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Date:
May 19, 2000 Pictures from 10th & Final Michaux Ironmasters 2000 |
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What's it like traveling all over the world racing bicycles at age 16? It's awesome. I love it. No complaints! Is your roommate, Walker Ferguson (DEVO) a good training partner? Yeah, he's a very good training partner. He's been riding very well lately. Right now, he's really riding awesome and I think he's got a chance at medaling at Worlds. Did you do anything special to prepare for this race? No, not really. I probably should have done a little. I went into it fairly tired just from all of the racing and training...... so nothing really special. The race was on a Friday.... when did you get into town to start your altitude training? We got into town on Wednesday evening. I felt all right. In the beginning of the race (at altitude) when you start out fast you kind of feel it.... but after that settle in and you are usually all right. It was tough to race at 5:00p.m Friday evening. We had to sit around all day to race. That was a pain. What was your position at the starting line? I had a front row. Does the rush at a big event make you stronger during the race? Usually yes, but at this one.... no. Most of the Junior Experts are faster than the Semi-Pros.... so we had to go through all of the Semi-Pros... so there was lots of traffic. I got a decent start and I was right there... but it (1st Place) just didn't happen. I just wasn't feeling great that day. Were you strong from start to finish? Yes. I rode pretty much the same intensity for the whole race. |
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When did you put the hammer down? I wanted to in the beginning when the Costa Rican attacked. But it just didn't happen. Near the end of the course there were a couple rollers and I was putting the hammer down then.... I would have liked to in the beginning but it just didn't happen. Did you have any unusual problems? No, everything worked good except at the feed zone.... the team manager said he was going to be there. It was a single lap and I only had one and a half bottles of water with me. So the team manager's like, yeah, we'll be up there at the feed zone half way through the race... and it's a single lap so it's a pretty big deal if there is no one at the feed. So I'm riding by the feed zone and I'm like.... where the heck is the guy... then I'm like dammit - where the h..... is he??? So I got a little dehydrated. It messed me up a little bit but that's not an excuse. How do you rate the course? I would rate it about an 8 out of 10. If I was having a good day I think I would have liked it a lot because I think it suits my ability. It had a good amount of climbing and was really fast and not too technical. If you are not feeling good it's not a good course because it is so open and fast without much recovery. It's a decent course. There could be a little bit more single-track I think. Were you happy with the way the race was run? Yeah, other than starting at 5 pm at night. That was the only bad thing about it. You had to sit around all day being anxious to race and everything. If you could do the race again, would you do anything differently? Try to feel a little better. I'm just not used to racing at 5 PM at night so it's tough 'cause you don't know what to eat.... and just so used to racing in the morning. You get to eat breakfast and then you're ready to go. Here you don't know what to eat for lunch..... you're feeling good... and then you're feeling heavier.... so I wish I could have been feeling a little better so I could have stayed with the leaders in the beginning. |
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