I was expecting today's start to be a bit manic and we had spotted a very tight left turn into a very steep and narrow lane, that was going to be a fair bottleneck. The gun went off at 9 precisely and the pack charged out of the square to chase down the leaders group that always gets a 10 Second head start on Block B.
Supposedly a neutralised start, it was still at top speed through the centre of Trento, using either side of roundabouts and traffic islands... Just like they do on The Tour de France!
We got to the bottleneck in good shape and pretty much got straight through, that was the start of todays longest climb. The pace more like a short XC race as everyone fights for final positions, we're no different pushing on as hard as we can.
At the 2nd feed station there was a horrid muddy push up a steep hill, Stevie's knee was giving him some grief... Didn't drug him up enough this morning, I grabbed his bike off him to push both up the hill and rather unsympathetically told him that he could or rather should destroy himself today, we had a whole week to rebuild him!
The final climb of the day took us up a road cut spectacularly into the edge of a cliff and at the top provided a stunning view down to lake Garda... But the finish was still a good 30Km away. Dropping quickly to the valley floor it was a fast run into Riva on tarmac and gravel cycle paths. We were with a small group of 6 that we soon rode off our wheel but then a fast moving group caught us and guess who was at the back... Transviamala!
We jumped on the back hoping to at least best them in a sprint for the line but fate had different cards to play for us... We overshot a badly signposted right hand turn and as I hit the brakes I realised there was no way of avoiding the Transviamala guy in front, plowing straight into him we both went down hard. Fortunately both ok but I'd shipped my chain and twisted the seat which allowed the group to get away from us.
Red mist... All we could do was hammer it back to the finish on the final few ks of road, head down, forearms on the bars, legs burning but there was no backing off, I knew we were dragging a few with us but didn't care. The SRAM Team went past but poor old Stevie's legs couldn't make the jump across to them.
We finished in 4hrs 8mins and took 24th place on the day. Not enough to move us any further up the GC so we stayed 31st overall.
Of the 220 teams in the masters category that started the race, only 120 made it to the finish.
Its been an awesome week, and a huge challenge that somehow we've got though. It would be easy if it were only about the racing, but its not, its about the team and not just the riders either!! I'm really proud of old "Bird Bones", he so easily could have given-up in his darkest moments but didn't and came out fighting everyday since.
Thanks to all that have helped and supported us through this, especially Lizzie and Gina for all your hours of feeding, massaging and generally putting up with a pair of prima-dona racers. Also a huge thanks to Zipvit Sport for your support and keeping us fuelled along the way.
Now for a week of rest, eating badly, drinking too much and sleeping... Oh and Piglet, just in case you think your life is about to get easier, better think again ! ;-)
Its fitting I guess that we should follow the 2nd hardest day with the longest, and slightly disappointingly cut a little short because of a 24hr public transport strike so the Police wouldn't allow us to race right into the centre of Trento. Our real finish line was a rather less spectacular layby off a road about 5km out of town. Although we did have to ride into the finish in the centre anyway, race-heads switched off!
We've made lots of friends in the peloton, and it this that makes you realise the truly international nature of this race. There's a couple of lads from Wisconsin, the Rocky Mountain mixed team that we see everyday, a couple of Spanish lads that we have a daily sign language conversation with. There are teams from Cuba, Peru, Venezuala, South Africa along with the inevitable smattering of Aussies and Kiwis etc.
Another hot day today although it was freezing on the start until the sun came round. I was a bit concerned about the early part of the race, hitting a fast section of downhill gravel I wanted to get through as much of the slower traffic as we could. It worked well and by the time we hit the gravel everyone was moving at a good pace.
Then we hit a great section of singletrack we'd been told about in the briefing, a cracking bit of narrow downhill through the trees with tight switchbacks "that you will have to walk your bike around"... Not if your from Cannock Chase!
One big climb today, not steep but steadily up for 20km with a rapid descent to the valley floor and 40km of flatish tarmac cycle track. Sadly my hopes of a good sized group to work with were just a bit too far out of reach leaving me to hammer myself to bits into the wind. We worked well for a bit with a couple of other lads but the accelerations out of some tight bends soon did for Stevie and we had to let them go (to be honest I was barely hanging on myself).
The final climb although short was hard and I've got to confess to reading the Garmin wrongly and convinced Steve the finish was at the top... Err but it wasn't, it was another 10km down the road (Doh!). Time for Steve to get the bit between his teeth, I'd virtually blown myself to bits getting us to that point.
We crossed the line in 5hrs 18mins which was good enough for 22nd place on the Stage. This has moved us up again in the GC to 31st overall, 6mins behind the team infront... I can sniff a top 30 finish if we can keep it nailed tomorrow.
All your support and the mere mention that Rich Munro would likely be wanting an explanation galvanised Stevie into action... Rich we may have taken your name in vain but it was all in a good cause, thanks mate!
Several good feeds a couple of massages and an early night, coupled with clear skies this morning and spirits were much lighter in the van this morning.
I'm down to my last 6 Pro-plus tablets so I donated todays ration to keeping Stevie up and running... For those of you that know Steve well... Can you imagine what he was like on the start line drugged-up on Pro-Plus and Ibuprofen!
Today was the last of the big climbing days another 3100m to get up and over. The roll out was fast with 5km downhill before hitting the first climb, steep and long, and halfway up we went straight through the centre of a tiny hamlet and single file through a steep,narrow tunnel/walkway between the houses, with what seemed like all of the locals above and below cheering us through.
The riding then became very much more "British" short steep climbs on singletrack with roots and mud... Stevie happy with this... Much less like yer foreign riding!
We were going well at last, moving forward and riding with a bunch of people that we haven't seen since stage 1.
Each day we head out with a bottle full of Zipvit juice, a couple of energy bars and 3 or 4 Gels. Its the first time I've really had an opportunity to try the full suite of Zipvit stuff and tell-you-what it sure works, not having too much trouble stomaching it either. Liking the bars too!
The last feed station was set right at the bottom of a spectacular part of the Dolomites. The route climbed up and through the most awesome rock architecture before dropping off the back down to San Martino.
A few k's of fast gravel led to a road of perfect tarmac and twisting hairpins before diving off the road and dropping straight down to the town through the local bike park.
5hrs 21mins ride time has brought us our best result, 28th on the stage that has moved us up to 35th Overall.
The bike is with the Shimano guys getting some new cable and the gears set-up again, 20 Euros but I expect well spent!
Longest stage tomorrow at 122km, I'll be donating my last Pro-plus again... Hope the sun still shines!!!
Down at the start we're all shivering under the canopy of a cafe. Inside the espresso machine is working overtime and there's a steady stream of people heading for the loo, the cafe owner is too busy to notice or is simply resigned to his fate for the next half hour.
I find Brian and Martina hiding in a corner. They're from Stratford on Avon, although Martina's Dutch. They are racing as a mixed pair and doing pretty well, 18th yesterday and only a few minutes behind us. Its a great excuse to hide in the warmth for a few minutes having a chat.
A few minutes before the start its announced that the weather conditions above 2000m are pretty bad, 2 degrees C and snow. The organsisers are considering finishing the race at the 2nd feed station at 50km to avoid going over the highest point of the route at 2400m.
Stevie's head has been down all morning, he's rather out of sorts at the minute, his left knee is hurting, but the daily battering is taking a greater toll. I'm bearing up ok, its a Scottish thing, never properly happy until there's a bit of misery involved!
Whilst I'm happy to push Steve along for as long as I can, its bloody hard going. Got to take my hat off to the guys in the mixed pairs you see pushing their partners along for most of the day. Not only is there a skill involved but its really difficult to gauge the amount of effort to put in. I usually have to give-up after a bit and go and recover on my own.
If your on Facebook, go and find "Craft BIKE Transalp" there's loads of info, links to results and photos of each stage.
At the 1st feed, we were told that the stage would finish at the 2nd feed station in 20km. Got to admit I wasn't even a little bit disappointed although we did still have to ride down to Alleghe, but hey, twisty alpine roads, on a bike with disc brakes, and cars to overtake and outbrake into the hairpin bends... Well you just would, wouldn't you!
Again we've finished 44th today, but have moved up in the overall standings to 39th.
Tomorrows a tough day with 3100m of ascent, I fear that Stevie is on the brink of abandoning. Hoping we can re-build him again tonight... The 6 million dollar postie!
Breakfast, pack-up and check-in at the start for 8:15, then have at least 5 nervous pee's before the start at 9. Straight after the finish its into recovery drinks and food, then bike washing and prep for the next day, massage, then food and by then its time to go to bed.
Anyway, todays stage started with another 20Km of climbing, after a decent start Steve was struggling again and we started slipping back, or so it seemed. I have my first proper experience of overheated brakes, pulling them on as hard as I could but I was no longer slowing down, was lucky to get away with that one!
Another hard stage with some really brutal climbing that eventually got to everyone with just about all getting off and walking.
Just when we thought we'd cracked it with only 8km to go the track crested in a tiny hamlet, I'd just changed to the big-ring ready for another screaming descent to the finish when the course turned hard left and up for another 500m of height to gain!
We did have a great section of technical wet singletrack descent that was great, as most things round here, it went on for ages leaving hands, arms and shoulders screaming.
A final couple of miles flying downhill on tarmac (70kph today) to another town centre finish.
In all today racked up 10000ft of climbing over 72km, and just as I was thinking we'd had another bad day, seemingly everyone else did too again finishing 44th in 5hrs 51mins.
Now somewhere in all of this Stevie found his turbo button (or his missing stash of EPO), he went flying past me and kept on going, and was still going at the end. He's been bouncing around like a demented Zebedee tonight... Hopefully this bodes well for tomorrow!
