Edmonton World Cup 24th June 2007
Well
its been a big week.. Two World Cups in 7 days and both were very contrasting
events. After last weeks heat wave we had to deal with in Des Moines we
arrived in Edmonton Canada. Lets just say that it was a welcome surprise
to see some rain and cloudy skies. The World Cup circuit can be a brutal
one. Racing week in and week out requires allot of conditioning. And you
soon find out if you are lacking conditioning when you try to back up
in seven days less travel.
As I commented after last weeks race in Des Moines I've come back up to altitude in Boulder Colorado. I'll be here with my best mate Bevan Docherty for my next phase of training heading into the Lifetime fitness race in Minneapolis on July the 14th. I tried to be as precious as I could with myself heading back up as it was such a short period between Des Moines and then coming back down to race again in Edmonton. I felt good again heading into the race and was not suffering too much from last weeks effort.
Like I commented in my last report I was really looking forward to being more aggressive and looking for chances to win the race in any way. It's always difficult to win let alone win a World Cup but sometimes you have to try to make it go your way. One thing I always try to do is to have goals within a race. But at the same time make sure they are realistic with where I am in my preparation. So if I wanted to win this thing I was going to have to try something as running off the bike with Bevan was not a realistic option at this time. I had an OK swim. Again a little back after the first lap but really swam through on the second to make the first group. 23 guys made the vital split from the field of 75 and got straight into consolidating the break made from the swim. The bike course featured a challenging hill on every lap of the bike, 6 in total.
I rode the hill hard on the second lap and managed to get away for about 3k, But was hauled back in by the big group. The group was really working well together. And it was going to make riding off the front even more difficult than I thought. I decided after that my best bet was to let some guys drift off the front. That way I could try to bridge the gap by myself. And the pack might let me go thinking it was too much work closing the gap alone. It's always risky if you don't give them enough space as the pack will chase you down immediately. And if you let them get to far down the road. You may not even be able to get on there wheel.
With 15k to go two guys attacked off the front. Both boys are as strong as ox's on the bike and this was my chance. I paused and moved towards the front and then attacked as hard as I could to drop anyone trying to follow. At this point I was fully committed and it took me a decent kilometer to get on them. Once I bridged across we really pushed hard. We weren't making too much time but we were already fully committed. And so I just hoped that maybe they would sit up on the last lap. And we could grab 90secs which happens often. In the end 27 seconds is all we got for all the work.
But it still meant I was in front and giving myself a chance to win. I hit the run and tried to find my legs. But In under two kilometers I looked over my shoulder to see Bevan had bridged the gap to the front. He was moving like a steam train! and it was impressive. I tried to maintain my own rhythm by focusing on keeping my cadence and holding my form. I was running OK for the effort I had expelled on the bike but was passed for second at about 7k. I was fading a bit towards the end and really had to battle to keep myself on the podium.
In the end I was passed in the last 500 meters by Athens bronze medalist Sven Riederer. I tried to sprint but my legs were empty and he was full of running which was a stark contrast to me. So at the end of the day it was a vast improvement from last week. I did everything I set out to do in the race apart from winning. But I gave myself the chance to do so. Which I was disappointed not to do the week prior. So until next time 3 more weeks of training then lifetime fitness. Non-drafting, old styles love it!!
Hope all is well and take care.
Kris