Round and round we go

Stage 29

There were many fast times posted on yesterday’s Gorge time trial. But at what cost? For my part, my effort was hard but steady with few major deviations, but with the tour’s highest point and more climbing on tap for the day, the lingering hurt from that monster climb was likely to stick with me.

The three race leaders (Paul W., Horst, Paul S.) all set out with myself, Jorg, and Adam in the mix for good measure. Jorg, eager for a stage win and sensing that the unwilligness of others to push today would present him with the opportunity for the win, set a brisk early tempo. The group survived mostly intact through the first major climb of the day, but the second, longer and steeper, quickly sorted the group. Approaching lunch at the top together were myself and the three race leaders. How nice.. Jorg would rejoin our group as we departed lunch and eclipsed the 3100 meter mark For the remainder of the day he and I took turns at the front, the others seemingly content to let somebody do the work and earn the win. In the end, we would let Jorg clock in first, but apparently he was a minute or so quicker departing camp in the morning and by a matter of seconds I had the fastest time. This was not our intention, but such is the nature of the timing system employed for the race. Most have had issues with it, but for their part, the staff seem willing to make things right.

Camp today was at the rim of a massive gorge, presumably a continuation of the same impressive feature we climbed the previous day. The awe-inspiring view was complimented by a troop of baboons making an appearance upon our arrival. Apart from the sloping ground and the presence of a number of lava rocks this was easily the best campground of the trip. Even better was its proximity to a few small hotel and eateries. Into camp so early, Paul, Tori, and myself wasted no time hoofing back to these establishments in an effort to avoid the almost certain swarms of riders that would appear later. These occasions are always a treat – an opportunity to consume food of real sustenance in advance of dinner in 5 hours time. No opportunity wasted we downed 2 plates of pasta each, bread, 2 machiattos, 1 beer, and 2 orange sodas. Nothing like a light snack before supper…

Dinner was very good as usual, the highlight being the mango/pineapple/chili salad. The creativity of the staff with meals is impressive when one considers the length of the trip and the dynamic nature of ingredient availability. A perfect ending to a memorable day.