The day went about as I had hoped. Still 2nd in single speed, I followed Mike and Dave. Mike is too strong for me to keep up with, so I decided to stick with Dave and make sure we finish together so I can hold on to 2nd place. Dave was pushing the pace, even on the hike a bikes but I was fine. At the top of the first climb he pulled over and had to tighten a skewer. I rode on and was able to ride my pace the rest of the day.
I was a bit fatigued from trying to stay away on stage 3. I wanted to conserve as much as possible so I could have some fight left for Stage 5. It was a long hard day through some of the best single track we have.
I had trouble riding anything moderately techy and did a lot of walking. But, I kept moving forward. I knew that 3rd place was close behind. If he caught me, I would be forced to ride his pace again.
I got to the last 8 mile stretch of gravel and held a steady pace to the end.
Mike got another 15 minutes or so on me, and I beat Dave by 6 minutes. Not enough to be comfortable on Stage 5. I'm stressing myself out a bit. I need to chill and just ride with Dave. If I can ride the technical stuff today, I might be able to get a lead on both of them once we get to Farlow/Daniel. But I gotta be patient and not blow up.
Here goes!
No comments:
Post a Comment