Here is the final 3 (supposed to be 4) stages on TransMexicana for those of you interested.
Day 4, 66 miles, 8700 ft. of climbing
Today we started from downtown Oaxaca with a police escort. The first 14 km we neutral, then we lined up again just outside the city and started the race. I
was not expecting so much climbing for today, so I went out with Lupillo, the leader of the Open division. We worked together for the first hour, but as soon as the climbing started, we got caught by a second group that contained all the other players in the Open and Master division. We all stopped at the first aid station to refuel, then we headed out. I rode with second place rider in the Masters division for another 45 minutes when he fell off the pace. Lupillo, Cory and Simon were (top 3 in the Open) were all in front. Just before the top of the climb I ran into Simon who was still having some stomach issues. Jimmy, a 23 year old Mexican, caught up with me and we rode together to the top. The descent was long and fast. Jimmy and I kept trading places, but I almost took a tumble and decided to dial it back a bit. Jimmy and I stayed close together the remainder of the time and I finished about 1 minute behind him. I increased my lead by another 30 minutes.
The bad part about today was the "3 hour" bus ride. It turned out to be a 6 hour bus ride, with all the riders AND bikes, so there wasn't any room to do much of anything. We got to the "camping spot" just before midnight. Everyone was pretty upset, considering we had another hard day ahead of us. The start time was pushed back an hour to ensure we got more rest. I ended up in a tent fo
r the organizers with the worst snoring people I have ever met. I slept my my Ipod all night long. It was a long and not very restful night.
Day 5, 60 miles, 3000 ft. of climbing
This was supposed to be a flat day and the first 44 km were paved, but about 20 km into the paved section, we hit a pretty damn steep hill, about 500 meters long. Too long for me to stay with the Lupillo and Cory, but long enough to drop everyone else. Jimmy was just ahead of me and I expected him to wait for me, but he decided to keep going, so I waited for the next group - a group of 3. We worked together until we caught Jimmy, then about 60 km into the day, we caught the two leaders. About 15 minutes later, we hit an aid station and I saw that neither Lupillo or Cory stopped, so I kept going while everyone else stopped. Lupillo, Cory and I worked together and put some time on everyone. When we finally hit the train tracks, Lupillo and Cory were carrying their bike and I just said excuse me and went by riding on the bridge. Both of them got the message real quick and they were on their bikes immediately. At the last bridge I was behind both of them and while trying to get off the bike, my foot slipped and went through the trusses. No major damage, just a nice little scab on the side of my shin. I have to be honest, but it did scare me when I slipped. I thought a broken leg was a real possibility. It took me a few minutes to regroup, and I then rejoined Lupillo and Cory. Going through a small town, Lupillo ran over a rope that was holding a horse. The horse got startled and pulled back almost taking Cory and my head off. We hit our brakes and stopped in time. Cory and I looked at each other and just smiled.
The temperature was starting to get pretty high, and we all decided to stop at the next aid station. I felt pretty dehydrated and after taking a leak, I noticed I need to slow down and hydrate, so the next time Lupillo took off, I just sat back and let Cory go. No need to get in the middle of things. I rode alone for another hour, and was desperate to finished, when some kids told me that my "friend" were at the local store. Cory and Lupillo were getting some cold drinks, so one of them bought me a cold coke and a cold powerade and off we went. The organizers decided to shorten the stage due to the danger of riding on the highway and the fact that the highway police did not show up to provide and escort. This was a bit of a surprise when we saw the finish line and nobody knew what it was. Cory made a short sprint at it, with Lupillo behind him and I was third. I only lost about 10 seconds to them.
Tonight was fun. We got put up in a hotel instead of the tents... Thank You!!!! Ate a nice big pizza with Lupillo and had a good nights rest. The group met later that night and decided to combine the last two 80 km stages into one 160 km stage. I thought they didn't know what they were doing since 100 miles is a long way to go no matter how flat it is.
Day 6, 88 miles, 1000 ft. of climbing
OK, this was shorter than I was told, faster than what I expected and we were on pavement for most of it. Again, I took off with the lead group. There were 5 of us - Lupillo, Cory, Simon, myself and Roman Urbina - the founder of La Ruta de los Conquistadores. Roman has had some stomach issues as well, but he was able to keep up and pull through for the first hour. Never saw him again until the finish. The remaining 4 of us, kept working at a very moderate pace. I actually thought we were going too slow. We hit an aid station after about 2 hours and everyone stopped, but I decided to take a hand off and keep going. I kept looking back and all three of them were still at the aid station, so I decided to keep the pace moderate and see what happens. To keep things short, I was off the front for about 1 1/2 hours, with as much as a 7 minute lead. Cory got worried and decided to chase, with Lupillo on his wheel. Simon couldn't hang on and was dropped. I was caught with about 20 km to go and the three of us started working together again.
With about 10 km to go, we entered the city of Veracruz and Cory launched a vicious attack on a small climb. I couldn't hang,but kept chasing hard. I caught the two and thought I could surprise them and went by them, but then the gas ran out, still too far from the finish line. I was caught and dropped again. I regained my composure and started chasing again but couldn't catch them. Lupillo took the sprint, Cory second and me third. Made up another 30 minutes. I finished with the 3rd best time, won the master class by over 2 hours. My prize was $15,000 pesos, that when I started my vacation was about $1200 bucks, but by the time I cashed the check the peso had devalued some more and I got $969. I also got a trophy, a Salomon t-shirt, a Suunto watch and some skin products for me. At least I didn't get shampoo.
I'm supposed to get free entry for next year, so I guess I know where I'll be next February.... in case anyone wants to join me. Next up.... well.... I'm still thinking about it.
Day 4, 66 miles, 8700 ft. of climbing
Today we started from downtown Oaxaca with a police escort. The first 14 km we neutral, then we lined up again just outside the city and started the race. I
was not expecting so much climbing for today, so I went out with Lupillo, the leader of the Open division. We worked together for the first hour, but as soon as the climbing started, we got caught by a second group that contained all the other players in the Open and Master division. We all stopped at the first aid station to refuel, then we headed out. I rode with second place rider in the Masters division for another 45 minutes when he fell off the pace. Lupillo, Cory and Simon were (top 3 in the Open) were all in front. Just before the top of the climb I ran into Simon who was still having some stomach issues. Jimmy, a 23 year old Mexican, caught up with me and we rode together to the top. The descent was long and fast. Jimmy and I kept trading places, but I almost took a tumble and decided to dial it back a bit. Jimmy and I stayed close together the remainder of the time and I finished about 1 minute behind him. I increased my lead by another 30 minutes.The bad part about today was the "3 hour" bus ride. It turned out to be a 6 hour bus ride, with all the riders AND bikes, so there wasn't any room to do much of anything. We got to the "camping spot" just before midnight. Everyone was pretty upset, considering we had another hard day ahead of us. The start time was pushed back an hour to ensure we got more rest. I ended up in a tent fo
r the organizers with the worst snoring people I have ever met. I slept my my Ipod all night long. It was a long and not very restful night.Day 5, 60 miles, 3000 ft. of climbing
This was supposed to be a flat day and the first 44 km were paved, but about 20 km into the paved section, we hit a pretty damn steep hill, about 500 meters long. Too long for me to stay with the Lupillo and Cory, but long enough to drop everyone else. Jimmy was just ahead of me and I expected him to wait for me, but he decided to keep going, so I waited for the next group - a group of 3. We worked together until we caught Jimmy, then about 60 km into the day, we caught the two leaders. About 15 minutes later, we hit an aid station and I saw that neither Lupillo or Cory stopped, so I kept going while everyone else stopped. Lupillo, Cory and I worked together and put some time on everyone. When we finally hit the train tracks, Lupillo and Cory were carrying their bike and I just said excuse me and went by riding on the bridge. Both of them got the message real quick and they were on their bikes immediately. At the last bridge I was behind both of them and while trying to get off the bike, my foot slipped and went through the trusses. No major damage, just a nice little scab on the side of my shin. I have to be honest, but it did scare me when I slipped. I thought a broken leg was a real possibility. It took me a few minutes to regroup, and I then rejoined Lupillo and Cory. Going through a small town, Lupillo ran over a rope that was holding a horse. The horse got startled and pulled back almost taking Cory and my head off. We hit our brakes and stopped in time. Cory and I looked at each other and just smiled.
The temperature was starting to get pretty high, and we all decided to stop at the next aid station. I felt pretty dehydrated and after taking a leak, I noticed I need to slow down and hydrate, so the next time Lupillo took off, I just sat back and let Cory go. No need to get in the middle of things. I rode alone for another hour, and was desperate to finished, when some kids told me that my "friend" were at the local store. Cory and Lupillo were getting some cold drinks, so one of them bought me a cold coke and a cold powerade and off we went. The organizers decided to shorten the stage due to the danger of riding on the highway and the fact that the highway police did not show up to provide and escort. This was a bit of a surprise when we saw the finish line and nobody knew what it was. Cory made a short sprint at it, with Lupillo behind him and I was third. I only lost about 10 seconds to them.
Tonight was fun. We got put up in a hotel instead of the tents... Thank You!!!! Ate a nice big pizza with Lupillo and had a good nights rest. The group met later that night and decided to combine the last two 80 km stages into one 160 km stage. I thought they didn't know what they were doing since 100 miles is a long way to go no matter how flat it is.
Day 6, 88 miles, 1000 ft. of climbing
OK, this was shorter than I was told, faster than what I expected and we were on pavement for most of it. Again, I took off with the lead group. There were 5 of us - Lupillo, Cory, Simon, myself and Roman Urbina - the founder of La Ruta de los Conquistadores. Roman has had some stomach issues as well, but he was able to keep up and pull through for the first hour. Never saw him again until the finish. The remaining 4 of us, kept working at a very moderate pace. I actually thought we were going too slow. We hit an aid station after about 2 hours and everyone stopped, but I decided to take a hand off and keep going. I kept looking back and all three of them were still at the aid station, so I decided to keep the pace moderate and see what happens. To keep things short, I was off the front for about 1 1/2 hours, with as much as a 7 minute lead. Cory got worried and decided to chase, with Lupillo on his wheel. Simon couldn't hang on and was dropped. I was caught with about 20 km to go and the three of us started working together again.
With about 10 km to go, we entered the city of Veracruz and Cory launched a vicious attack on a small climb. I couldn't hang,but kept chasing hard. I caught the two and thought I could surprise them and went by them, but then the gas ran out, still too far from the finish line. I was caught and dropped again. I regained my composure and started chasing again but couldn't catch them. Lupillo took the sprint, Cory second and me third. Made up another 30 minutes. I finished with the 3rd best time, won the master class by over 2 hours. My prize was $15,000 pesos, that when I started my vacation was about $1200 bucks, but by the time I cashed the check the peso had devalued some more and I got $969. I also got a trophy, a Salomon t-shirt, a Suunto watch and some skin products for me. At least I didn't get shampoo.
I'm supposed to get free entry for next year, so I guess I know where I'll be next February.... in case anyone wants to join me. Next up.... well.... I'm still thinking about it.
