I returned to the car after the Stage 1 road race to find my wife's broken bike leaning up against our car and no sign of her anywhere. She was soon located in Warrnambool Hospital with a broken collarbone thanks to a 'racing incident' only 7km into Women's A Grade. My mum had made the trip to Warrnambool to watch the both of us race and was by her side. I was given the ok to ride TT then switch from competitor to carer for the weekend.
This one was all for her.
Stage 2 win which put me comfortably 2nd on GC for the tour after the first day, which was my last. Higher priorities to contend with. We picked up the scans from the hospital the next morning and made the long drive back to Melbourne. Von has a longer journey ahead to get back up to speed.
Reflecting on the weekend - It was super tough racing, overshadowed many, many organisational issues that have had a pretty negative impact on the event as a whole. ToSW also has a long journey ahead - convincing riders to spend their money getting back there next year in the same numbers.
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12 comments:
Short and well put Shane. I won't be back.
All the very best to Von for her recovery.
Short and well put Shane. I won't be back.
All the very best to Von for her recovery.
Thanks for the comment Dan. We've got Von into a specialist today, hopefully pinned/plated this week. They will rebuild her! :)
RE: ToSW. I'll be shooting them some feedback direct. The marketing of the event was second to none. The execution wasn't as expected. Just highlights how well the Tour of Bright is run every year by Aaron Smith and his team at Alpine CC.
I'm not sure if I'm on the right track here in my opinion I think the organisers as in the Warnambool City Council this year and last for the most part did a pretty good job.
The main area I think that let things down this year was timing. Which falls into the hands of Cycling Victoria.
I would like to hear an open and honest answer from CV on what went wrong with the timing system, was there a back up system and if there wasn't why wasn't there.
But more importantly I hope the trip to the specialist goes well today and Von is on the mend and back on the bike sooner rather than later.
Shane,
all the best to Von with her recovery. Glad she's got you supporting her as you've been down the same rode and come back stronger than ever!
My first ever stage race so I don't have anything to compare it to but I would be interested in hearing your thoughts on the positives and negatives. Understand if you would prefer to do this through the official channels though.
Cheers,
Mick
Shane,
all the best to Von with her recovery. Glad she's got you supporting her as you've been down the same rode and come back stronger than ever!
My first ever stage race so I don't have anything to compare it to but I would be interested in hearing your thoughts on the positives and negatives. Understand if you would prefer to do this through the official channels though.
Cheers,
Mick
Thanks for the comments Mick.
I had a few discussions over the weekend with the guys from CV. I understood what the issues were with the timing system, I was even able to provide some data points to help them resolve their issues with MMASA timing. This was just one speed bump. As you've guessed there is a lot more on this than what I've posted. I'll keep those direct to CV and ToSW. Social media/blogs/Twitter are not great official forms of communication. Case-in-point - I'm copping feedback like "So are you putting your hand up to fix this"... Well. Yes. It was up all weekend. Thanks for passively aggressively asking! ;)
Thanks Shane, I understand the potential social media backlash and mud slinging that can occur.
Cheers,
Mick
HI Shane, since you started this great post I'll use this space to give my thoughts about the event (hope you don't mind).
Running such event isn't easy and I do feel CV tried hard and worked overtime to get things fixed, but the way it started wasn't going to get any better. MAjor issue was due to timing not working (obviously) but lots of other basic things should have been organized better in an event advertised as one of the biggest Tours on the calendar.
After seeing disappointing stage 1 results, I personally spoke to several CV officials about the timing problem and I was ASSURED and REASSURED the TT would have no issues because all timing was done manually as riders past the line (????). Obviously, this did not happen!
TT starting times weren't known by most riders until 1 hr before, but the start list was in numerical order... why wasn't this published a few days earlier??!!???
I was also a bit surprised to see no TT ramp at the start. YES it makes no difference and my TT is horrible regardless if I start from Mt Everest but I believe it does add credibility/professionalism to a so called 'big event'.
In regards to race course, it was great to finally race on closed ROADS (wish Bright would do this)YEAH! ALso, amazing FREE bus service (by the organizers) to bring supporters (ok you aren't going to get many in Wangoom) around the course eg. my girlfriend was able to jump on bus and get dropped off at KOM... Too bad I did not know where the KOM was! No signs of distance to it (...1km to KOM, 500mt...), no sign of anything but a banner abandoned to the wind on a so called 'hill'.
Lastly, I believe a crit as the last race of a tour is absolutely useless. You won't change the GC, people that felt behind the first day will just go home, and those that really race it is only because are after points. Wouldn't perhaps finish with a TT or something else be more exciting??? Imagine that!
Very sorry for long message, but had to air lots of frustration Shane!
Walter
Thanks for taking the time to post that Walter. Much appreciated. The more we learn about the good/bad/wtf's people had the better the event will be next year.
A good example has to be the Mt Buller road race. After the 2012 event the organisers listened to everyone, took in all the feedback, and made the 2013 event a 200% more enjoyable experience.
The idea of finishing a tour sounds painful!
Imagine this - Tour of Bright - Stage 3 ITT - Live timing splits and real-time GC battles to follow as riders give it their all to boost their GC standings. Maybe have a big screen near the finish line that people can watch. How about have the finish near the pub! Have 100s of happy people cheering and beering!
Awesome Shane.
Love your idea of finishing off a Tour with a BANG, but something tells me your thoughts are on the other extreme of the scale :)
A pub-front would be doable or a finish in the main road strip (TDU style), but lets not forget the usual issues with road closure (unless you are in a triathlon of course, in which case they can close any road as often as they like... see Beach Road!!)
Regardless of where the finish is, I still believe a crit is not the best way to finish a Tour. ToB used to do it and it was pointless (as well as dangerous), most couldn't be stuffed and it's good for nothing. Perhaps it could be a quick good warm up as a first stage to a tour (prologue style).
Anyway, there are bigger issues to sort out first. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to share my opinion.
cheers
Wal
there was a lot of stuff that wasn't what I expected (and was often told to expect), but now, a few days later I dont care so much anymore.
what's done is done, and time for me to work on what i discovered about my form during that race. i believe the organisers have had a bunch of feedback to allow them to do the same.
ps. sorry to hear about Von's stack. hope she heals up alright.
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