Mandurah 70.3 Part II

I have now had a bit of a night's sleep to reflect on the race yesterday, although annoyingly my body clock woke me up before 5:00, so I wouldn't say I have had a full night's sleep to reflect.

So what were my impressions on the event. Pretty positive I have to say.

The event organisers were really great. As a competitor there was no doubt in my mind that we were their number one priority, which is always reassuring.

As predicted by the forecasts the weather did make the day a challenge. It was windy and it did get hot. Not super, 40 degrees hot, but Mandurah did get up to 34 degrees in the afternoon. While I was racing the temperature probably didn't get above 30, although at times it felt hotter, as a result the heat wasn't a huge factor in my race. But for people finishing later I think it became quite a large factor. For me the wind was probably the part of the weather with the biggest impact. There was quite strong north easterly winds blowing during the ride, which meant the outward leg was into a strong cross headwind and the return leg had a strong cross tail wind. The wind on the outward and return legs probably balanced each other out pretty well. But the problem with a long sustained head wind is the games it plays with your head. Fighting a head wind for a while can really sap you mentally, leading you to give up a little bit. Which means the amount of time that a head wind costs you is often more than what you gain from a tail wind. I think this played a part in the day of a lot of people.

With the heat, the organisers had put an extra aid station on the run, which I am very glad they did. However, and this is my only real criticism of the race, I think that aid station should have been standard anyway, and they probably could have done with one more as extra. Speaking to a people after the race, one thing I heard a few times is it would have been good to have one more aid station on the run. I would agree with that.      

Another big positive for the race is the field. Since it is the Australian Professional 70.3 Championships, this race provides lots of points for the pros. As a result there was a big and strong professional field. Also since there are Kona slots on offer there is also a big and strong age-group field. It makes for some very impressive racing. Being out on course and watching some of the best pros in the world firing is very cool.

The other great aspect of the race being in Mandurah, was that it was in Mandurah. Usually the night after a race like this, as I am packing my bike, or getting to the airport, I am thinking, 'I wish I was home by now'. Yesterday, by the time I was thinking those thoughts I was home. The bike is already away, I slept in my own bed last night. Having a local race was great. Certainly something I could get used to.