STAGE 3: Eastern Cordoba
What a mess. Today after hitting the first mud puddle my rear brakes decided to work just barely. Sweet…only 45 miles to go on unfamiliar terrain!! UGH. At least when I kept them dry I would get a bit more out of them.
This was the day that I knew would likely come but I didn’t know when. I could barley turn the pedals over. A sufferfest at its finest for me. Luckily it was only 5600 feet of climbing on this day but that was about 5599 too much. My body had a complete melt down and I know it was screaming “REALLY?? AGAIN???” It was an excruciatingly painful 5 hour day of dare I say, hell. Towards the end I almost lost it completely but didn’t let my mind go there. Told myself I HAVE to get through this because there kind of really is no choice when you don’t know where you are. You aren’t really just going to stop. Instead I chose to enjoy the captivating views as I slogged every foot of that stage to the very end. And it was odd, I didn’t want to stop racing or riding I just needed to get off the bike and recover the best I could. Oh and maybe not see another hill in a while too. Yeah right, fat chance on that one.
Perhaps I chose the wrong kind of coffee this morning
But with Jenny pushing me around all day we came in 3rd. Here’s to an understanding and wonderful race partner!!! We were still sitting 2nd overall in the race too!
Note: After the race I summoned the help of Julian Absalon’s (2 Time Olympic Gold Medalist and multi-time World Champion) mechanic for my 29r Alma Team Orbea. They totally dialed my bike and did WAY MORE than I even asked for. Those guys were incredible, did an amazing job and were SO NICE. Thank you for keeping the bike purring!!!!
Olive farms can be seen forever
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