Observations

I was just getting ready to post Doug Peterson to the ‘Meet the Racers’ section. Doug has one of the best crew chiefs that I know – about whom I’ll go in more depth in the ‘MtR’ – but she got me thinking that a post for the crew might not be bad idea. We have a large number of rookie soloists and relay racers as well as a large number of rookie crew. You have volunteered for an experiene of a lifetime but one that, at times, will have you wondering if it’s one you’ll want to remember. Keep in mind all those disaster/melt down/argument/ episodes you laughed at during the planning meetings and swore would never happen to you actually happened to other crews who laughed at and swore they’d never happen to them. So what goes wrong?

Just a couple observations and then I’ll shut up:

1) Sleep deprivation. No matter how much you plan and practice you have no idea how everyone will react under actual race conditions. Throw in lack of sleep to the mix of different personalities in tight quarters and a stressful situation and you have a recipe for an..uh…interesting time.

Go into this with the idea that you are here to have FUN. You also have a job to do which is get your racers around the course as safe and fast as possible. Remember that you are a team – your racers couldn’t do this without you. This is definitely a time to forgive and forget.

2) The plan starts to unravel. For example – relays – you’ve most likely figured out a time and rider rotation. What are you going to do when you’re on Clarno where there are limited pull outs and the team you’re in a super close race with keeps stealing the few exchange spots? Your racer has been out way past the planned pull, is getting grumpy (understatement) and – even though it’s not your fault – blaming you because he/she is losing ground to the team that’s throwing out fresh riders.

Have a plan, a backup plan, a backup to the backup and so on. Odds are they will all, at some point or another, fail so be flexible. Go over the upcoming pull with the racer so you are all aware of what’s ahead. From the point of view of a racer who’s ready for their pull to end a couple of inches of pavement to the right of the white line will look like a gargantuan pullout and leave them wondering why you didn’t set up an exchange. Just know that there are limited exchange areas on FR 44, some sections of Bakeoven, Clarno (especially Clarno), Fossil & Monument and that the racer may have to take a longer than planned pull.

3) Feeling sympathy for your solo racer. After 200 miles, 20,000 feet of climbing and 14 hours (give or take) your racer is hit with the realization that 338 miles, 20,000 feet of climbing and a minimum of 20 hours remain to be ridden. This seems almost impossible because their knees ache and they’re sick to their stomach can’t keep food or liquid down. The racer begins to wonder why they signed up for this and seriously considers if they should continue. You may very well be thinking the same thing.

The perfect ride is a rare thing and some problems are very likely to crop up. After months of telling you to only feed them liquid food and under no circumstances allow them off the bike, your friend/partner/son/daughter will reach a point where they want something substantial to eat and ask to please be let in the warm van. This is a time for tough love. When the racer reaches their moment of doubt, the last thing they need is to be in charge. That is your job. Check the stop and eat sheets, take a calorie count, check liquid intake, hand up some ibuprofen. If the racer absolutely must stop for a moment plan the stop. Make it as efficient as possible and don’t allow the van to become a comfy safe haven. Remember, no matter how far off it may seem, 5 a.m. Monday will eventually arrive and the race will officially be over. The only way to make those miles and climbs go away is to keep riding. I can’t tell you how many times we’ve heard from a racer a day or two after the event who tells us they wish they’d kept going…the knee pain, which at the time seemed unbearable, went away quickly… The emotional lows will go away and probably come back again. Set short, reachable goals for your racer – for example: at the base of a climb give your rider an attainable time to get to the summit and do everything you can to encourage them to the top – do what you can to give the racer some sense that they are moving forward and making progress.

Okay – now back to ‘meet the racers’

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