Brasil Ride 2012 - Day 4

Day 4

Another tough one. 50 miles with almost 8000 ft of climbing. Last 2000 ft started at mile 40 and ended t mile 43. That's right 2500ft in 3 miles with a pretty steady grade of 20%.

We started off in a nice pace. I could see Trever was feeling good or at least MUCH better than day 2. I, on the other hand was feeling nauseous. I kept burping some guava juice from breakfast and was having issues eating.

We covered the first 20 miles under 2 hrs so we were doing ok we then hit a 10 mile section of with some pretty technical parts and most people were having issues with it. We were not having the same problem. It was actually fun. I did realize that there are cool people and assholes everywhere. I flatted on this section, fixed the flat and kept going.

We've been hanging around with this couple from Switzerland, Yvonne and Simon. Really nice couple with a great sense of humor. We came up on them and they had stopped on the trail. I came up on Simon and had one of those "oh shit, I can't clip out" moments and headed down the hill. Nothing major, just some scrapes and bruises. Trever tried to help and almost fell on top of me. Kind of comical at the time.

We made to the second aid station and it was getting hot. We covered the first 30 miles in just over 3 hours. Still doing ok. Still not feeling well and not eating very much  We stayed here for about 5 minutes and then moved on. We only had 20 miles to go. Piece of cake, right?

At this point I was doing fine as long as the grade was less than 5%. If it kicked up and I couldn't spin I was in trouble. Suffering. We expected the last aid station at mile 40 before the start of the last climb. Well,we hit mile 40 and no aid station. The aid station was at the TOP of the hill. WTF?!?! We were almost out of fluids. Trever was overheating. I could hardly pedal. This climb was a steady 20% for 2-3 miles and we had to sit down in the shade. We were both pissed. Most of the riders offered water. One in particular who calls me "americano" and truly thinks I speak Portuguese because somehow we communicate, filled up my bottle from his camelback.  I call him "brasileiro". We pretty much walked for about a mile. Neither of us could pedal up the steep grade.

When we finally made it to the aid station it was scorching hot. Phoenix hot we heard it got up to 110 degrees. Brasileiro gave me a cold red bull and I chugged it. He then poured cold water on my head. He knew I was in trouble and was trying to help. About 60 seconds later I vomited the red bull and the last few gels I had taken. The medic saw this and had me sit down while they tried to cool me. Trever was waiting in what little shade there was.

Last 5 miles- why the fuck would they put an aid station 5 miles from the finish. We climbed a bit more. Brasileiro came by me and pushed me for a few seconds. Thank you!!

Finally back at the finish with a 2 mile descent. Back though town to the finish. Took us about 5:45. We were hoping for 5 good news is that we finished. I did find out that Trever gets a little grumpy when he's exhausted.

I got checked out by the medics because my body was burning up for the next few hours but they said I was ok. Just tired. No shit Sherlock.

Tomorrow we have 129 km / 80 miles but the climbing should not be too bad. Thanks for reading.