Des Moines ITU World Cup - Bevan
15 June 2010
Des Moines, Iowa, probably not a place you think would host the richest Triathlon in the World. However, if they put up the cash, the Worlds best will come.
Des Moines in the past has been both good and bad to me. The first 2 years I finished 2nd, and last year a DNF due to sickness. The race win and the 200k check has eluded me over the years. Was this year going to be the one?
Going into the race my form was certainly on. I’d had a great month of training back in Santa Cruz leading up to the event, with no injuries or illnesses to give me any doubt.
The course over the years has been moved around a lot. It is now settled out in West Des Moines, with a fairly static course that offers limited opportunities on the bike and generally results in one large pack going into a fast flat run.
I got off to a great start. I was just sitting on one of the Russians feet, making it to the front buoy untouched, then just settled down into my rhythm. I did get knocked around a little in the second lap, however still came out of the water positioned well enough to make front pack.
On the bike and for 40km, it was a whole bunch of guys jockeying for position, with no one standing any chance of making a break stick. Finally with 2 km to go, the “Clingers” (guys that sit at the back of the pack) forced their way to the front.
Now maybe I’m just getting old and grumpy; however, in cycling there is an unwritten etiquette about your position in the group or wheels you can ride on relative to who you are. Something similar needs to be established in triathlon, before “Joe Blow” from Timbuktu goes all Rambo on the pack and brings us down.
After surviving a very dodgy entry into transition two, I set out on the 10km run at a relatively conservative pace. As expected, a lot of the guys went out hard and fast, and then began to fade. Sure enough by 2km I had eased my way back to the top 3 with only Tim Don up the road and was ready to pounce! Just heading into lap 2 of 4, I heard my number and name cited for a penalty,
THIS CAN’T BE HAPPENING!!!
A penalty can be issued for a number of infringements ranging from dismounting the bike too late, discarding equipment in transition in the wrong place, and many other things. It is a 15 second stand down which has to be served in the “penalty box” at the end of any of the 4 laps on the run. 15 seconds might not sound like a lot of time; however, when you’re standing there it seems like an eternity. Also the field is so competitive that the top ten can finish within a matter of seconds of each other.
I was quite surprised how calm I remained through the whole thing, but back onto the run I had a lot of catching up to do. I tried not to go too crazy to catch up, and now that I was stuck back in traffic, I found myself weaving in and out of the stragglers. Once again, I bridged back up to the lead group of runners by the end of lap 2 with Tim Don just up ahead. Unfortunately, I the penalty had forced me to use my “trump card”, and in doing so, was not in the position I wanted to be in.
At the 7km mark, Courtney Atkinson surged in an attempt to close the gap on Don who had $$$’s in his eyes. This was enough to shatter the chase group, only Kris Gemmell could hold the pace as I gritted my teeth 5 meters off. For the next lap I tried to claw my way back on, but the damage was already done. I had to settle for 4th, with Gemmell winning the battle for 2nd and Courtney in 3rd.
I would later learn that the penalty was for discarding my goggles in the wrong spot – a very trivial penalty. One they have never enforced before, and also a very costly one. I will end by saying that I will never be making that mistake again, and lost a little sleep when I saw that Tim Don’s winning margin over me was 14 seconds…
Optimistic as always, I believe you get the good with the bad, so I look forward to great things to come.
Bevan
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