Kiwi Bevan Docherty has already an Olympic Silver and Bronze medal to his name among many other fine results, but he is not done yet. There are quite a few more goals on the horizon of the man with the big smile. At the big money Hy-Vee race in Des Moines, Iowa Docherty was 14 seconds out of first place after serving a 15 seconds penalty for dropping his goggles in the wrong place, but don't expect to hear excuses or complaints from him.
Slowtwitch: Bevan, you are a Kiwi, but you reside Santa Cruz, CA. Why the USA, why Santa Cruz?
Bevan: My wife is American, so we share our time between the US and NZ. Last year we moved our US base from Boulder, CO to Santa Cruz, CA. There were a number of reasons, I wanted to get away from altitude as it didn’t allow me to get the high intensity training I needed for World Cup racing. We wanted to be by the ocean, and being on the West Coast put me closer to NZ, which meant heading back to NZ was easier. Finally the training is SC is just awesome, the riding and running is awesome. I do all of my running off-road, and the redwood forests here are perfect.
ST: I guess that made the trip to Hy-Vee and Lifetime Fitness Philadelphia Tri easier.
Bevan: Yeah, another reason we’re here is because its closer to the San Jose and San Fran airports, which makes traveling to anywhere in the World easy.
ST: Talk about your race in Philadelphia.
Bevan: It was awesome that I had the opportunity to race in Philly. My hectic International schedule doesn’t allow me to race in the US as much as I would like. It was unfortunate that the race was changed to a duathlon but the right decision out of respect to the missing athlete. I really don’t think it changed the result too much, the race was decided on the bike. I was able to hold off David Thompson for most of the bike and then battled the heat in the second run. It was a great course and fun race.
ST: Matty Reed tweeted that you don’t spend much time on your TT bike. That would make sense, but is that correct?
Bevan: It was my 3rd time on my TT bike this year. Needless to say, my aero position wasn’t perfect. I think that ITU athletes get a bad rep about being weak on the bike, and maybe some are. However, all the key players are very strong on the bike, we’re just playing the game. These non-drafting races are great training, so I was happy to ride well in Philly.
ST: Will you race any other non-drafting races in the near future?
Bevan: I’ll look at racing in Dallas towards the end of the year. The Toyota Cup is a great series put together and I would like to support that series as much as I can.
ST: At Hy-Vee you actually had a couple narrow misses. Can you elaborate?
Bevan: No narrow misses, just a frustrating penalty. They have a new system in ITU racing now, if you have incurred a penalty your number is displayed on a penalty board, and you have to serve a 15 second penalty in the penalty box at the end of any of the 4 laps on the run. Just my luck, at 2.5km I was at the sharp end of the field and I saw my number on the board. I served it immediately, then battled my way to the lead group, with just Tim Don up the road. I ended up 4th, and found out that the penalty was for putting my goggles in the wrong place - very trivial, but I guess it’s a rule. In our sport any setback like that is very hard to come back from.
ST: With narrow misses we actually meant the dropping of the goggles and the 14 seconds out of first place. But would you say that this was your most costly penalty?
Bevan: Who knows, I have lost a little sleep over it, however I guess we’ll never know. Tim Don had an amazing race, he eventually finished 14 seconds in front of me, but I’m sure there are plenty of “what if” stories out there. I’m an optimist, you get the good with the bad and I certainly won’t be putting my goggles in the wrong place any more.
ST: Currently you are ranked 5th in the Dextro Energy WCS series. What will it take to step up a few spots higher?
Bevan: A lot is going to happen in the WCS series over the next few weeks, and I’m happy with where I’m placed. I missed the race in Madrid in order to train for the up and coming races. So now its make or break time. Also with double points in the final, it is important to have a strong finish to the season.
ST: London 2012 is two years out but you must already think about what it will take to get there.
Bevan: I’ll start thinking about London next year. The last few years for me have been all about trying new things, and trying to keep up with the ever-rising standard of World Cup racing. A lot can happen over the course of a year. You don’t want to go too hard too soon, nor do you want to get left behind. An Olympic campaign takes so much out of you, both physically and mentally. Its all about controlling the controllable and dealing with the uncontrollable.
ST: You already have a Silver and Bronze Olympic medal in your collection, I guess now it is time to hunt for the Golden one.
Bevan: I’ve been hunting that Golden one the whole time… It’s a little frustrating to have come close on both Olympic campaigns. However, looking on the bright side, not having that Olympic Gold certainly keeps me driven. I don’t think I would be so hungry if I already had the Olympic Gold.
ST: Would it be correct to assume that either of those medals would rank as the most memorable moments in your career?
Bevan: They are both up there - probably Athens edges out Beijing. To be part of a Kiwi 1-2 was pretty special. The whole country went crazy and I still have people telling me that it’s one of NZ’s most memorable sporting moments. That changed my life and certainly changed the profile of the sport in NZ. Beijing was great as I proved that I still have what its takes to back it up. I certainly felt more pressure going into Beijing, so I was happy to come away with another medal.
ST: Tell us how things are going in terms of sponsorship stuff,
Bevan: I’ve got some great sponsors that have been very loyal to me through good and bad. I’m all about forming strong relationships and producing good results; Adidas, Avanti, Mizone Rapid, Blue Seventy and Mavic have all supported me for many years and all have great products, which make things easy. In saying that, I don’t have a major American based sponsor, so have all this time to myself when I’m here, which is good and bad, it just allows me to train harder and spend more time with my family.
ST: Do you follow any other sports?
Bevan: I do follow NASCAR, I love my motorsport and whenever I get the opportunity try to get behind the wheel of any race car I can find. Certainly out of America, NASCAR gets a bad rep, but I don’t think many people understand the sport. A lot of the tactics involved in NASCAR can be applied to World Cup racing.
ST: So who is your favorite NASCAR racer and why?
Bevan: I’ve been a big fan of the 48 car, Jimmy Johnson, even before his big winning streak. I’ll even shop a Lowes over Home Depot, when given the choice!
ST: What about your food likes and dislikes?
Bevan: I’m pretty particular about what I eat, in fact we very rarely eat out as I am more often disappointed than not. I’m not really into the whole organic thing, I just like good fresh food, so we go to the supermarket once or twice a day, tough on the food bill, but worth it.
ST: Your music taste?
Bevan: I mostly like alternative rock, Kings of Leon, Coldplay etc. I picked my wife up with the Coldplay CD in Miami airport many years ago. NZ has some very good bands and artists too, Dave Dobbyn, Evermore, Ladyhawke.
ST: Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
Bevan: I see myself racing long course after the next Olympics, World cup athletes seem to have a very good transition into the longer races, so would like to dominate there too. I love this sport and this lifestyle and will only retire when I stop winning races.
For more on Bevan Docherty you can visit docherty.co.nz
