Hey all - You may have seen that 3-time Top 10 Kona finisher Michael Lovato had a sub-par day in Hawaii last week. He posted his race report last night, and I highly recommend checking it out. It is a fantastic and inspiring account of a day that didn’t go as planned. There is material in his report that we can all use in our training, racing, and living.
In Michael’s report, he mentions: “I suddenly realized that throughout the draining and powerless bike ride, I had not only sapped my mojo, but I had not enjoyed any part of the race (something that is very uncharacteristic of me). I started the next fifteen miles with the goal of figuring out a way to enjoy my 10th finish in Kona, and finally, after a few miles, I managed to realize that goal.”
Check out Dede Griesbauer’s race day report to see one fantastic way that Michael enjoyed the last part of that run.
Not too often that you get an official’s perspective of a race situation / penalty…posted in the comments section:
“I was the race official who stayed with your group for the majority of the first half of the bike portion. I could see the efforts you were putting in were not in typical ‘Lovato style,’ although you still appeared to be the strongest in your group. There was quite a bit of jockeying for position, and for many miles I kept a close eye on Patrick, who was behind you for much of the way. He pushed the envelope on many occasions - staying within what I perceived to be inches from a drafting penalty - up until one point. As I am sure you remember, on the climb to Hawi, maybe 3 miles from the turnaround, you made a move that I described to my moto driver as ‘tactically brilliant.” As Patrick entered your draft zone and attemted to pass, you stood up and hammered preventing him from completing his pass altogether, let alone within 20 seconds. That failure to pass earned him a 4-minute drafting penalty. It was a very nice move, and one that I am surprised does not occur more often.”
Not too often that you get an official’s perspective of a race situation / penalty…posted in the comments section:
“I was the race official who stayed with your group for the majority of the first half of the bike portion. I could see the efforts you were putting in were not in typical ‘Lovato style,’ although you still appeared to be the strongest in your group. There was quite a bit of jockeying for position, and for many miles I kept a close eye on Patrick, who was behind you for much of the way. He pushed the envelope on many occasions - staying within what I perceived to be inches from a drafting penalty - up until one point. As I am sure you remember, on the climb to Hawi, maybe 3 miles from the turnaround, you made a move that I described to my moto driver as ‘tactically brilliant.” As Patrick entered your draft zone and attemted to pass, you stood up and hammered preventing him from completing his pass altogether, let alone within 20 seconds. That failure to pass earned him a 4-minute drafting penalty. It was a very nice move, and one that I am surprised does not occur more often.”
I read this comment this morning and thought it kind of odd that #1 - an official would post something about penalties (and mention names) and #2 - identify himself by name and location. It just sounded kind of weird.
I read this comment this morning and thought it kind of odd that #1 - an official would post something about penalties (and mention names) and #2 - identify himself by name and location. It just sounded kind of weird.
Notwithstanding, Lovato is a stud. A class act.
It’s not really a secret who gets what penalty.
Race photos are everywhere, many of which show officials. There’s no reason to be secretive - it would be like a football ref wearing a mask to stay anonymous.
What was surprising was that the official encouraged twisting the rules to deliberately give a competitor a penalty. Every other thing I’ve read this week was about how the front person should be the one getting the penalty in this case (generally in the AG man/PRO woman situation).
Not too often that you get an official’s perspective of a race situation / penalty…posted in the comments section:
“I was the race official who stayed with your group for the majority of the first half of the bike portion. I could see the efforts you were putting in were not in typical ‘Lovato style,’ although you still appeared to be the strongest in your group. There was quite a bit of jockeying for position, and for many miles I kept a close eye on Patrick, who was behind you for much of the way. He pushed the envelope on many occasions - staying within what I perceived to be inches from a drafting penalty - up until one point. As I am sure you remember, on the climb to Hawi, maybe 3 miles from the turnaround, you made a move that I described to my moto driver as ‘tactically brilliant.” As Patrick entered your draft zone and attemted to pass, you stood up and hammered preventing him from completing his pass altogether, let alone within 20 seconds. That failure to pass earned him a 4-minute drafting penalty. It was a very nice move, and one that I am surprised does not occur more often.”
I read Patrick’s blog (in french) and it was the same feeling about this move. (pretty sure he was not happy with that though)
I will translate it later on.
Is it legal to prevent a pass? I thought it was the responsibility of the person being passed (once they acknowledge the pass) to slow down and let the pass go?
If you read the thread about AG men and pro women, some people want it to be this way, no stopping an attemted pass. Vernay should have manned up and made the pass he did not tough luck.
