Occassional thoughts about orienteering
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| okansas.blogspot.com Occassional thoughts about orienteering |
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Sunday, July 20, 2003 Nascar and the TDFI watched about half an hour of yesterday's Nascar Busch Race on TV. After a pit stop one of the drivers suddenly started losing time. From being near the front, he was losing two seconds each 30 second lap. (I think the driver was Riggs; Mook's "favorite Nascar driver").Turns out the problem was the tires. During the pit stop, they put the left front tire on the right front wheel. The car didn't handle well and the driver had to slow down to keep control. When mistakes like that happen; I ask myself "why?" Nascar teams have lots of controls to prevent just that mistake. There is a specific person who has the job of putting the tire on. The tires are labeled -- "LF" for "left front." But, controls don't keep mistakes from happening, they just make them less likely. What about Lance in the time trial? If you're to believe the news reports, Lance Armstong was seriously dehydrated before and during the time trial where he lost over a minute to Ullrich. I've heard that at the end of the race his weight was over 5 kilos down. I wonder what happened? What was the mistake? Here are a few possibilities for what happened: 1. He was sick. 2. He didn't drink enough before the event. Professional teams must have some controls in place to make sure riders get food and drinks after each day. Maybe some of the controls broke down. 3. He didn't plan properly how to drink during the time trial. Maybe he expected to be able to get more water on the course and for some reason couldn't. Professional teams must have some controls to make sure the riders are ready for the conditions on the day. Maybe several things went wrong at once. Maybe the controls were all in place, but something got screwed up -- some person made a mistake -- just like the Nascar race. I suppose the lesson in both of these situations is to plan (i.e. put the controls in place) but not to be surprised when the controls don't work. Controls help. Controls reduce the chance of mistakes. Controls make it easier to figure out what went wrong. But, controls aren't perfect. * I suppose I should define what I mean by "control." I mean something that you've designed to reduce the likelihood of making a mistake. For a professional bike racer controls to prevent dehydration might include a list of drinks to have waiting at the finish and a coach who asks the rider "have you had enough to drink?" posted by Michael | 6:21 PM 
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