wcb wrote:
g_lev wrote:
My time from last year, staying out of the packs, would have gotten me a KQ this year. But last year I was 40th in AG.Last year was a shorter course and I'm guessing much better wind conditions. Not downplaying your abilities, just saying there were other factors in play.
Last year had ideal wind and better conditions overall, plus a shorter bike course.
To give you an idea of the effect of the different conditions from 2018 to 2019 (plus the correct bike mileage), look at Reid Foster's results. He raced a perfectly clean race both years (not only did it "look" clean from the side of the Hardy, but he had the fastest AG bike split both times and stats say there was no one to draft off of). Last year's bike = 4:20, this year's bike = 4:35. Overall time ~20 minutes slower in 2019 vs. 2018. He's on the pointy end and really rough math says conditions were about 4% slower. Obviously N=1, but adding 4% to 2018 times should give a basic idea of where it'd compare in 2019. (*Clearly talking about clean races here.)
Anecdotally, the "pointy end" seemed less stacked from the sidelines than in previous years. I think a lot of the fast kids were watching to see if it'd be a safe and fair race before putting all their KQ eggs in the Texas basket again. So that could play into the finish placement disparities you are seeing as well.