Whatcha gonna do about it?

Lafayette today was a thriller. Julie has a crazy jump just before the last prime, flies by me and calls for me to get on her wheel. Her monster acceleration is too much for my little gear and I can't get on. Off she goes, grabbing the final prime and finding herself with a big-ole gap with three to go. 2 to go, I'm hanging out, doing a little pulling at a nice easy pace and folding back into the mix when folks try to bridge. 1 to go. I think she might actually make it, but my entire focus is on both blocking and being ready to counter if she gets caught. Somewhere, somehow, Ms. Travis Hawk slips by me and nips Julie at the line.

Excuse me? If there was 1 person I should have been marking in that race, it was Ms. W of the Air Force. No, not because of her riding talents, but because of her lack of reasonable values from Santa Rosa.

I decide that I need closure on this one and want to talk with her. So while she's waiting for the podium along with Julie, I saunter over and congratulate her on her win. I tell her how strong she was during that last lap. She's happy. And then...I tell her that it must feel great to have won today but it's nothing like Santa Rosa when she DIDN'T get 2nd, but took the prize money (and the points) anyway.

I was quite kind. I agreed with her for the need for rules and concurred that having a protest period was important. But I then explained to her that occasionally, we need to use our values to make judgements beyond rules and in this case, I felt that once she was informed that she had been lapped by a break, she should have returned the money which she hadn't earned.
Did she apologize? Of course not. She reminded me that she had no idea that there was a break, nor that it had lapped the field. I told her that there's no rule which says that riders in a break need to pause to inform the peloton that they are now taking off. This isn't tiddly winks we're playing out here.

As she awaited the podium, I made it clear that not knowing there was a break, or worse, not knowing you had been LAPPED by a break, was a sign of her inexperience. Maybe, I told her, she should think twice about whether or not she was ready to upgrade.

Moments later, as she walked away from the podium, she had a chance to make it right. BBelf was just around the corner and Ms. W was holding $75. She at least can no longer claim that she wanted to give the money back, but she no longer had it (which is one of the many claims she has made).

Ok, I have closure. Makes me happy. Cause I can't spend the rest of my season marking her. Attacking and leading out are far more thrilling.