I reflected a bit on last night and I think I’m being a bit lazy with the way I prepare for races. I don’t think my decision to ride the Tron was a bad one with the info we had. But I didn’t make any provision for changing bikes, didn’t practice changing bikes, I didn’t even buy a gravel bike… one guy was one place ahead of me going into the final climb on a Tron. He changed to gravel, and then overtook me again to place one ahead of me. So not really an advantage. But anyone who started on gravel or changed before the first climb would of had a distinct advantage in the end. The pace just wasn’t quick enough on the flat to give the Tron any edge and I really should of given myself the opportunity to adapt in the race.
Really generally I’m being a bit lazy. I only knew the sprint was after 5km because I bumped into Joffey warming up and asked him… I didn’t look at the course at all. If I had of I would of realised the finish was at the top of the climb (I assumed it was at the bottom of the descent so that caught me by surprise abs maybe cost me some places). Or that there was actually a bit of a lead in to the climb after the sprint which allowed some recovery. My HRM died halfway around because I hadn’t charged it… On top of that to be honest I don’t even know what some of the power ups do!… does that steam roller flatten the gradient, make the road smooth, or do both for example
This waffle is mainly for my benefit, as a way of cataloging some of the things I need to work on. But maybe other people are guilty of the same (?).
Shame there’s such a big gap to the next season. Hopefully we can race together at least once a week in the interim. And then next season we should all be in better shape and in better routine from the get go.
