Friday, September 4, 2015

Alberta Catch Up

Three stages down here in Alberta and we're on a good track for a successful week. Things began great when we won the team time trial and put Bauke into yellow. It was pretty exciting as we sat in the "hot" seat, shivering ironically, almost certain Green Edge would beat us, but when they crossed the line there was a momentary pause and we saw we had won by less than a second! Fun times.

Starting stage two with yellow meant we had to go to work. We let a small break go and controlled the rest of the day. There was some action on the second of the final three climbs, but we stayed calm and kept control without a lot of stress. Eventually Green Edge came to pull the final sprint and our job was done. Mathews won the sprint and took the jersey from Bauke. All good though.

So that left us with today. After a bit of rain and cold weather yesterday, we were really hoping for some sun. It took until the last 20km to see any sun though. Instead, we rode in near freezing temperatures and on/off rain for the first 150km. It wasn't the coldest I've ever been, but I was quite bundled up and pretty well prepared. Once the sun broke the clouds, spirits and motivation rose a bit for everyone. We raced toward the two finishing climbs. Bauke told us he wanted us to pull, so we obeyed. Jesse did a big pull at the base and put a lot of people including me into the red. I had to pull through after him though. I tried to keep the pace, but I think I slowed a bit. Eventually I was overtaken and began to go backwards. I fought to try and stay in touch with the group, but I lost touch. I chased the descent but there was no coming back. I didn't see the finish obviously, but Bauke was a very close second and retook the yellow jersey. Back to work tomorrow!

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