There's a definite 'speed' theme to the website this month and so we've picked an event that's a favourite mid-season blaster: Concept Sport's Bournemouth Triathlon. This is a bike course that has just about everything from a lung-busting climb out of T1 through a steaming dual carriageway mid-section and then some technical bits thrown in as well.

Wil Newberry rode the course for us a few weeks back and logged it into his Garmin Forerunner 305. Images from the race are courtesy of Dave Tyrrell.

Section 1: the town

There's an object lesson here - select the right gear! As soon as you leave the transition area on the seafront you are running uphill with the bike and the immediate temptation is to try to mount as soon as you cross the line. This is probably a mistake! It's far better to run the extra few yards to the bus stop and mount on the slightly flatter ground there before starting the climb to the first roundabout. You will already be in oxygen debt after the swim and T1, you need to be in an easy gear - and on the small chainring too.

Once you are mounted it's a short rise up past the BIC (Bournemouth International Centre) on your left and then you hit the roundabout which leads into Priory Road.

If the uphill mount and then the first rise to the roundabout wasn't enough to get the heart rate up a notch or two then what you see when you get to Priory Road will certainly make it jump! The climb is only around 800m in total but you go up 43m in that time -- see what we meant about gear choice? Most people will do this section in the small chainring and use a 23 or 25 sprocket, anything bigger and you're going to hurt.

Section 2: the A35

The road now flattens out and there are two roundabouts (second exit at both, follow signs for Ringwood) and you then drop down a short section of dual carriageway to pick up the main A35. From here it's classic time trial: stay left but be aware that there are several exits in the urban stretch and cars have been known to pass and then turn in... Once you reach Littledown you're into the countryside and heading gently up to the Ringwood area. Get nice and aero and get the legs going. The course isn’t dead flat, but it's definitely not hilly. There is one small climb which is about two miles long and rises a hundred meters. Stay low and push through it. There are patches of road here which have just been re-laid, but not all of the dual carriage way. Watch out for road kill and stray twigs.

When you get to the end of the dual carriageway there's a big roundabout over the top of the A31 and you take the third (right) exit for Ringwood. About 50 metres down the road is a bus stop and a big green road sign showing a slip road for Verwood and Matchams, you need to stay left and exit on this slip road. The T junction at the bottom comes up quickly and you may not see the sign until it is right in front of you. You are going to make a right turn here - it will be marshalled for the race but obviously if this is a practice ride you'll need to take care.

Don't make the mistake of going back up the slip road onto the A31 again - you need to go through the tunnel and as soon as you are in the daylight you'll need to make another right hand turn. The traffic coming down off the A31 may be moving quite fast so take care and also be aware of the small car park here as this can shed loose gravel onto the road. There is a finger post for Matchams on the turn itself.

NOTE: sometimes the bike route does go down to the next exit (Ringwood proper) and loop through the roundabout there but the Matchams variant, despite the two right turns, is a quieter option and avoids the heavy A31 traffic.

You now go up a small rise back onto the dual carriage way and stay left to filter back onto the Wessex Way (A35) at the big roundabout. From this point it's pretty much downhill all the way back to Bournemouth. The simple route is to retrace your steps (the exit you want is the one AFTER the Standard Life building) but on race day the route will be determined by which bit of road the council wants the return traffic on - you don't normally come back down Priory Road! You will, however, end up at that roundabout and then drow back down towards the seafront. The dismount line is set up at the green gates which you can see just after the bus stop. This is exactly opposite the place where you got on - don't even think about trying to cross the road!! There's always a bit of a scramble here because, as soon as you are off the bike you have to run back down a ramp to T2. Shoes off is the best advice...

Aprés ride

Bournemouth's seafront is littered with fast food outlets but there are a couple of nicer coffee shops set back in the gardens behind the overpass and there are some passable cafés up the hill opposite the BIC (which is also probably the best place to park).