Tiszaujvaros BG World Cup Race Report ~ Tiszaujvaros, Hungary ~ August 13, 2006
I was feeling really good about this race… I had competed on the course before, I had the shortest travel time (traveling is very draining) before this race than any other race of the season, and I was very well rested. Another huge plus was that I didn’t have any issues with my luggage this time and I was able to relax a lot more during the days before the race. It was the last of 3 World Cups in a row and I really needed to finally score some World Cup points. Not to mention I wanted to redeem myself for my DNF last year when I missed the pack in transition and then got lapped (and pulled from the race) on the bike course.
The river was much more tame this year than last year; you couldn’t really notice a current until you were actually in the water. It wasn’t as cold either, so we didn’t wear wetsuits this time. I was slightly concerned about some rocks and logs that were exposed because of the lower water level, but at least there was only minimal debris floating down the river.
The women’s race was at 10:30, a pretty optimal time in my mind. I had my normal boring breakfast, packed up my stuff, and headed out. The roads were wet but at least it wasn’t raining. This course has two transition areas because the swim venue is 10k away from the rest of the course. I jogged 10 minutes then set up my bike-run transition area then rode my bike to the swim start and first transition area. We checked in our bikes and uniforms, and I was glad my parents made it on a bus to watch the swim. We were worried only coaches would be allowed on the bus.
When I warmed up for the swim, the water felt a lot colder than the day before, but after a warm up lap I felt pretty good. We all lined up in transition in our start order and waited as they began introducing us in Hungarian and English. We ran down to the pontoon and lined up – I had a much better position than I did in Salford (ranked 31st) so I was nearer to the middle of the river where the current is strongest. The strategy for this 2 lap swim in a river is to swim down in the middle of the river where the current is strongest, but when you turn around to come back, it’s important to be very close to shore where the current is weakest. Between the 2 laps we had to climb up some steps and run down a pontoon about 30 meters and dive back in. I try to use this to my advantage because I’m a better runner than a swimmer and if I run hard, I could make up some time between laps.
SWIM
The start went off quickly as usual and I swam hard at the beginning so I could get out of the initial turmoil, trying to leave behind the weakest swimmers. However, this time I felt like I was getting dropped right away… like I was one of those being left behind while the field was swimming away from me. I thought maybe it was because the current on my left was stronger, but women on both sides were pulling ahead. As people moved up around me, I started to get beat up a bit, nearly missing getting my goggles knocked off my face. I seemed to handle this a lot better than last time, kind of accepting that it was going to be rough, rather than getting flustered. In the middle of all the splashing and bodies, it was a bit tough to see the buoys, but remembering my experience last year, I kept my eyes up. I began my turn early so I wouldn’t be swept down the river past the buoy. Not many other girls had this idea though and I found myself pulling my way through bodies rather than through the water. Ankles, suits, shoulders, elbows, I grabbed anything I could in order to get where I wanted to be. At one point I was totally bodysurfing on top of people, not even in the water! I was slightly amused by this, but also very relieved to see that I had made up a lot of time on that turn. I was now back in the middle of a large group and edged my way closer to the shoreline for the swim back upriver.
I swam this section pretty hard but the field spread out a lot and I made it to the stairs with about a 5-10 second gap to the back of a group ahead of me. I climbed up the stairs as fast as I could and took off running fast down the pontoon. I ran several more steps further down the pontoon than the girls ahead of me did, so when I dove in, I was right on their feet. Satisfied that I had made up time on the run, I started maneuvering my way to get in the middle of the group, rather than on the back. I kept a close eye on the buoy because I knew it would come up fast since this lap was only halfway as long as the first lap. I turned early again, but this time it wasn’t as crowded so I focused on getting as close to shore as possible. I was really ready for the swim to be over, but I pushed as hard as I could against the current so I’d come out in the middle of a group rather than at the back. I climbed up the stairs and took off down the pontoon. I started taking off my cap and goggles, probably too early, because the girl ahead of me put a few seconds on me as we ran up the long set of stairs into the transition area.
BIKE
I found my bike quickly and heard my mom and dad cheering as I put on my helmet, unracked my bike, and took off out of the transition area. The mount line was down the road a bit, over a speedbump. There was some congestion at the mount line, and I ran past them and jumped on my bike rather than stopping like a few of the other girls. I didn’t bother getting into my shoes yet, I focused on hammering out to stay with the 2 girls ahead of me. I did put on my sunglasses though. We got through the twisty section, riding past 2 girls who had slid out on a turn on the wet sandy road. We turned out onto the open road, trying to close a gap to a group of 6 ahead of us. A girl went by hard in her aerobars and I noticed that she had put her shoes on. I swung out around the girls ahead of me and got right on her wheel. After a few seconds, she waved me through and I pulled up ahead of her.
I pulled long enough to close the gap and once I was securely in the draft of the group, I bent to begin sliding my feet in my shoes. Just as I did this, 2 people started sliding up from behind, one on my left and one on my right – which was unexpected. She was very close to me and we bumped into each other for a second. Usually it’s not hard to recover from bumping someone, but my shifter on my handlebar got stuck on her bike somewhere. I started to say, “No no no!!” as we rode along attached for about 15 meters, edging closer to the side of the road. I’m not sure, but I think eventually her handlebar drop bar got stuck in my spokes and we went down hard together. I landed on my right side on top of her and her bike, then I rolled onto the gravely pavement on my back.
Panicked about losing the pack I had worked so hard to get into, I hopped up immediately, put on my shoes, straightened my helmet, picked up my bike and started spinning the wheels. They didn’t spin so I opened both my brakes, which let the wheels spin freely. Then I mounted the bike and tried to grab the handlebars like normal – until I realized my shifter was twisted so the brake lever was parallel with the ground. I tried to twist it back down but it wouldn’t budge. I realized at that point that I wouldn’t be finishing this race. I had quite a temper tantrum, totally losing my cool and shouting bad words and making a fool of myself, crying not in pain but in disappointment. An ITU official came over and tried to calm me down and removed my chip timer from my leg. I was so upset – I had the best swim of my season and then I crashed. We got in the ambulance (joining the other 2 girls who crashed earlier), leaving our bikes on the road to be picked up later.
We were taken to the med tent at the finish line and I met up with my very distraught and teary-eyed parents. They had been in the van going back to the bike course when they heard about the crash and saw my bike alongside the road. I gave them a hug (my mom said later that she felt the bloody gravel/dirt on my back when she hugged me) and they took upstairs for a shower. I came back down to get some ice for my hand – which was swollen and bruised like I had punched the crap out of someone – but that was quite an ordeal because all the medical guys wanted to do was spray my cuts with iodine. “Ice” was clearly not their top concern.
Anyway, I watched the rest of the race feeling very sad. I was concerned about my bike – the shifter was damaged beyond repair, but Tim Morris at Seigler Imports was right on top of shipping me a new one (thanks sooo much!!). I ran the run course the following morning (after the course was taken down) and I ran a 37:44. Not too shabby for not having anyone to race. I guess I just gotta move on and accept that it’s just part of the game. I had a good swim, which is encouraging for next time.
