Morning went smoother even though this would be the first one were I had the headache and nauseated feeling people had talked a out. Could be many things but seems like altitudes gets the blame for all out of norm sensation and really just anything... Gota be the altitude :)
Dropped the drop bags at the event tent and headed down to start area downtown. Spun the legs around the block and quick Starbucks washroom visit before lining up. At the start line I was told I was the leader in the Enduro event, cool. Get an nice looking jersey but since pockets were packed and start to get going I opted to get one after; might regret this as it might just have been my one chance. Today the segments, besides maybe one, didn't feel fast with a bit more people in front, still fun to push it when you can. But today even when I could, I'm not loving the loose stuff with unknow corners and high speed. Had one near death experience that smartened me up for the rest of the day.
A shot from the award to show of the swag...
So the start was moderate, escorted by the police again. It quickly got us into a good climb and as yesterday I fall behind a little bit. Did my pee stop as we got close to the top, and then a super fast double track down to some single track fun traverse. Cought up with the rest of the lead girls. Felt ok and by the time we got to the big long climb we all rode together (minus Karen, the Pivot girl, which I'm not sure what went down as she was not at the finish list). Amanda set a nice pace, she knows the course so a good one to pace it with. Behind her was the Belgian girl Alice and Sue and me at the end. As I had no good idea of the top it sort of came out of nowhere and all of a sudden we were going down in this order. Amanda took off and Sue couldn't seem to get by, and wasn't going to try to take two passes on, some some pretty angry Enduro racers did, not a pretty pass as he almost took me right down the hill...but it did the trick for him. It was a fun long decent. At the end it got more loose and switch back and eventually the Alice pulls aside and let us by. Almost right after thhis Sue hits the rear on a rock and similar to my scenario yesterday. See Stan's flying then none, so I though it might had sealed. She eventually pulls over. Not so lucky.
I can see Amanda as the terrain opens up, and we start climbing again. Even though I'd felt ok all day all of a sudden I feel like there is nothing left. I try to drink more (my bottles were still pretty full) but can't dig in. Role through feed two not too keen on riding more as I know is about 5 mile up hill coming up soon. It was gradual with some flatter rough single track and I barley moved forward. On the last few switch backs up I was caught by Alice, she looked strong and encourage me to pick up the pace. I pulled over and let her go as there was no picking up. The down to the finish was way shorter than I'd hope so there was no catching time there; which at that point was totally fine, at least I could get off the bike for a few minutes....rough ending, but good day overall. The climbs were epic, took some time too look around, looking forward to decending some of them later this week.
Amanda had a strong finish and got a few more minutes on me after feed two. Sue rolled to stay third overall, I jumped one spot to second, and Amanda is now in the fancy lead jersey. Fun field and still nice and laid back. Most people are here to have a good time and ride bikes. I might not partake in all the chit chat when we ride, but not cause I do t want to...I'm still trying to figure out the breathing and talking at the same time.
Finish line photo by Michell, thanks!
Rode back to town with Alice, dropped bike for wash before it got busy. Got my legs in a tub of cold water and hope for magic tomorrow. Another big (bigger..) day tomorrow. Up around 12000 ft and crossing the continental divide twice...Epic is in the name and not for no reason.
Thanks to Tracie and the rest of the crews out at the feed stops. They are awesome as they like to say it here...:) thanks Michelle too for finish line photo.
Happy Riding!
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