Stage 2 of the Adelaide tour was set to be aggressive beyond
belief with only three stages and Budget Forklifts only 16 seconds behind on GC
it was on the line for young and old. 160km around the undulating Adelaide
hills, I honestly had no idea how far I could go with the bunch especially with
all that has happened in the past weeks.
The race started at a sensible pace for once and with 160km on the
cards so I was happy to sit in. Constant attacks coming from Budget Forklifts
and Huon Salmon Genesys the pace sat around 50kph as Euride put their whole
team on the front to look after their small lead. The pace up the climbs was
quite steady as Euride didn't want to blow any of their 'flatlanders' too early
in the race. Milling around the front of the bunch there were a few people
pushing me around the bunch because they were trying to line the team up behind
me. Sitting on the back of the Euride train the touches were happening more and
more often honestly making me want to hit someone. Every touch was on my hips
where I had my stitches or road rash from crashing. As we headed up the climb
and through the feed station for the first time the pace picked up as everyone
wanted to be first onto the dirt. Euride led around the corner, no crashes but
a few people dropping wheels on the unfamiliar surface. All of a sudden the
ride seemed to become a little rockier, a quick look down and move straight to
the left of the road, get off the bike, change all the way down the cassette,
take the wheel out and wait for a replacement. I did have Budget Forklifts stop
offering me a spare wheel but alas 11speed cassettes won't work on a 10speed
derailleur. Eventually my team car reached me changed the wheel and I was back
on my way. Chasing along the second dirt section was a dream, so many laps
across that section and sitting on 60kph was what I was used to. Soon I
joined the convoy, worked my way through and back into the bunch just after the
finish line to begin the second lap.
Much the same as the first lap except this time a break
established so there was less surging than before. Trying to stay up the front
wasn't easy work but easier than moving to the back then chasing back to the
front and repeating the process over and over again. This lap for me was so
much smoother and a lot less effort which was welcomed. The next lap and a half
flew by and I think the first time in the race I looked down and actually read
my Garmin, we had done just over 130km in just under 3 hours.
The final time through the feed station no one really needed a
bottle for the last 6km but for some reason people still took food and trying
to dodge a rolling 'hand grenade' a few guys went down on the left side of the
road. Everyone went everywhere trying to avoid the prang, the extra effort to
get going again put my legs into cramp territory (the moment when you know
you're going to cramp soon). All of a sudden the legs locked up and I put it in
reverse and just tried to get over the final climb on the road before the final
two dirt sections. Strava shows that the climb was only 15% except for the last
lap where something went wrong, then again the climb did feel like the 34%
Strava is displaying. Last section of dirt and then the race was over just
rolling in about 5:45 behind the main peloton. Happy to have finished
the days racing and impressed with how hard I pushed myself and still managed
to hold on until so close to the end.
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