Round and round we go

Stage: 56
Day Total: 111km
Total Time: 5:18
Avg. Speed: 20.8km/h
Avg. Heart Rate: 137bpm
Total Climbing: 2064m

Song of the Day: The Chemical Brothers – In Dust We Trust

This day was worthy of Howard Cossell: the end of a racer’s competition; three racer’s in position to claim a section victory with a stage win today; a very challenging stage featuring a 25km climb of 1200 meters. There would be no shortage of action on which to comment.
We will keep this relatively brief. We rolled out of camp along the same smooth dirt road that featured in the previous days. At 3km however, the road turned upward, and as it did, the surface went from smooth red dirt to a rutted rocky surface. In typical fashion Jorg was at the front early in the stage and set a very hard pace on this climb. We climbed for approximately 2km and at the top the group was already fragmented with Dennis and Paul Spencer (who has been ill) falling off the back. Upon reaching the apex Jorg immediately let up, and as the road flattened, he slowed even more in an effort to force Paul Wolfe to the front. Fortunately, Paul obliged, however, as he took the front, he slowed the pace even further. This game would continue for several kilometers with the pace falling as low as 12km per hour allowing Paul Spencer to rejoin the group. Given the amount of work and cooperation amongst everyone over the past week, I did not appreciate these games. It did provide an opportunity to recover however.

Paul Wolfe continued to ride behind me, refusing to take the front. Eventually Jorg and local rider Mike rode ahead. Paul waited to see if I would respond, but my mind was made up: I would ride as slow as required for as long as necessary until he took the front. We slowed as low as 10km/h as Jorge and Mike rode off into the distance. I knew I was probably giving away the stage, but at this point I was content to have anyone win besides Paul Wolfe. I swerved all over the road, pedalled through puddles, dirt, and holes but still he refused to lead. I sprayed my water bottle behind me, much to his dislike. He yelled something to which I responded: “If you don’t like it, go around”. With 1km before lunch, he finally conceded and took the front. This game had lasted 7km and given the pace we rode, we had just conceded 10+ minutes by a conservative estimate.

As we approached lunch, he rolled off onto the small dirt access road to approach the truck and I followed. As he unclipped his right foot to stop, I accelerated and announced my number to the truck and simply kept pedaling. I did not need nourishment and had intentionally carried surplus water all morning in anticipation of a quick lunch. Suddenly those moves paid off.

He would catch me approximately 3km out of lunch as I knew he would. I would later be told that he had choice words as he passed another rider: “I will hunt him down like a dog”. For my part, after the games earlier, I had no option but to defeat him. He pedalled past me onto the flanks of the massive climb that was the feature of the stage. I followed him, intentionally keepng my distance to prove a point: I did not need to rest in your draft.

The road was climbing in earnest now. Active construction work had smoothed the surface of the road for the opening 3km of the climb. I moved alongside him, looked to my right and

silently thought, “Come on old man. Let’s dance.” I moved ahead, changed gears, opened up the suspension on the front fork, and I was off. I did not bother to look back to see if he was following. The road turned to complete crap, the graded smoothness giving way to chunked rock and eroded rivulets caused by excessive rainfall. In other words, this road was made for a mountain bike.

This climb was seemingly never ending as the road wound countless times up the slopes. We were told the previous evening that the peak of the climb was at approximately 2400 meters, but unfortunately, for every steep section there was a a corresponding small-scale descent such that the net effect was only a few meters towards that hight point. Argh.

After 20 minutes of serious climbing I chanced a look back and was pleased to see nobody following me. Another 400 meters at a bend in the road I looked again and was rewarded with an empty road; that meant a gap of nearly .75 km which on this road would be 3 minutes. Yes. I was feeling stronger with each passing kilometer and now had my sights on reeling in Jorge, Mike, and their 10+ minute lead.

I powered along, steeply up and sharply down, for the better part of 2.5 hours with my speed falling as low as 10km/h during the worst of the road. This climb was the worst we had faced on the tour and would certainly be breaking a few wills – if not a few bicycles – before day’s end. Eventually the road leveled off and a quick glance at the GPS confirmed that I had indeed reached the summit. Unfortunately, rather than a precipitous descent I was greeted by a series of rolling hills for the next 5km. The road surface had failed to improve and I quickkly learned that whatever pain it inflicted when going up would be increased by orders of magnitude when descending.

With teeth rattling and bike jarring, I finally hit the body of the descent into the city of Mbeya. There was no “good” line to follow as I flew down this hill, only teeth-rattling corrugation, 3-inch deep ruts, and an abundance of loose rock. My bike choice paid off and allowed me to descend – with confidence – while carrying considerable speed. Risks had to be taken simply because I knew the competitors would not do the same.

The gravel road gave way to smooth, winding pavement for the final 2km. A quick right turn revealed the finish flag and with one final surge I was there. In the end I would finish just one minute behind Jorge. A very good effort on my part, but at the same time disappointing: the games played earlier in the stage with Paul Wolfe had yielded such a large time gap that I could not close it. With the way the time bonuses are applied for mando stages – the 30 minute bonus is added to the stage time and not the overall time – my 17 minute lead would be insufficient and I would finish second in the section. That said, i could not be more pleased with my effort on the day.

So that’s it. I’m done racing and officially on holiday. Please excuse me, but there are beers to drink!