I was expecting today's start to be a bit manic and we had spotted a very tight left turn into a very steep and narrow lane, that was going to be a fair bottleneck. The gun went off at 9 precisely and the pack charged out of the square to chase down the leaders group that always gets a 10 Second head start on Block B.
Supposedly a neutralised start, it was still at top speed through the centre of Trento, using either side of roundabouts and traffic islands... Just like they do on The Tour de France!
We got to the bottleneck in good shape and pretty much got straight through, that was the start of todays longest climb. The pace more like a short XC race as everyone fights for final positions, we're no different pushing on as hard as we can.
At the 2nd feed station there was a horrid muddy push up a steep hill, Stevie's knee was giving him some grief... Didn't drug him up enough this morning, I grabbed his bike off him to push both up the hill and rather unsympathetically told him that he could or rather should destroy himself today, we had a whole week to rebuild him!
The final climb of the day took us up a road cut spectacularly into the edge of a cliff and at the top provided a stunning view down to lake Garda... But the finish was still a good 30Km away. Dropping quickly to the valley floor it was a fast run into Riva on tarmac and gravel cycle paths. We were with a small group of 6 that we soon rode off our wheel but then a fast moving group caught us and guess who was at the back... Transviamala!
We jumped on the back hoping to at least best them in a sprint for the line but fate had different cards to play for us... We overshot a badly signposted right hand turn and as I hit the brakes I realised there was no way of avoiding the Transviamala guy in front, plowing straight into him we both went down hard. Fortunately both ok but I'd shipped my chain and twisted the seat which allowed the group to get away from us.
Red mist... All we could do was hammer it back to the finish on the final few ks of road, head down, forearms on the bars, legs burning but there was no backing off, I knew we were dragging a few with us but didn't care. The SRAM Team went past but poor old Stevie's legs couldn't make the jump across to them.
We finished in 4hrs 8mins and took 24th place on the day. Not enough to move us any further up the GC so we stayed 31st overall.
Of the 220 teams in the masters category that started the race, only 120 made it to the finish.
Its been an awesome week, and a huge challenge that somehow we've got though. It would be easy if it were only about the racing, but its not, its about the team and not just the riders either!! I'm really proud of old "Bird Bones", he so easily could have given-up in his darkest moments but didn't and came out fighting everyday since.
Thanks to all that have helped and supported us through this, especially Lizzie and Gina for all your hours of feeding, massaging and generally putting up with a pair of prima-dona racers. Also a huge thanks to Zipvit Sport for your support and keeping us fuelled along the way.
Now for a week of rest, eating badly, drinking too much and sleeping... Oh and Piglet, just in case you think your life is about to get easier, better think again ! ;-)
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