Part two..

I forget where I was. I have been sick all week long, so my preparation for my, what is looking like the final race of the season anyway, has been non-existant. Anyway, I think I was about the time where my bike finally showed up. After a quick build up, in which I was in such a hurry that I installed the fork backwards the first time and then when I put the rear derrailleur on, the cable was inside of the stay, on the cog. After getting myself straightened out, I did a bit of a warmup with a group of guys, where the picture above was taken. Pretty cool background if you ask me. After a decent dinner it was an early night to bed because of a 6am wake-up. I fell asleep pretty much immediately, and then woke up an hour later and was laying around, looking at the ceiling for about three hours before getting back to sleep. Breakfast was the usual Eurofare of lunch meats and cheeses, and pasta. The bus ride was not a big deal, but I could not fall asleep on the bus, which kind of sucked. We got to the start village, and I do mean village beause besides race day, the place is home to less than a thousand people. Race day brings an additional 16 thousand to their humble place.
The race, in brief, went as well as could be expected. I have, all year, been dealing with back issues. Part of the deal with the race is you had to ride with a pack weighing 3.5 kilograms, or 7.7 pounds. They supplied us with new camelbacks. My plan was to ride with as little in the pack as possible, and use a large waterbottle to hydrate. Then at the last aid station fill the waterbottle, and pop it into my camelback, adding weight. Well, on one of the first descents, about an hour into the race, I was rolling through a series of pretty vicious stutter-bumps when my bottle was ejected from its cage. That, was a problem to say the least. So, my hydration plan was out the window in a big way. I just sipped out of the camelback which at hour two was reeking havoc on my back. It got to the point where I could not generate any power without a hardcore stabbing pain in my back. What my only choice was to use one hand to lift the pack off my back whenever the road would allow and then on the inclines, get out of the saddle and stand on it. The problem with the second part of that is due to the fact that I was not hydrating, because I was worried about the pack weight, I started getting leg cramps. I will say that by the last 10-15K or so, I was certainly prepared to get off the bike.

I have to say that it was a great experience. I met some great people and saw a beautiful country that I cannot believe I would have had a chance to without being a cyclist.

If you see the ogre, tell him I said howdy.