Less than ideal

A bit of proper Autumn cycling this morning. Not proper Winter cycling, it wasn't particularly wet or cold, just a little bit wet and very windy. Unpleasantish, but not full on miserable.

Still, we went riding anyway and I am mostly glad that we did.

The reason that I thought it important for us to ride is that you never quite know what you are going to get on race day. Anyone who has read this blog for a while will know that I am not an advocate of going out and riding in crazy wet conditions, that is what indoor trainers are for. If the weather is dangerous, stay indoors and stay safe, that is my view.

However, I am not anti going out and training in unpleasant conditions. In fact I would actively encourage that. Why? Well because you might get those conditions on race day. Ask anyone who raced at Busselton Half Ironman last year how unpleasant race conditions can be. That race was right on the edge of being cancelled, and certainly the swim was, but other that that the field was out there riding and running in horribly windy and wet conditions. The competitors had two choices, deal with it don't start, simple as that.

The conditions at Busso last year were pretty extreme, but do you know what helped them be a bit less extreme, the confidence and knowledge that comes from doing a bit of training in similarly horrible conditions. The confidence that comes from knowing you can handle your bike in the rain, knowing how to pace yourself into the wind, when to slow down and when to accelerate when cornering. All these little bits of knowledge can be gained by getting out there when the weather is less than ideal and they can all help to make race day just that little bit safer and that little bit enjoyable (and a little bit quicker too). That is why I am glad(ish) we were out there this morning.

The reason I say ish is because I had one of my athlete's crash today going around a round about on wet roads. It is 'one of those crashes' that happens when the roads are damp, but that doesn't make it any more okay. Nobody wants to see somebody get hurt on their watch and today was no different. I am comfortable that there was nothing we really could have done to prevent the accident, and I am also confident that the athlete will be okay and it will not derail her Busso plans, but it still kind of sucks.

On the whole though I would encourage people to be out there when the weather isn't all rosy and peachy.