Portugal Day 1 ...

... definitly did not disappoint those who were looking for a challenge!

Most of the day is mostly a blur; but i remember it was hard. At the start i hoped a few with go with me, but off the start i was on my own. The first climb didnt seem to be affected by the rain so i settled in my own pace and started making a doggie escape plan for km 36. As i approached the farm i could hear one of the dogs barking right away. I thought for a second he was fenced in; but then realise the gate was open. I had my sandwich ready as my plan was to give it some food. But as he comes out of the gate his buddies from last year got a hunch of it all from fields and started bolting over as well. Just to slow to catch me; probably reached my max heart rate of the day. But could calm down on the climb away. Now the dogs were ready for the rest of the field to follow, but so far no reports of injuries.

Two more dog chases later in the race are really the only events i remember. The rest in a general summary. Got cought by the winner at 80km; held his wheel throuh town (a min maybe) almost crashed into him as he thought he saw a water stop and hit his breaks emergency hard!. He flew away pretty quick as soon as the slightly down turned to slightly flatter and up. The day was really muddy and rainy with a lot of wind in my face. Though since i never have a wheel in front I can stay cleaner at least! I held to the finish with no one else passing me; thouh the last 40 km seemed to last forever and not until i could see Henry and his ridding buddy of the day did I kick my self in the rear did I pick it up one notch to not let them catch me. Got a bit concerned when my gps said 142 and still no town in view! :) it did show up thouh after a steep coblestone climb right in to town.
 
Slower overall time for me thus year; with about 20 min. Felt things went good and I worked harder that last year so my guess is the mud and wind had some impact. Hope I didnt dig too deep and have left a bit for the next few days.

Had an awesome massage and soon some dinner and them maybe tonight my circadian rhythm is adjusted enough to allow for some good sleep.

Katy is over for her massage and had to pull out later on the race due to her wheel not holding together. She said she felt pretty good until that point so it should be a good day tomorrow. She supplied us with some nutella, chips and rice crispies so definitly a good roommate !

My dad had a good day thouh missed a few check points and finish line due to some getting lost with the guide. Tomorrow he will turn to our new friend TomTom and see if he can beat me to the finish ..

Time for dinner!

Happy riding!