North got back into racing early last month when he took part in a round of the Bathurst Wallabies Triathlon Club Series but hasn’t been able to get back to his old training and racing distances yet.

“I was pretty much off the bike for nearly two months so coming back has been hard. I still haven’t been able to run too much. I’ve been back swimming and riding a fair bit of late, but running I’ve been stepping it up slowly,” North said.

“Five kilometres is tough when you’re used to doing 20 and 30km runs. I’ve got a few races planned for the season and I want to try and get my ranking back up. But really, the first half of this season is all about training and trying to find the legs again, getting through it and seeing where I’m at.”

The opening round of the Bathurst Cycling Club’s Thursday Individual Time Trial Series was another good chance for North to gain some valuable time on the bike.

Over the 15.1km course, a return trip from Perthville to the Newbridge Road turnoff, North was second fastest overall with a time of 21 minutes and 25 seconds.

That put him just three seconds adrift of winner Ryan O’Donnell.

The ride was a good test for North considering how much shorter the trip was compared to his usual racing repertoire.

“It was really tough, actually. I trained this morning and I wasn’t really feeling it around lunch time, though I kind of came good,” he said.

“Once you’re out there it’s tough. 15km doesn’t suit me. 90 is more what suits me. But this great fun and good training. Hopefully we’ll have a few more triathletes get out here as well as other people wanting to give it a go.”

Jay Austin rounded out the top three overall in Thursday’s race with a time of 21:30,

B grade went to Stephen Jackson (24:13), C grade winner was Darren Fenton (25:53) and D grade was taken out by Caroline Robertson (27:30).