It’s a fact, triathletes love kit! And nothing gets more discussed, considered, argued about and drooled over than bikes. We love bikes too, and so we bring you another in our 2008 series of ‘Bike of the Race’. There are no rules involved – you may be the fastest or the slowest in your age group. You may even be an elite athlete. You could be riding the most ‘bling’ bike available, a rare Italian thoroughbred or an old shopper (with basket attached…). Or, we might just like you! As always, our Tri247 staff will be out and about all over the country (well, the world actually), so if you get a tap on the shoulder and asked for a photo – be nice to us, and smile!

Sky Draper

Focus Cayo Expert Road Bike

Our latest bike of the race for 2008 belongs to 12-year old Sky Draper. Yes, it is a rather nice bike for 12! Never happened when I was a lad...

Sky races for Jetstream Tri Club (www.jetstreamtri.com), a junior club based in the London Borough of Harrow. Now, in case you are thinking "why give a youngster a bike like that", it's fair to say that Sky isn't your average tristar athlete. The word talent could well have been invented for this young lady. In modern World Cup racing, everyone knows that you really need to be a pretty special swimmer and runner to succeed. Boxes ticked on the potential front there we reckon...

• 1500m Swimming Personal Best: 19 minutes 46 seconds
• 1500m Running Personal Best: 4 minutes 54.46 seconds (currently heading the UK U13 rankings)
• London Mini-Marathon winner 2007 and 2008

Oh, and she's no slouch on two wheels either. We caught up with Sky at the Hillingdon Bank Holiday Duathlon, which was round one of the 2008 London Tristar Series. Not surprisingly, she had just won! The following day she also beat all-comers in the Under-15 3km event held alongside the Watford 10km, making it a very successfull bank holiday weekend.

The bike, which is new for this season (and a few more seasons, her father's wallet will be hoping) will ensure that there really will be nothing holding her back, which might be even more worrying for her opposition. The details:

• Focus Cayo Expert, full-carbon frame & forks.
• Planet-X Pro Carbon 50 wheels (clinchers)
• Michelin ProRace2 tyres
• Full Shimano Ultegra Groupset
• Profile clip-on aerobars
• Look pedals

Sky isn't new to triathlon, in fact she's been racing the duathlon events at Hillingdon for four seasons now. For the rest of the year she plans to race in the London Series, which will hopefully qualify her for the Inter Regional Championships in Crawley, plus some of the South East Series too. In addition, running races, swimming and even some cycle time trials, which will really put the Focus to good use as well as embarrassing a few 'oldies' with her speed.

Racing aside, there is also the possibility of another challenge ahead, which the Focus will be ready for - last year, her mother, Ana, visited an Aids orphans project in Malawi and Sky is keen to raise money for that by completing a century (100-mile) bike ride.

Just in case you are thinking "pushy parents", no, her father Kevin ensures us that their biggest challenge is trying to hold her back. You can see in her racing, she clearly loves competing.

Looking into the future, full-time professional athlete is definitely her goal, though whether that's in swimming, cycling, running, triathlon or even something else we'll have to wait and see. Either way, I'm certain you'll be hearing about Sky Draper for years to come.