Having used the Winter Challenge to enhance our fitness over the dark months, the final challenge was a test of how far we had come. 3 activities (swim 400m, bike 40k and run 5k (all could be done separately and on different days, phew) with points awarded for performance against other Wheelers, but more importantly against previous performance over the winter.
Swim – all swimmers improved. Vince Hounsome went even faster, breaking 6 minutes.
Innes Wright ignored the memo re not having to do the events separately. His bike leg and second run in a duathlon were used. Both showed improvement versus his earlier times in the winter (who doesn’t love a race?) and he was the fastest on the bike but only 3rd on the run (the thing he thought he was good at). Put all together, Innes was the overall winner in the week (but still missed the overall podium).
Dave Hayter and Chris Mullet continued their battle for 5th place. Did Dave game it? His improvement points kept him ahead of Chris. Note for next year: put in a relaxed swim in the final week and there would be a big points bonus.
Jon Rich and Vince were tied in second place coming into the final challenge. Jon put his bike fitness to good use with a 30 second improvement in a time of 57:45 on Zwift. However Vince’s excellent swim and run (21:02) was enough to take the overall second step.
Michael Sleeman has led from gun to tape. 2 of the activities showed improvement over the series, finishing with a superb 17:23 for the run (23 seconds faster than just before Christmas). Let’s hoe he take this excellent form into his race season.
Let’s do it all again next winter (and get others active).
Results (and schedule) can be found on the GDW Winter Challenge results 2025-26.
