Day 5:
When you wake up before a stage of any stage race you ask yourself if you feel good, human, semi human or like shit. Here, after stage 2, we asked ourselves if we felt kind of shitty or totally like shit. After yesterday stage I thought I would feel totally like shit but I was surprised I didn't feel horrible. Unfortunately, Trever was feeling like shit.
We went out slow. Mellow. Got a good warm up. It was almost all dirt roads today. We got with some good groups and kept a decent pace. The course today started uphill from town and then a long descent followed by about 30 miles of flat washboard roads. Not good on a carbon hard tail.
We hit the first aid station after 30 miles about 2:30 hours in. I could see Trever starting to struggle. About 5 miles past the aid station Trever had had enough. He said he was quitting and for me to go on. Well, I couldn't really leave him so we agreed to ride to the next aid station and decide there. We stopped for a few minutes on the side of the road to recover then headed towards the aid station - I could tell that Trever was physically and mentally exhausted By luck a pick up truck came by. We waved, they waved back. I had to sprint to catch them and ask for a ride. They said yes, no problem.
We each went our own way. I took off a little fast - I was feeling good - looking back probably a mistake. You pay for these mistakes here sooner or later. I made if to the second aid station at pretty quickly. Next station was at mile 65 but first I had to climb around 3000 ft. I started slowing down a bit, I was running out of juice.
Finally made it to the aid station and refueled - btw, I officially hate heed, come and warm water. Aid stations suck down here. 30 km to the finish with one steep climb, one long washboard filled road and finally 15 km on the highway. My ass is raw by now, my knee hurts, my toes were numb, my back muscles were screaming at me. A few riders came by me but I didn't have the strength to grab their wheels.
Finally was able to hold the wheel of a mixed team with 4 km to go and I was so grateful. Made it to the finish in under 8 hrs. Not sure if I wanted to ride tomorrow, but I'm feeling better as I type this so I'll give it a shot. Tomorrow is 119 km with about 5000 ft of climbing with lots of fire road. Hopefully no washboard, but I would not bet on it.
Thanks for reading.
Friday, September 28, 2012
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
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.
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.
Ride Brasil 2012 - Day 3
Day 3 - XC stage
Today was a different kind of stage than what was presented to us as a cross country stage. The program said 5 laps around a 7 km loop and we didn't have to ride together. Both Trever and I were still tired from from yesterday - very tired.
We decided to ride by feel. I wanted to do well but wasn't sure how the legs would react. I decided to start fast and see how I felt. Trever was going to do the opposite. Start slow and increase the pace if he felt good.
We started at 10 am. The start was crazy with 300 racers trying to get the hole shot. The course was a true mountain bike course with fun twisty singletrack, double track, one hellish 50 yard hike-a-bike, a treacherous singletrack downhill and a section of pave on steroids. I had a decent start and did the first lap in about 25-26 minutes, then slowly started slowing down after each lap.
I lost one of my water bottles on the first lap so I had to stop after each lap to fill up so I wasted a little time. I started to get lapped by the pros halfway through my 3rd lap and I started to struggle a bit so I decided to stop "racing" and just ride it out. At the end of my fourth lap I was told that was it. I was a bit confused. Apparently everyone finishes on the same lap as the winner.
Trever managed to pull in 3 laps so we did ok. Not sure how they calculated times but we moved from 20th to 13th. Not bad for a short stage when both of us took it "easy".
Tomorrow is a 80km day so we hope to be done in about 5 hrs. We hope!! :-)
Today was a different kind of stage than what was presented to us as a cross country stage. The program said 5 laps around a 7 km loop and we didn't have to ride together. Both Trever and I were still tired from from yesterday - very tired.
We decided to ride by feel. I wanted to do well but wasn't sure how the legs would react. I decided to start fast and see how I felt. Trever was going to do the opposite. Start slow and increase the pace if he felt good.
We started at 10 am. The start was crazy with 300 racers trying to get the hole shot. The course was a true mountain bike course with fun twisty singletrack, double track, one hellish 50 yard hike-a-bike, a treacherous singletrack downhill and a section of pave on steroids. I had a decent start and did the first lap in about 25-26 minutes, then slowly started slowing down after each lap.
I lost one of my water bottles on the first lap so I had to stop after each lap to fill up so I wasted a little time. I started to get lapped by the pros halfway through my 3rd lap and I started to struggle a bit so I decided to stop "racing" and just ride it out. At the end of my fourth lap I was told that was it. I was a bit confused. Apparently everyone finishes on the same lap as the winner.
Trever managed to pull in 3 laps so we did ok. Not sure how they calculated times but we moved from 20th to 13th. Not bad for a short stage when both of us took it "easy".
Tomorrow is a 80km day so we hope to be done in about 5 hrs. We hope!! :-)
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