Welcome to Race Week!  It feels good to be getting back out there, to put your skills to the test and to regain that taste for racing again.  Can’t wait for you all to give it your best!

And whilst we should be well-versed in the proceedings of a St Kilda short course event, this weekend will be unlike any before.  O2 Events have been given approval for Race #1 to go ahead, but we all must adhere to their COVID plan.  So, what does this all mean for us?

TA Taj: it will be there, but club tents are not allowed to be used as congregation places.  They are only allowed to be used as a safe place to store your bags.  Unfortunately, that’ll mean no walls, no change tent, no warmup bikes and no BBQ (*insert sad face*).  But you will be able to drop your bag off and know it will be safe during your race.  

Event Expo: will not be in place this weekend.  There will be a bike mechanic, but little to no other amenities.  Be prepared to be self-sufficient. 

Spectators: unfortunately, they are not allowed at this event.  So, despite the lack of cheers, we expect that you will still push yourselves to the limit and engage beast mode!

Transition: will be set up alphabetically this weekend.  This will hopefully spread out participants more so than grouping by categories.   

Finish Line: it will be a short and sweet celebration at the finish line this weekend.  Once your race is completed, you will be channelled through a refreshment station and straight back into transition to gather your bike and belongings.  This is intended to move all participants out of the event site as soon as possible.

Awards: all results will be posted online, and medals can be collected at future races.  We’d like you to tag us in your posts so we can share in your experience.  

Now, as much as this sounds like a lot of omissions, no’s and not happenings…I think we can all appreciate the delicate nature of mass participation events at this stage and just relish in the fact that we get to get back to racing! This is a great step for all of us.

Training Update: we are going to run our Saturday morning short course session at St Kilda this weekend, to use it as race recon for Sunday.  More details below.  And we’d like to ask for a skeleton crew to help with put up and pack down of just the one tent.  Many hands make light work, but fewer hands keep us safe.  We’ll do this right after training Saturday morning and after the final competitor on Sunday.  If you get a chance, just let Ollie know you’re keen to help and he’ll be able to confirm numbers.

Following Sunday's race, we head into Recovery Week beginning Monday.  Remember that'll mean no Tuesday and Thursday morning sessions next week, and lots of active recovery and maintenance to freshen up the body for a quick turn around for the next race!