Chater View Cottage, North Luffenham. Entire home · 2 bed · lockbox self check-in · host Jonathan. Kitchen, wifi, 1 driveway space. Drive is steep — park on the grass at the top if needed. Reverse carefully; the road gets busy at commute times.
South shore of the lake. ~5 min to Edith Weston (shop + you’re on the bike course). ~10–15 min to Whitwell / LE15 8BL via Empingham. The Fox (pub food) ~5 min. Exact pin is in the Airbnb app after booking.
Weymouth → cottage is still ~3h 45–4h 15. Aim to arrive Saturday afternoon, dump bags, then Whitwell for 17:00 registration. Friday 18:15 practice swim is optional (inspire2tri).
From the Event Guide (31 Aug). Website times are provisional. This table wins.
| When | What |
|---|---|
| Fri 11 · 18:15 | Optional practice swim. One 950 m lap of the real course + T1. Booked via inspire2tri. Not Saturday. |
| Sat 12 · afternoon | Check in at Chater View Cottage, North Luffenham. Then drive ~12 min to Whitwell. |
| Sat 12 · 17:00–18:30 | Register — Harbour café, upstairs. Take a parking ticket at the barrier. Photo ID + BTF Race Pass (already bought, 6 Jul, £8). Light rain possible late afternoon — jacket + dry bag for T kit. |
| Sat · 17:05–18:35 | Bike + helmet check-in. Helmet on and fastened. Overnight security in T. |
| Sat · 18:00 / 18:30 / 19:00 | Optional transition tour. Turn up at swim start. No booking. |
| Sun · 04:45 | Site opens. |
| Sun · 05:00–06:00 | Last-chance registration + bike in. |
| Sun · 06:15 | Compulsory race briefing. All athletes. Do not miss this. |
| Sun · 06:25 | Transition closes. No more bikes. |
| Sun · 06:30–06:48 | Waves every 3 min. In the water 3 min before your horn. |
| Sun · 08:15 | Swim cut-off. |
| Sun · 12:15 | Bike cut-off. T reopens once T2 is clear. |
| Sun · 14:00 | Prize giving (sooner if they can). |
| Sun · 15:30 | Run / overall cut-off. |
Wave colour is on the printouts outside registration. Not allocated by preference. 25–29 age group. Chip on left ankle, outside the wetsuit. One parking ticket covers Sat+Sun — do not lose it.
| Wave | Time | Hat |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 06:30 | Blue (inter-services) |
| 2 | 06:33 | Yellow |
| 3 | 06:36 | Pink |
| 4 | 06:39 | Red |
| 5 | 06:42 | White |
| 6 | 06:45 | Orange |
| 7 | 06:48 | Green |
| Do this | Likely clock | |
|---|---|---|
| Swim 1.9 km | First 200 m boring. ~1:45–1:50/100. Yellow buoys left, red right. | 34–35 |
| T1 | 60 m grass. Don’t sit down. | 3:30 |
| Bike 88.5 km | HR 144–146 → 148–150 → 152 last third. ~28–30 km/h if honest. | ~3:00–3:06 |
| T2 | Keep left after lap 3. Neutral zone. Off the bars. | 2:30 |
| Run 21.1 km | First 3 km at 6:15 no matter what. Then 5:45–6:00. | ~2:00–2:03 |
| Total | Race the cap, not 5:45. | ~5:45 |
16 Aug brick (10 km @ 4:55 off 27 km) is your proof the run is there. 8 Aug 19.2 km still faded 10%. Kilometres 12–21 are the only question. Opening at 5:20 loses them.
88.5 km · ~490–540 m climb · 5.6 m/km. 83% of it is between −2% and +2%. Non-drafting, 12 m. Highway Code. Reckless = DQ.
| # | Junction |
|---|---|
| T1 | Mount after BIKE OUT. Speedbump at the barriers — slow down. Left onto A606 toward Oakham. You do not have right of way. |
| 1 | Barnsdale Hill — fast, stay out of the drains. |
| 2 | Left toward Hambleton (you have ROW). |
| 3 | Hambleton U-turn. Timed. Don’t miss it. Keep left, single file, slow, coned 100 m, live traffic either side. 20 seconds here is not your race. |
| 4 | Left A606 toward Oakham. |
| 5 | Roundabout 1st exit A6003 toward Uppingham. No ROW. |
| 6 | Left Manton — you have ROW, village traffic. |
| 7–8 | Mini roundabouts, first exit, through Edith Weston. No ROW. Parked cars. |
| 9 | Left A606 Empingham. No ROW. Then follow — you have ROW but side roads join. |
| 10 | Left into Whitwell. Laps 1–2: keep RIGHT into the lap lane (feed). Lap 3: keep LEFT to T2. |
Feed at Whitwell after laps 1 and 2: clear = water, yellow = energy. Pull in. Litter only in the zone — litter is a DQ. Whitwell lap/T2 is a neutral zone: sit up, off the bars, change lanes early.
Swim: two 950 m laps, Whitwell creek, deep water. Yellow left, one red right (exit). After lap 1: timing check then back in the lap funnel. Trouble: stop, move aside, arm up, hold kayak handles — don’t climb on. Water ~18°C, wetsuit optional above 16. Wear it — 06:30 is 3 min before sunrise, air ~15°C, vis moderate, RH ~95%.
Run: two out-and-backs to Normanton Church, tarmac paths. You count laps; mats do it too. Feeds ~every 2.5 km: water, electrolytes, cola, High5 aqua berry caffeine + berry energy. Litter zones only.
No big bags at the bike. Bag dump in the marked area or leave it in the car. Wristband stays on until after you finish.
Breakfast ~140 g carb + 200 mg caffeine before the swim. Bike 80–90 g/h (2:1 glucose:fructose). Run 60 g/h. Practise is done; don’t debut a new gel. Not a heat race — do not add extra sodium on top of the plan.
Friday 11 Sep is the sleep that matters — 8 h+, not Saturday night. Watch on.
D−4 briefing card · PNG · pulled 9 Sep 20:30 BST.
| Plan on this | |
|---|---|
| Swim 06:30 | Air 15°C, water ~18°C, light showers, vis Good (BBC) / 8.7 km moderate low (Met Office). RH ~94%. Sunrise 06:33. Wetsuit on. Sight extra if it’s raining. |
| Bike | W 7–11 mph official, gust 16–21. Models 8–13 mph. Clearing from 09:00. Three-lap mix of tail then head. Cap still 144–146 first 35. |
| Run | 20–22°C, sunny intervals, RH ~65%, dry. First 3 km at 6:15 still. |
| Sat 17:00 | Saturday is the messier day — Met Office rain 40% at noon, gusts 30, TWN 2–4 mm. BBC itself is dry at 17:00 (pop 6–8%). Jacket + dry bag anyway. |
Vs 7 Sep: morning shower risk is up (BBC 26% → 61%), amounts still small. Official wind unchanged / slightly calmer. Visibility better. Fuel unchanged — not a heat race.
| Source | Sun 13 |
|---|---|
| BBC Oakham 20:01 9 Sep | Light cloud 21 / 11. W 11 mph, gust 19. Daily PoP 61%. 06–09: showers 15–17°C; dry from 10:00. Vis Good. |
| Met Office Oakham | Sunny intervals 21 / 12. Rain 50% at midnight, gust 21. 07:00: 16°C, 7 mph, 20%. Vis low 8.7 km. |
| Empingham (course) | 22 / 13. 07:00 17°C, 7 mph, 20%. |
| WeatherBug | Mostly cloudy 22 / 13 (71 / 55°F). W 12 mph. 25% rain. |
| Weather Network | 21 / 11, PoP 60%, <1 mm. Sat 12 is the 2–4 mm day. |
| YR / MET Norway 17:27 UTC | 01:00 rain 2.7 mm/6h. 07:00 16°C cloudy 12 mph, 0.4 mm/6h. 13:00 21°C fair, dry. |
| Open-Meteo UKMO | 15–20°C. 0.6 mm. Race window 05–10h is 0.0 mm. W 6–9 mph, vis 16 km, cloud breaking 08:00. |
| ECMWF IFS | 16–22°C. 1.0 mm at 05:00 then dry. WSW 12–13 mph, gust ~25. |
| GFS / ICON | GFS dry all morning, 13–21°C, NW. ICON dry 05–14h, 17–22°C. Rain is overnight. |
| Ensembles | Sun rain median 0.7–2.0 mm. 43–72% of members ≥1 mm; 10–20% ≥5 mm. Washout still the tail. |
Lake 18.1°C today, ~18.0 on the 13th (seatemperature.net). Optional above 16 — still wear the suit. Whitwell BBC IDs are Isle of Wight — Oakham / 52.67, −0.64 only.
On the fenix: drop VIT_2026_Bike_89km.fit into GARMIN/NewFiles/ via OpenMTP. Bike activity → Routing → Courses → Follow Course (not Use Map). Turn prompts on. Phone recce = 1-lap course, not the 89 km file.
Do not skip the Hambleton out-and-back on the recce. Google may try to “optimise” it away.
