Missing Partners, Missing Turns
My official partner for today's stage was Steve Smith of Liverpool. Steve actually arrived in Canada without a partner as he was let down by his erstwhile partner after having paid his race entry (the wonderful people on the Trans-Rockies have agreed to roll over the entry for next year's race). Unofficially, I was allowed to line up at the back of the first block of competitors and ride my own race.
As the field headed into the first single-track section of the day, I found myself with an American rider who had already lost contact with his partner. Yesterday they won the 40+ (masters) time trial and they were keen to consolidate their position in the overall classification. I let my American friend take the lead as he was keen to catch his partner, but this proved to be a mistake as he missed a turn to the left and took us into a dead end that was densely populated with logs and fallen trees. Around 20 riders followed us. It took us about five minutes to work out that the trail was on a ridge not far above us, and another five minutes to climb up onto the ridge over the fallen trees.
When we rejoined the race we found ourselves in heavy (slow moving) traffic on the narrow single-track. When the trail finally opened out we were able to make good progress through the field, but there was still no sign of the American's partner. It wasn't until we reached the first feed-station (and timing control point) that we sighted him, coming back up the trail to avoid a time penalty. I decided to ride on and leave them to have words about their partnership.
The first half of today's stage was a mixture of single-track and old logging trails. After the second feed-station we headed up the only significant climb of the day, where I made good progress through the field. After the descent to feed-station three it was a 40km grunt along a wide logging road to the finish. Riding alone with the wind in my face I was missing my partner. After yesterday's rain the road was very muddy, making it difficult to maintain momentum in numerous places. There was nobody immediately ahead of me and nobody immediately behind for almost 20km. When eventually I caught sight of two groups behind I decided to slow down and strike up a temporary partnership.
The final 20km was a real blast. With two rival teams from Calgary there was a real competitive edge in the group. As we hit the final climb with 8km to go I decided to lock out the suspension, front and back, and drive up the climb out of the saddle. One team hung onto my wheel, two teams were dropped. As the road levelled we rode hard to the finish, almost catching the second placed team in the open men's category.
Back in the camp, a new "trans-Atlantic alliance" has been cemented. Tomorrow I will ride with the Americans. Let's hope my new partners don't miss any more turns.
Pete & Jon's sponsors:
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