Racing While Going Nowhere
Sometimes ranking places and even titles can be won and lost when the competing teams are not even moving – when they are in transition between disciplines, or depending on when, and how much, they chose to sleep. Both strategies will be critical in ARWC 2010, which is an exceptionally long race with a high number of transitions, twenty-two in all.
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Last night the leading teams (at the time Blackwater and Silva/Gerber) came into Transition 4, where they left their bikes and prepared for the paddle/trek stage. They arrived close to midnight, in the dark, cold and wet after riding through some appalling weather and had to complete a complex transition to two disciplines, taking the necessary torches/batteries for a night stage and the right clothing, plus all the mandatory equipment. Every stage has a mandatory gear list and this one included a tent for safety. Forgetting anything on the mandatory list could not only hamper the team’s progress, but also incur a penalty.
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The teams found their kit barrels and set about their tasks quickly, Blackwater taking just 20 minutes, and Silva a little longer. These are remarkably quick times but the two teams have experience of hundreds of races and will have practiced what they need to do many times before. Teams differ in how they are organised, in some each racer will take care of themselves only, others will have specific roles such as food/drink, checking the mandatory kit, or watching the time the team is in transition and hurrying them up. Some will discuss what needs to be done as they approach a transition, while the more experienced just know what needs to be done.
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Last night Silva were talking much more among themselves, with Bjorn Rydval taking the leading role, while Blackwater were shouting questions at each other from time to time. Surprisingly Nathan Fa’ave, who is the new boy on the team, seemed to be taking the leading role, answering questions from Mike Kloser and having the clearest grasp of the race logistics. He realised the team food barrel would not be there on their return so they would need to take enough food for 12 hours. It’s often the case teams need to think some stages ahead during transition.
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He did make a misjudgement however, taking too little clothing for the freezing cold night. Next day he said it was the coldest he’d ever been on a race and this must have weakened him. Similarly any mistake in transition can be costly. Forgetting a bit of climbing kit, not packing the food, not rehydrating or leaving a map could all be disastrous for any team’s race. Everything has to be completed correctly, under the most stressful conditions imaginable and as quickly as possible. Even a minute or two lost at each transition adds up, and in this race it’s a factor of times 22.
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