He may only have been doing it "to keep an idle mind busy" but top cyclist Kris Hedges certainly showed the rest of the field a clean pair of heels in yesterday's Bank of Bermuda Foundation Individual Triathlon.

Having not competed for seven years Hedges returned to the event in fine fashion, blitzing the field in a measured performance that saw him cross the line in one hour and 30 seconds.

Though several minutes in arrears, teenager Geoffrey Smith also put in a terrific performance, beating his previous personal best by several minutes to come home in 1:03.15.

Jamie Brown, who has been struggling with a back problem, was a surprise third in 1:04:41.

Hedges, who profited to some degree by the absence of last year's champion Matthew Herring, then runner-up Kent Richardson and Andrew Davies, intends to step up his triathlon involvement.

The Island's number one cyclist is planning to meet up with the Island's number one triathlete Tyler Butterfield for several meets in the near future.

"There are a lot reasons (why I haven't competed in a while) and we're not going to get into all those," said Hedges, whose last race was the National Championships in the Spring of 1997. "Obviously I came home for the (cancelled) Conyers, Dill and Pearman Grand Prix and my brother was home too. It had been my intention to do the Grand Prix and stay and do this because this off-season I'm looking to do a few more triathlons.

"Hopefully, I'll be able to go to the Worlds in New Zealand in December and stay with Tyler down in Australia.

"I'm just doing it for fun and looking to have a good time. It's just to keep an idle mind busy more than anything else. I am not going to take it too seriously, I'll just see what happens."

Hedges was in the top ten but some way down after the half-mile swim - youngster Smith leading the way out of the water with Jim Hinton second and another one for the future, Khamari Greaves, third.

Smith, Greaves and Jason Krupp were one, two, three after the first lap of the ride, but it was only a matter of time before Hedges caught and then overhauled them.

Within one more circuit, the Team Snow Valley rider was pulling away and after lap three he had a lead of more than one minute.

He had stretched the gap by the time he headed out onto the run and unless he was to suffer some major mishap in the closing stages the race was his.

Smith did his best to keep up the challenge, while Krupp (1:05:25) and Greaves (1:07:51) fell off the radar somewhat to be overtaken by the fast-finishing Brown and Neil De St.Croix (1:04:59).

"I went out pretty relaxed," said Hedges of his plan at the start. "I knew if I went out fast I might die. I've only been swimming a couple of times this week. I have still got the technique but I don't have the upper body strength. I just kind of let the swim do its thing."

Hedges said he was a little out of breath heading out onto the bike, something he said he was not used to.

"I tried to get out pretty quick," he said. "I knew Greg (Hopkins, later to retire) was pretty close behind me. I then lost sight of him and thought he was even closer and that kept me going a little fast.

"It's a really technical course and you really can't get into a rhythm. There's a lot of riders out there and it's dangerous at times."

Heading into the run, Hedges said he wanted to establish a quick first mile.

"I wanted to do that just in case anyone was looking to come across. They would see a large gap and think they wouldn't be able to close it," he said. "After that I just settled and made sure I had a little bit at the end so I didn't have to walk."

Smith was delighted with his performance and not at all disappointed to come in behind Hedges.

"I knew he was experienced in the sport so I started with him in the swim and came out first," he said. "The bike I just kind of cruised and left everything for the run.

"I'm happy and my time, 1:03, is four minutes better than my previous personal best. I've been training very well."

Third-placed Brown said he had missed the past two months while undergoing physiotherapy and wasn't sure how he would perform on the day.

"I wanted to have a strong swim and that was OK," he said. "I found the bike quite tough with just the five loops - it took a couple of laps to get into it.

"On the run I found it hard for the first lap and then managed to get going. There was a lot of support and that picks you up.

"I'm dead pleased. I enjoyed it."