Round and round we go

Stage 40
Day Total: 84.4km
Total Time: 4:32
Avg. Speed: 18.6km/h
Avg. Heart Rate: 137bpm
Total Climbing: 256m

Song of the Day: Chicago – If You Leave Me Now

An unfamiliar sense of seriousness hovered over camp this morning. Breakfast was scheduled to start earlier, the lunch truck would leave earlier, and riders hit the road well ahead of their normal schedules. Nobody seemed to be taking the entry into the lava fields lightly. For my part, the “get ready” music that accompanied my morning regimen had me feeling fairly relaxed and relatively calm. Yesterday’s very easy ride meant that my legs would be unburdened by the strain of a hard effort 24-hours earlier. At least I had that going for me.

Our plan was to leave together as a big group and set a very easy tempo into lunch. The longer we all stayed together, it was presumed, the greater the likelihood that we could stick around to the bitter end of this stage and try to usurp the race leader and end his run of 4 consecutive mando stage wins. A solid plan I thought.

Unfortunately, not everyone was on board with the plan even after giving their consent the night prior. The group set off, the pace was high, and the workload was not shared. A hard pace on the roads is one thing: on pavement you can often recover after a bout of higher exertion by sitting behind other riders or coasting downhill. Offroad riding, especially with nasty corrugation and loose rock offers no such respite. Thus, I let the group ride on ahead as I stuck to my pace knowing from previous mountain bike races of 40 to 50km distance that a lot can happen in the course of a ride. Given that this was 84km, the second half of which would be over very rough terrain, I was content to do my thing and manage myself properly.

Soon enough I started riding through people who were in the group of early pace setters. By 30km there were only 3 ahead of me, Jorg visible in the distance, the two Pauls far enough up the road to be out of sight. A long climb into lunch brought a very welcome smoothness to the riding surface and I powered up the hill to find Jorg still eating at the lunch truck. One of the chief pacesetters on the morning, I secretly wanted to show him a thing or two on the second half of the day. Knowing that the intensity of the ride would not let me comfortably eat a normal meal, I opted for bananas, an energy bar, and a bottle of energy drink. Jorg set out and with a quick lunch I left just 30 seconds behind him.

The second half began with a long, smooth descent of about 1km. The benefits of the front suspension on my fork let me surge past Jorg on this section and within 10 minutes time a sizeable gap had opened. I considered that business finished and concentrated on catching the two riders on the horizon. I did not know who they were but figured that it couldn’t be the two Pauls as the rider in the lighter colored jersey (Paul Wolfe wore white that day) was riding in the front position (something Mr. Wolfe rarely does through the body of a stage). However, as I drew near I could make out the bright orange of UK Paul’s hydration pack. I pulled even and exchanged comical glances with UK Paul – he was riding only as hard as Paul Wolfe. I rode past the two of them to which Mr. Wolfe responded: “You better go chase down Lindsay up ahead”. I knew we left after Lindsay and would post a faster time – he was simply trying to wind us up. I responded with “I’ve got nothing to prove, my mando stage record is already blemished,” a cheeky response taking a jab at the fact that his 4-for-4 mando win record was under serious pressure today.

And like that, UK Paul and myself simply rode ahead of him and opened a gap. UK Paul then opened a gap on me while the other Paul rode up behind me. I eased up and watched the gap to UK Paul widen. Comfortable that he would stay ahead to win the stage I went back to my pace and found myself riding away from Mr. Wolfe as well. This was actually a surprise as he had shown significant strength on the previous mando dirt day. The terrain was much rougher than that day which might explain the difference.

In the end, Paul Spencer (UK Paul) would get the win on what proved to be a difficult day. Beating our truck to camp, we sat in the shade of the one vehicle recounting the day’s events. The road definitely got worse as the day progressed with the final 3km being particularly nasty and preventing speeds above 12km/h. This did not bode well for tomorrow’s ride into Marsabit – “the toughest day on tour”. As we sat in camp, howling winds and high temperatures made life a bit unpleasant but my preparations for tomorrow were underway: double serving of recovery drink; vitamins; re-hydration salts; secret post-ride protein; consuming all the food I could find. I recalculated tire pressures, the net effect being that I would ride with 40psi in the rear and 35psi in the front for tomorrow; the final 4km of riding today convinced me of that move. A few locals walked over to our camp to request that we not use the small circle of standing water for bathing as it serves as their source of drinking water. Ironically, I saw 3 cows defecate into said water and one child romping naked through the shallows. Go figure.

With wind and heat I have forgone the setup of my tent tonight, opting to sleep out in the open on tarp and sleeping mat. This has the added benefit of speeding up preparations tomorrow morning. My final thought for the night is of my father lounging on the beach in Zanzibar, probably with in-room air conditioning and room service. On the eve of what will surely be a memorable ride – not only for this tour but for my entire life – I don’t envy him. Tomorrow is a rare opportunity to deeply test oneself but the beach will always be there.