Stage 1
It was 25km mostly on tarmac and fireroads, some singletrack but nothing worth mentioning. Two climbs, one long at the start and another smaller towards the end.
We went off fast with Richie Close setting the pace. It was him, Buggle, Kev Stanley, Richard Patrick Felle, me, the american ex pro Chad and some other 2 dudes I didn't know. The group separated into pairs and I ended up riding it together with Chad doing turns at the front to catch Kev and Felle who were in front of us. It was going well until Chad had a mechanical so I was left on my own. Rolled in 5th place not far behind Richie F. It was 58min so short enough.
Stage 2
Felt great at the start and we went off with Richie Close setting the pace again and Buggle behind him in his leader jersey, it felt a bit like a road race with all the tactics and sh1t. Richie F was with us and 4 of us got away and rode together to the top of the course, some tough climb (8km)! At that stage we had about 4-5min gap to the rest of the field.
So happy days I thought and I knew I would move up a spot to 4th overall.... but don't count the chickens before they hatch they say, and not without a reason! I must have rode into some junk like a nail or a barbed wire near those aerials at the top and punctured. Should've fixed it straight away but you know how it is in the race, your brain just does not compute...I fiddled with it too long, tried to ride it with 10psi in it and made all sort of stupid mistakes. Eventually when I lost all of my lead time and others started to catch me I copped on and put the tube in. With 5km to go I wasn't going to get back on the lead train but I was catching a few bodies...until I punctured again (my fault this time, not enough air in the feckin tube!). Had to ride on the flat for the last 3km. Got there in 14th place but with 12min lost so my chances for a podium finish overall had disappeared. Gutted.
I'm in 11th overall and I think I can get 5-6min off the lads in front of me tomorrow so with luck I will get back to the top 6-8.
There is a 25km stage in the morning and 5km sprint through the 2010 NPS course in the afternoon so I'm looking forward to it.
DOK is riding well around 15th spot consistently so he should do well tomorrow as well.
Great event, very well organised. Where there hell is rest of you lot!!??
I've also uploded both stages to Strava if anyone wants to have a look.
It was 25km mostly on tarmac and fireroads, some singletrack but nothing worth mentioning. Two climbs, one long at the start and another smaller towards the end.
We went off fast with Richie Close setting the pace. It was him, Buggle, Kev Stanley, Richard Patrick Felle, me, the american ex pro Chad and some other 2 dudes I didn't know. The group separated into pairs and I ended up riding it together with Chad doing turns at the front to catch Kev and Felle who were in front of us. It was going well until Chad had a mechanical so I was left on my own. Rolled in 5th place not far behind Richie F. It was 58min so short enough.
Stage 2
Felt great at the start and we went off with Richie Close setting the pace again and Buggle behind him in his leader jersey, it felt a bit like a road race with all the tactics and sh1t. Richie F was with us and 4 of us got away and rode together to the top of the course, some tough climb (8km)! At that stage we had about 4-5min gap to the rest of the field.
So happy days I thought and I knew I would move up a spot to 4th overall.... but don't count the chickens before they hatch they say, and not without a reason! I must have rode into some junk like a nail or a barbed wire near those aerials at the top and punctured. Should've fixed it straight away but you know how it is in the race, your brain just does not compute...I fiddled with it too long, tried to ride it with 10psi in it and made all sort of stupid mistakes. Eventually when I lost all of my lead time and others started to catch me I copped on and put the tube in. With 5km to go I wasn't going to get back on the lead train but I was catching a few bodies...until I punctured again (my fault this time, not enough air in the feckin tube!). Had to ride on the flat for the last 3km. Got there in 14th place but with 12min lost so my chances for a podium finish overall had disappeared. Gutted.
I'm in 11th overall and I think I can get 5-6min off the lads in front of me tomorrow so with luck I will get back to the top 6-8.
There is a 25km stage in the morning and 5km sprint through the 2010 NPS course in the afternoon so I'm looking forward to it.
DOK is riding well around 15th spot consistently so he should do well tomorrow as well.
Great event, very well organised. Where there hell is rest of you lot!!??
I've also uploded both stages to Strava if anyone wants to have a look.