hi

Today I will be watching all of the Men's Triathlon. I have watched many Triathlons live because our niece competes in the events. She is not of International standard but we are proud of who she is and what she does.

We - GB - have two brothers going today who are well fancied but I don't want to spoil it by saying that they are going to get medals....but fingers crossed.

The most amazing Triathlon that we have ever seen was in Madeira - which as anyone who knows the place is extremely mountainous. Why we were amazed was to see the cyclists doing upwards of 60mph on the steep descents. There were many sharp bends and all that was there to protect them were ordinary domestic mattresses strapped to the walls. Amazingly we neither saw nor heard of any bad accidents or injuries.

Last year our niece was in The Llandudno Sea Triathlon. The weather was British Summer at it's worst.

The high winds and rain were so bad that the sea swimming stage was cancelled on safety grounds and the event became a Biathlon. It pelted down with strong winds throughout the run and the cycling. Many did not finish. Our niece though enjoyed it. Swimming is her worst stage so she featured higher than she would have done.

At the moment ( 10.30am) here in the Northwest it is raining hard. Not sure what London is getting but hope it stays dry. The City roads played havoc in the Women's Triathlon with many crashes and accidents.

Cheers

MikeL2