7th In Seoul - Bevan Docherty
12 May 2010
Normally coming off a World Championship Series win I would be pumped and keen to keep the momentum going. However, a thirteen‐hour flight back to the US from Sydney was more than enough time to hand me a sore throat and a set‐back in training for a week. Then to add insult to injury, I was handed another head cold a week before Seoul, Korea. This is a great example of elite racing at its best ‐ a catch 22 between getting really fit to win races, and compromising your immune system and running the risk of getting sick… Well, its either that or I was just bloody unlucky!!!
So going into the 2nd round of the World Cup Series, it was a case of crossing my fingers and hoping the head cold wasn’t going to affect me too much. I was certainly very fit, but in this sport if you are off your game by 1% that can mean the difference between a podium position or placing 20th. I’d booked the tickets and had committed to racing, so it was worth the effort.
Once again, I’d planned to arrive two days before the race, just in time for the 5pm compulsory race briefing, which in my personal opinion is a complete waste of time. Well not totally, it’s a good excuse to catch up with your mates and talk crap. I knew it was going to be tight, and when my flight landed at 3:40pm, I quickly realized that the only way I was going to make the briefing was if I left my bags at the airport and bolted to the briefing (I had anticipated this and fully labeled my bag). So in true Bevan Docherty timing, I arrived with 15 minutes to spare, and even enough time to check into my room…
The reasons it’s so important to make this briefing is because if you don’t, you get penalized by having to choose your starting position last. As I was ranked 1st I had the luxury of choosing first, which can offer a small advantage. I decided to choose the far right. This would give me clear water, the inside line, and because I breathe to my left, allowed me to see everyone. This tactic worked really well and was untouched to the first buoy, although I didn’t feel that great out there and I felt like I was going backwards. However, to my surprise as we exited the water, I was very close to the lead.
Some of these swims can be a lottery at times. The advantage you gain by drafting can be surprisingly significant and a lot of it depends on your positioning in the pack. You can get a small advantage by
swimming on one person’s feet, but when your surrounded by a group, you gain even more of an advantage. The only down side to this is that you do get knocked around and that can cause you to use more energy.
The technical bike course they had put together on paper looked silly and dangerous, but it was far from that. Many of these WCS races are held in large cities that offer very little demanding terrain, and Seoul was no exception. So to spice things up a little, they added a technical section that had a lot of tight corners and dead turns. This was not enough to split the pack up, but it did spread the group out and force them to ride single file at times. This constant surging and accelerating does take its toll after a while, and slowly wears down the weaker cyclists. So on a course like this, positioning yourself near the front is key. There is less of a change in pace and less of a chance of getting involved in an incident.
Throughout the bike, I tried to position myself at the sharp end of the pack, without doing too much work. A few guys did try to break away, but they didn’t last out the front too long. I didn’t have the
cycling legs I was used to, so didn’t try myself and just hoped my running legs were there…
Unfortunately, that wasn’t to be the case.
Generally, you can tell straight away if “The Feeling” is there, as I watched Courtney Atkinson and Jan Frodeno seal the race up in the first 1km. It’s a frustrating feeling watching guys run away at a pace
you know you are capable of and do most weeks in training… Still with the way the new series is, it’s important to keep pushing, no matter how crap you feel, as later on in the series, just a few points could count for a lot. No time to feel sorry for myself. Besides there was more at stake than the race win ‐ the series is what I am after. At about the 5km mark I was still running with the Russian, Brukhankov; however, he was obviously having a better day than me and I drifted off the back. I was going to have to let my fitness get me through the race.
Brukhankov is an interesting character, he shows about as much emotion as a rock, both on and off the racecourse. In fact, about the only time he spoke to me was at an Ice‐bar in Hamburg, when he said I was
a “pussy for having Red Bull with my Vodka”. From that point on, I knew how tough he was….
I finally crossed the line in 7th, and dropped to 2nd in the World Championship Series. It was a strange feeling. I was hurting but not tired. Post race I felt frustrated, as I know that it’s far from my best, but happy considering the events leading into this race.
So where to from now? Being such a long series, my coach and I had planned to step out the 3rd round in Madrid. There are a number of reasons for this. Firstly, a mid‐season break can pay huge dividends later on in the series; and secondly, traveling to Europe 4 times in the year is just a little too much for me. So unfortunately after Madrid, I will drop even further down the rankings. However, once we get to the “money” end of the series, it will become obvious whom the main contenders are.
As always, thanks for all you continued support! It’s great that Sky T.V. are covering the series so well, and you are able to follow my progress live. I can assure you all, there will be more passionate finishes from my end, which will have you at the edge of your seats…
Bevan
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