|
Interview with
#1 Sport Men 40+
John Thompson - WW |
|
|
|
|||
|
Did you do anything special to prepare for this race? I've been losing weight through the course of the summer and that's helped me but also riding with the younger guys has forced me to ride faster than I would normally ride on my own. I think that was a big factor. Were you strong from start to finish? Yeah, but about half way through the third lap my back was beginning to bother me so I slowed up and the second place guy Shawn Kimm caught me right about half way through that third lap. Fortunately I was able to attack him on the short, steep uphill climb. He had to dismount and run up and I was able to just keep riding. I gapped him between there and the end of the race by about a minute. When he had passed me earlier I was a little concerned When did you put the hammer down? Right about that point, because I knew I couldn't cruise on in unless I wanted to be satisfied with second place. So I knew it was either attack on the hills or I'm going to come in behind this guy. I didn't know for sure what place that would have been but I figured I had to give it one last shot. Did you have any unusual problems? No, the course was really nice today. There were a couple of spots that were a little muddy but really it was a very nice tacky course which works good for me. I took a little air out of my tires just so I'd have a little better traction and that was a good decision. I pretty much paced myself too. I didn't go out so fast that I would blow up but fast enough where I thought I could place in the top three or five. |
|
How do you rate the course? I think it was a very good course. I think Brent did a good job with the ideas behind it. The rocky stuff is a little hard on me. I'm still not really good on it but it's very challenging. I thought the course was really well laid out and I thought the race went very smoothly as well. Were you happy with the way the race was run? Yes. They did a very good job with it. Everything seemed to go very smoothly from my perspective. They had obviously planned the course out well in advance and it was well marked. They had support at the right places and they definitely know what they are doing. If you could do the race again, would you do anything differently? I think what I would do differently would be to go out a little faster. I'm still not going out as fast a I should. I think that in certain races (fortunately it wasn't a problem today because I really didn't get hung up anybody) I need to learn to go out a little bit faster. I know that you work more than 40 hours a week and have a lot going on.... did you have much time to train in the last month? Well, I've been riding once or twice a week with you guys and riding at Granogue has been a great conditioner and then riding with the younger, faster guys is good to kind of push me so that when I'm competing against my piers I think I'm very well prepared. I think those two things and earlier in the summer Joey and I had the opportunity to ride down at Snowshoe and also to compete at Mt. Snow.... those courses were both very challenging. Once you get used to that type of terrain it sets you up pretty well, you know it keeps your training up. I think the point is .... it's not quantity of training but quality of training. Obviously if you had more time you'd want to do more but if you can't do more because of time constraints then the next best thing is to make sure that when you're out there for 2 hours you get the best bang for the buck. Well you are doing a good job of that. Thanks |
||
 |
|
|
|
|
