Lovely lake and setting. Good, fast cycle route but the run was short of the 10k possibily due to a confusion near the circuit end. The run route also had a tricky path that challenged manners of oncoming runners. Also, I'm not on facebook so didn't see the pdf or get a race brief before hand. Maybe admin might email out for next year? I'll definitely do it again though.

gosfield lake triathlon is run by the born2tri team. They have run this event for a few years and have it organised very well. 

Parking is not on site, it is in the local playing field well signposted, marshalled and a short 300 ish m walk to the lake. 

Registration is slick and well organised 

transition is wel marshalled and easy to navigate. They have a bag drop tent which helps when your a lone competitor so you have access to your belongings before the race finishes and transition opens for bike removal.  

Race start this year was via a beach start style lining in up in corresponding time zones based upon your 100m time. Previously it had been a start in the water. This was the only issue for me as the actual start area was very narrow and once over the timing mat you were held up slightly. Over than that the swim is good and easy to navigate as 2 laps for the Olympic distance one for the sprint. 

The bike is two laps of the surrounding countryside on quite roads so not much traffic. The course is two laps for Olympic one for sprint it is quick however there is one hill per lap that gets you!  

The run is out into countryside passed the golf club, part trails part farmers track and again two laps for Olympic and one for sprint. This is mostly a traffic free run. There are 2 water stations that are well marshalled. Could do with gells at one of them probably a luxury request rather than anything else! 

Into the finish line and done 

great setting, organisation, well signposted and marshalled. 

This race is on my calendar every year  

Gosfield is to date the furthest I've travelled for a triathlon. Was it worth the journey? I'd say yes.

Registration was simple, find your number, tell the people on registration and you get your chip, numbers and stickers, you then get offered an energy bar, shirt and towel which are always great freebies!

The water temp on the day was 23C's, you know what that means! Wetsuit illegal. For most people this may induce panic, however Gosfield is probably one of the better lakes for such circumstances as it's only 5 foot at its deepest (hence why the temperature was so warm at 6 in the morning!),

The swim was a self-seeded rolling start, faster swimmers at the front, slower swimmers a the back and for the most part this worked well. Gosfield lake itself isn't overly unpleasant, despite its nickname of "duck poo lake" and the very murky water (for 5 feet deep water it's perhaps not unsurprising with 200 odd swimmers disturbing the waters), the only trouble with the lake itself is it's also used as a water sports lake and there's mini buoys which are difficult to sight, don't swim into them as it will throw you off when you look for the person who kicked you only to realise it was a small red buoy.

Out the swim into transition for the bike, with numbered racking there wasn't much to worry about.

Exiting transition onto the bike was an experience, I'm no stranger to a foot down when leaving a complex to start the bike segment, however the guy exiting transition with me apparently was, the marshals where shouting at him to stop and got louder every time, of course, in my post swim haze I was unaware they were talking to him not me and rolling down a hill and breaking sharply isn't a great mix, I did come off my bike, no damage done but needless time added on a risk better avoided, might be an idea to manage that a bit better by moving the mount line to the bottom and keeping the dismount line at the top of the rise. That aside, the Bike course was quite honestly a bit of a bitch, constantly undulating and some tough climbs, I had a terrible bike split, others not so much, whether that was experience or they're just better cyclists than I (both very plausible options) but I didn't enjoy the bike course too much, not to say it's a bad route, but I could've been a lot better prepared. Clearly user error.

The run was beautiful and quiet, along some private farm land with, the sprint option came in at 5km whereas the standard was 9km, this is because of where the loop cuts back in meaning the loop is actually 4km with 500m in and out to the loop. The run can be described as almost trail like with some roads and dirt roads and well as a bit of Theresa May and running through wheat fields.

Overall, another nice enjoyable triathlon, with a tougher than usual bike course, and a nice medal at the end and some lovely freebies, I can't really fault Born2Tri for this race!