rest in luxury for the night. Must plan better next time myself. Anyhow, I could now register at the iconic Plas y Brenin National Mountain Sports Centre and I collected my number whereupon I got spooked; I'd been given number 17. For those who don't follow Formula 1 the drivers can now pick their own numbers but 17 was retired after the death of Jules Bianchi at the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix so no other driver will be allowed to pick it in the future. However, as only 16 people had entered before me it was my number for the weekend and now it was up to me to convert the spirit of Jules into a good result - top 17 perhaps?

I returned up the road I came in on and parked up at the youth hostel where I could lock the bike in the shed, put the bags under the bed in the dormitory and survey the kitchen where I stored provisions for breakfast the next morning. From here it was back to the race HQ for the 7pm sitting at dinner where a range of meals were on offer. Needless to say I went for the most carb-rich meal, being the chicken curry with rice and naan breads plus berry mousse and a Coke. I enjoyed it in the company of Gill, Mike and Chris who had come from the Isle of Man. These crazy tourists seem to revel in travelling for weekend trips to do triathlons even wanting to team up on a three-man tandem (I guess that means somebody needs to be good at rowing the boat gently down the stream) and I enjoyed their stories of spectators cheering them on just as they thought the were going to lose the will to live almost as much as they laughed at some of the tales I can recount. The ones you read about in these reports every week, but you probably guessed that anyway. They were staying at the centre itself so at 9pm we went our separate ways and I returned to the car, the rain having thankfully disappeared. It wasn't long before I was back at the dormitory and ready for sleep but unfortunately some people were coming in rather later and were in no particular hurry to go quiet. But I really had to get to sleep now as it was now past 10:30pm and in just nine hours' time I would be at safety briefing for the biggest challenge of my 2017 season.

Here's the first set of stats, in association with the Plas Curig Hostel:

Distance driven: about 100 miles
Time: about 4 hours not including stops which probably doubled that
Manxmen: 3
Bike Locks Used: 2
Emergency Purchases: A Focus bottle from Matt in Ormskirk plus a bottle cage at the Giant store in Liverpool
Pre Race Nutrition: 10/10 (Coffee and chocolate cheesecake at Waitrose Chester then chicken curry, rice, naan and berry mousse at the race venue)

Turn to the next page to see how I survived the toughest race of my life in part 2. It was time to move on and make history...........