Its a time of nervous energy, patience is required as is not thinking about all the things that can go wrong! I know that Mex had her fair share of waiting for me in the past and one of the nice things about us both riding now, is that she knows that time just goes by when you’re on the road - and I know what its like to be waiting when she’s on the road. Its been a learning exercise for us both.
After rolling in yesterday, I waited for the W3/4 field to finish. I’d already seen Mex & team come through with their last lap to go. They all looked pretty strong and well placed, only an hour to wait for their race to finish. Mex had been as nervous as heck waiting for the race, the mental side - she’s tough, but still needs to get used to how strong she is - plays such a big part in bike racing.
When the race came to the finish the announcer said there was a solo rider with about 30 seconds - ah, that’d be Kirsty Gough then (note to Casey: surely she’s ready for the 2’s now!). Sure enough another strong ride by Kirsty, congratulations. But, there were 2 Minty’s gone from the field, Mex and Ali. Andrea and I chatted a bit about whats gone on and where they were. Seconds feel like minutes, tick, tock… Now, I’m starting to doubt, wondering… finally Mex makes her finish. She looks ok, physically at least, she’s with 2 other girls (who are sprinting, for…???) and rolls straight along the finish road and disappears. Not good signs.
Later… much later… turns out there was a crash on the final lap and she got stuck behind it, caught in two minds whether to wait for Ali (who’d gone down) or keep going. Two minds and not picking one is bad. She learned a lesson, again. Nice racing by Mex and team to put the field into difficulty on the climb, end of lap 1, not sure that was the best tactical decision - but not my call and if you don’t try, then you’ll never know. Team racing, tactics and execution take more than just a quick chat on the line. The Minty women know this and the planning and execution is almost perfect, even if the tactics don’t always come off.
4 responses so far ↓
1 Margaret // Mar 3, 2008 at 7:54 pm
I don’t want to think about the hours I have spent waiting for you! Especially when you get garbled messages about riders and scared horses being on the roads.
2 Margaret // Mar 3, 2008 at 7:58 pm
Oh yes, I was pretty mad at the two girls that I had just pulled up to the finish and then they sprint pass me like they were doing something brilliant. What’s up with that?
3 Allison Krasnow // Mar 3, 2008 at 10:26 pm
So,I’m curious as to what your tactics would have been…I’m always learning and would love to know your thoughts.
Crash was a bummer. Wheels overlapping in a 6 woman break that was just being established seems pretty unnecessary. Lucky for me, I landed on top of someone and never hit concrete so I’m bruised, but no real road rash.
4 Robert // Mar 4, 2008 at 11:06 am
It’s more about team than individual effort and you need to make every effort count. The climb at Foothills isn’t long enough to do real damage and there is a steady part of the circuit immediately after that riders can recover on. Once you decide to make a statement, continue it with a longer period of intensity.
If you wanted to create a split or hurt some of the stronger riders then maybe by going all out along the road before the climb and then hitting the climb hard would’ve been enough. This typically wouldn’t be done a single rider, but by 2-3 from the team. A 5-10+ minute effort along Cox Ferry Rd taking the cross/head wind into account could’ve made a difference. Don’t be afraid to work with other teams to really neutralise riders without teams.
Like I said, I think your pre-race planning and the execution of the tactics you choose is excellent.
I’m glad that you landed safely and didn’t get hurt.
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