Stage 7

Stage7

Last day of riding in Italy! We are so lucky the weather has been there for us.. Sun, sun and more sun...we are in the high 30's which on a down hill is not so bad but climbing a 27km pass is not as fun... Hydrate was the word of the day... Felt great this morning, it is surprising that after 6 days of riding that you actually do seem to ride onto better fitness. So back to the 27km pass... this was the last pass we were going to have to climb to finish our journey through the ALP's  to reach Arco in Italy..... They changed the stage from 88 to 98km due to some constuction which gave us a little more of a warm up before the big climb... We decided this being the last day we would all climb at our pace and wait at the top, a good idea... Chris and I at the top hooked up with 5 of the riders that we had not had much of a chance to ride with during the trip, Paul and Graham with Red Truck, Jeremy with Speed Theory and Jo and Karen from England..(these girls could desend!)  we ripped down the pass knowing that at the bottom we only had less then 40 km to go..  Going into the very last switch back I miss judge how sharp it was and had to slow down in a hurry to be able to make it around...as I made it around I heard tires skid then a tire blow, I turned around just on time to see a guy hit the ground and slide accoss the corner I had just made it around and slammed into the road side rail.... Gary had caught us by the bottom and had a front row seat as the guy had come around him with to much speed and took a bad line into the corner... What a waste to crash that badly with so little left to the finish.. We saw him later with a full arm cast on and lots of road rash...sad.  Paul, Graham, Chris and myself got into a small pack and tempo'd the last 30ish km with a few some climbs that were left... The last 15km were pretty much down hill and quite beautiful as we desended down into Arco, o yah and very warm! We passed two castles which excited me as I up to that point I had not seen one that I knew I was going to be able to visit...... We came into the finishing shute feeling quite satisfied that we were all able to make it to Arco ... And although some of the team had to dig into the (as Chris put it)  suit case of courge several times during the seven days we all had a great time..  Proud of the whole group to make it to the finish.. 

Cheers
Jeremy        

Stage 6

Wow...it is hard to believe that we only have one more day to go. After a tough stage 4, I elected to ride at a more moderate pace on stage 5 to give myself a break and actually have some fun. Jeremy attacked most of the climbs at his pace and then would wait for me at the top. We would descend together and then he would fly up the next pass. We finished the day strong and managed to pip a few riders right at the finish line. Stage 5 was a "stress free" day with no expectations for results with the emphasis on fun. The consequence of this approach is that as a team we dropped 39 spots to finish 135th out of 230 Masters teams.


For stage six we decided to go all out and ride as hard as we could individually. Jeremy really hasn't had a stage where he went full out with no one to hold him back so we decided to have at it and see if we could move ourselves back up the ladder.

Today's stage had arguably the toughest starting climb. It was a 11km climb with long stretches of grades in excess of 16%. It was like climbing Spiller Rd back home...but for 11kms. After reaching the top there was about 15kms of short descents and rolling terain that lead to a long, 17km climb called the "Manghen Pass". Both Jeremy and I pushed ourselves hard and had good days. Jeremy's finishing time of around 4:40hrs was about 46th out of 230. I came in at 5:05hrs which was good for 87th spot. The team time is based on when the last rider of the two crosses the line so our time for the day was based on my result. After today's stage we moved up 37 spots to sit 98th out of 230 Masters teams. It was very rewarding for us both to go out and ride hard and push to the end.

I have to give some props to two of our fellow Penticton riders Ian McAndrews and Jim Miller for "digging into the suitcase of courage" the past two days and finishing both stages.This race tests you in every single way and I really admire their determination and fight. I know they both would say that they could not have gotten through those stages without the help and support of their respective teammates Gary Denton and Chris Prowse. Good on ya lads!

With the final stage tomorrow I guess Jeremy and I need to have a beer tonight to decide our strategy...hmmm...maybe if I can get Jeremy to have 3 beer the strategy will naturally unfold!

Ciao for now!

Chris H.

Stage 5

So the Internet is kind of spotty over here so that's the reason for missing some days... Stage 5 summary was pain and some more pain.. Kidding, having said that we climbed 2656 meters! Nothing compared to the day befores 3449 meters and 130 km in length... Some guy had told Chris the day before that if we thought that was hard wait for stage 5.. We thought he had to be wrong and for the most part he was although the first climb was a bitch.. O ya I said it...very, very steep.. It was a good thing I wore my climbing legs that morning.. Chis took it easy for the first part of the day and finished strong all in all a pleasant day.. The hotel was amazing nice people and very nice rooms..when we got there showered, got a coffee and a sandwich and all was right with the world.. Only comlaint was they couldn't come up with any tomatoes to put on our sandwiches..Chris looks at me and says "are we in Italy"? Good stuff....

Stage 6.... Very,very hot.. I will defer to Chris's post.. Need to go find some food! Can not believe how much food we are putting down our throats.. It's all good now we are in Italy.. Not sure how any one survived on Germany and Austria.. they drown everything in rich, rich sauces...