BSA Duathlon Bangalore 2009

I participated in the first ever run-cycle-run BSA Duathlon Bangalore 2009 in the 5K-10K run-ride category.

After removing almost all accessories except for the side stand, I loaded the bike in my car with the front wheel(a quick release one) removed the previous day. Removing the wheel was pretty easy, but fixing the wheel was not that easy. There were many folks who were cycling to the venue before the race as well as carrying the bike in an autorikshaw. We were at the venue before 6AM and picked up the bib and got the cycle bib-ed by 6:20am. Then it was a long wait and the race started around 15 minutes late. The announcements before the start were hardly audible for most of the participants.

The 2.5K run was an easy one, didn't want to push before the ride, which was a new thing for me. Finished the run in 16:15. The ride was pretty enjoyable and I kept a good cadence throughout and using the gears very effectively and through the range(except for the lower most one). It looked like bike fit was very poor in many folks - either they had the wrong bikes or didn't have a clue about fitting the bike to your needs. The change over took some time and total ride time for 10K was at 34:24, not bad for my kind of riding. The seat post adjustment by raising a bit more helped. The video at http://bicycletutor.com/adjust-seat/ and help from Rohan Kini of BOTS helped. I thought the last lap was a strong 2.5K, but again the transition from bike to running overheads seems to push my time to 20:06 for the split. Overall a 1:10:45 finish, which was around my expectations as well.

Overall the organization was good, but duathlon being new to the organizers there were some rough edges. Response to the event was pretty good and the location also was a convenient one, just outskirts of the city.

Instructions to the runners/riders were not effectively communicated and the sound system at the finish was pathetic. Many folks didn't have a clue around the transition area and had to ask around on how to proceed. Though traffic was controlled, it would have been better to stop traffic at least one way. The brunch arranged was good too, but would have loved some fish or chicken bites after the run-ride.

Not sure why there was a separate distribution of the T-shirts and why it was not done along with the goody bag. Also if you asked for a medium T-shirt, they give you a small and explained it out that Nike has a different sizing - that was bull crap! We are used to buying and wearing Nike T-shirts, that is nothing new. That sizing information should have been collected at registration with whatever Nike rating. It was a bit disappointing that RFL, who are not new to organizing events couldn't handle this well.

Overall, a new event for the ever increasing runners and riders in Bangalore and hope things would improve next time a lot.