I did have one of those moments that you get sometimes training during the week - not sure if it was good or bad yet. I think I will put it in the "wow that is cool, but slightly disturbing" basket. While on the long run I was running along a track next to the beach, and just happened to look up through a gap in the trees - and out on to the ocean. A very nice view, quite relaxing, and then saw an Orca pop up out of the water, probably no more than 100m from shore. First thought was "wow that is cool". Then a few ticks of the brain later, "hmmm, I swim in there over summer...". Slightly freaky, but still cool - I think....
This week the entries for the Tauranga half ironman opened, and managed to sell out in the first day! That does not surprise me at all. It was a week last year, and I would have been surprised if it went over 3 days this year. While not the "fairest" race - being so flat and multi-lap, it is still a great day out. The draft-fest that it was a few years ago has not quite so bad at the front, but still quite atrocious for the women (basically the leading women sitting in bunches of the faster age-group men). But at least you know that when you enter!
With the enthusiasm of the half ironman entries, it was good to see the trash talking start out quite early this year. I am sure that a fair few people will see me as a target to beat in the half and in the ironman, both overall and in individual splits. Sometimes this can be a hassle and a distraction as people try to sprint you in at the end of a leg, but often it is fun, and adds to the challenge of the day. The end of the swim has been unnecessarily competitive a few times in Ironmans - it is a long day, and gaining a few seconds by sprinting someone off at then end of the swim is not usually a good use of energy. However, I have had to "defend" my position a couple of times - particularly when I have had a good swim, and the lead woman has tried to roll me in the last 50m, after quite happily sitting on my feet for the previous 2-3km! Bets have already been placed, and so far I have a brunch and a 3 course meal as bets, so by the end of the year, I will probably be able to eat out for free for a month, or be feeding others for a fair amount of time!
The Tour de France is continuing. There have been a few shake-ups and a few contenders have already been found wanting - mostly wanting new legs... It is still early days, but as a general rule, in tours it is not about gaining time on your competitors, it is about not losing time. The last man standing wins! Every tour I have done has been a huge learning experience. Initially in the tactics of tours - which are completely different to single stage races, and then learning about yourself, and what you can and can't do!
I have a few vivid memories from cycle racing tours. Here are a couple: in the first, we had just finished a hard stage of around 80km, and there was a 1 hour criterium around 2 hours later. After finishing and getting some warm clothes on, I decided a nice hot coffee was in order and jumped on the bike to go to a cafe a few km's up the road. Jumped on the bike and thought to myself - why the hell did I leave the bike in the hardest gear as I struggled to pedal off? Looked down and saw that I was in granny gear (the easiest gear I had) - then had a deep feeling of dread about the next stage! How was I going to handle a full-on Crit if I felt this bad now? An hour later all was good and we were flying around a 1km circuit at stupid speeds... The other memorable moment was in the tour of southland. It was one of the hardest stages, mainly due to the strong cross winds, and the absolutely ridiculous pace being set at the front. It was a few days into the tour, so riders were getting tired. The competition at the top end was starting to get fierce. After a couple of km's in the start town the pace was really on (45-50kph) and everyone was stuck in the left hand gutter due to the cross wind, and gaps were opening up quickly. I found myself near the back end of the bunch (definitely a bad place to be), and almost pushed into the rear of a couple of parked cars. So it was pull out from the echelon, and sprint up nearer the front, and pull into the next open gap - of which there were a few. After a few km's of leap frogging up I was in the top 20 and slightly over the redline! The next 30km were hanging on the back of the front bunch, and occasionally team time trialling back on to the front bunch with a couple of others who were in the same boat as me - doing all they could to hang on. I have only been dropped a few times - where I could not put in an effort to keep up, sure I have been in the wrong place at the wrong time and ended up in grouppo two, but that is tactical rather than physical. However after around 40km of hard-out riding in the gutter, and struggling to keep up, the pace lifted again, and I was well into the red, then realized, I just could not hold on - I was dropped! Damn! I then rode over a fire hose that was across the road - and realized that we had just gone over a sprint prime, the bunch slowed a bit after the sprint and I was back on!! Yahoo! The next 40km were just miserable - a strong cross wind meant riding in the gutter - so I was absolutely as far left as I could possibly ride, right on the rivet (max effort), just wishing the person in front would ride a few inches to the right so I could get some draft - but knowing he was in the same position as me, and that was just not going to happen! Managed to finish in the bunch at the end (16 riders or so), and the main bunch was over 20 minutes behind - a huge gap in a 80km stage. At the end of the stage, one of the race referees can over to me and said "I have come to inspect your bike. I am checking for teeth marks in the handlebars". At least he appreciated the pain and suffering with his sarcasm - and I think there were teeth marks in the handle bars too!
Learning to suffer is an important skill!
No comments:
Post a Comment