Today vee go up und then vee go down... 32km of up to be reasonably precise followed by 65km of down...ish!
As Stevie and I shivered on the start in full winter kit (God Bless Johnny Darroch for the loan of his waterproof jacket by-the-way)... "Arnie" the commentator announced that it was snowing above 2000m and the temperature was barely 2 degrees C... Ahh Scottish Weather we should do well, as long as " bird bones" could stay reasonably warm! Clearly feeling fine as he chatted-up the two girls that went on to win their class today.
This is such a fabulous event, the roads are closed for the all the starts and at every point you cross a road, pavement or whatever there's a marshall or policeman to stop the traffic! Everyone is just so into what we're doing, people out walking in the hills step out of the way and shout and clap as you go past... Don't get that in the Peak District!
The rain eventually turned to snow as we hit the point on the ascent of the Pfitscherjoch that we had to start the 30min carry over rocky sections... For those that have done the coast to coast, think Blacksail pass... In Winter!
We crossed the border into Italy right on the top and started to hurtle back down and on the wettest day ever... And we're clocking 80kph in places.
The final run-in to Brixen was on cycle paths and old ladies sat on benches enjoying the sun clapping and cheering as we charge past. Entering the centre of town at max effort, the course barriered-off from packed cafes and loads of spectators, a couple of tight bends and we burst into the town square and the finish. 40th and we've move back up the overall classification to 44th.
Glad to have my old Stevie back today, well 75% of him anyway! We've been force feeding him tonight so hopefully see a bit more of the old Tigger tomorrow.
The girls are doing a awesome job looking after us, driving from A-B, finding campsites and still getting to the finish line in time for us to arrive... Sometimes only just!
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