Yeah I liked that bit too. And if Cam really did that I absolutely love it, I think full distance needs more gamesmanship. It would be fantastic if there was enough course awareness by the broadcast team to pick up on it too and on the next hill be prepared to show the moves and to cover the potential drama. That’s much better drama than the Sam v Sam manufactured drama from a few years ago.
Good Luck! They’re only 3x the price of when they actually available
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DVD players?
Saw in sam’s insta post that he is headed to Chattanooga this weekend. Surprising choice after a hard-fought st. g. non- series, small purse. SF in a few weeks, etc.
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Going to start stacking up those Ws and meet next year’s new bike sponsor while he’s at it! Or dunk on whomever was hoping to win in front of their current sponsor…
(just stirring the pot)
Yea I was wondering if Cam was doing that to put pressure on the guys on the back of the line. I feel like I have heard somewhere that when going over hills the back has to really push hard to stay with the group since the front will already be heading downhill while the back is still climbing.
Get a <$20 one to plug into your laptop: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=dvdplayer+usb&crid=37MKWZ6B6HIB7&sprefix=dvdplayer+us%2Caps%2C192&ref=nb_sb_noss_2 , or find one at Goodwill.
Guys, guys, guys… thank you for the advice/info. I do think I still own a DVD player, just have to find it. Didn’t want to continue my confessions for fear of derailing the thread, but I see that my little digression did derail the thread anyway 
#stopDVDmadnessSaveSamLongThread
Well, it is a down river swim but of all the T100 races, San Francisco is one he can really feature in with the current assisted swim like last year. It seems like he just wants to win a 70.3, it’s not about the Pro Series. In this instance I would have liked to have seen him really focus on the T100 event more.
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I suggest a coach and bro goes straight for PEDs.
I would think its fair to consider that Sam is watching Lionel get better at something Sam desperately needs to get better at. But hes not now trying the Lion’s way of staying calm and staying the course. I’d love to be wrong bc I very much want to see Sam win some big ones.
Everyone says swim close and he will be golden, but I think part of his “power” is riding his own race and he’s proved to be one of the best runners consistently in T100 even off the bike from the back. But SF he was in the lead pack the whole time - couldn’t/didn’t get away, and ran horribly by his standards in a race that he should have, in theory, been more in. I think he’s used to racing a certain way, and StG gave him another tactical lesson (hopefully) that he can use. I actually hope he’s like…a minute or 90s back in SF to ride the first half in SL fashion, because I think if he ends up with the lead pack in the end riding his way he would be much better equipped to run well in that situation.
Yeah, sound theory, but then wouldn’t we all like to see how Sam does in a situation he’s less familiar with, like having to reckon with other contenders being around him from T1? Like, are we sure we want to see him chase from behind like every other T100 race, just because it puts him in his (let’s assume) comfort zone?
That’s racing, right? And if he ever does improve his swim he better get used to biking in a pack and not just riding his own race to chase people down.
Going to Chatty is nuts, he really needs a coach or someone to keep him on track. Perfect example is Magnus. Dude tanks St. George and was asked if he’s going to do another 70.3 to make up some points. He’s like “Nope, sticking to my plan.” Sam needs more of that attitude.
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Oh, I get that. I would love to see him be a more complete racer. I’m more saying, that in bigger races it’s not the most important thing for him to be in the swim pack. I think that’s a big difference between the SC and non SC people in development probably - Sam rarely has a different situation. Trust me, would love to see him advance on experience. But if he’s going to be truly great he needs to develop other ways of racing. And hopefully he will…
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The other thing though - comfort zone wise - he needs to put himself in the best position for his best race, which…at this point is a steady hard bike working his way towards the front or to the front (non T100 races of course) and then running strong. No different than a PL races. To his strengths…again - not saying he can’t develop other methods of racing…
The best example of this type of discipline is Frodeno - one year when California (IIRC?) was cancelled, IM put a pro race in Florida the very next week. Lionel, Gustav and others all just shifted their plans to the next race. It would seem to make sense to just about everyone that you just extend your taper a bit, and can get in a race just fine.
Frodono just said nope, and went back home. The crazy disciplined part wasn’t even just that he had a bad race, it was that the new race just happened to fall on a different date, and he’d need to move things around!
Is there a recent world champion who didn’t have a whole entourage (coach, physio, manager, etc).
The sound of “I’m a pro, competing to win the biggest races in the world, and I do all that by myself” is a little crazy. It reminds me of the time Sam decided to race the Alpes d’Huez triathlon on a TT bike tuned for a flat course. Many things shouldn’t be left to feelings or impressions.
He still has many good years ahead of him, hopefully he decides to spend the extra cash to have someone advise him, and we see his full potential.
But what if he is just doing a hard training day there and getting a paycheck for it? I mean I doubt very much if he is going to the well on this one, probably swim hard, bike to the front to get a lead, then just run a tempo run for the win. He certainly doesnt have to pay for travel at his level and a $4k workout is a nice little bonus day. I see no problem with this race if that is indeed his mindset going into it.
Now if he comes off the bike are runs a 1;09 and wins by 8 minutes, then I will join you and the chorus that his coach is full of shit… (-;