Completed 106.8 miles, 9,341ft of elevation in 6:56
Last night I caught up with my coach and talked him through the stages and how I was feeling. He said "tomorrow is the last big day, if you have anything left in the tank go ahead and use it".
At the started we were joined by both Chris Carmichael and Fast Freddie Rodriguez. Chris would be doing the full stage with us and Freddie would be doing a couple of hour's.
My legs felt heavy to start with and it was clear they needed waking up. I did a couple of turns on the front and once out of town the group quickly split up. The first short climbs did the job and I started to enjoy the ride as we rode through forest and winding roads. I then found myself riding next to Freddie and we spent the next 30-45 min's chatting. He is a super nice guy and it was amazing to be riding with him in person. He shared how he got into cycling and stories about the Tour de France, then before I knew it he had to peel of and leave the group.
Shortly afterwards we hit the first big climb of the day a category 1. My coaches words were in my head and I decided to just ride and power meter be damned. It was a tough climb and the pace soon put me in a break of 3, myself, James and Jason a coach. We rode strong staying together over the top where we stopped to take on water and re-group. Back together we headed off. A little while later I was on the front leading the group into another climb, it looked like a wall and we hit it and started to climb. We must of been 3/4 of the way up when we were called back. We had taken the women's course by mistake as the men's was not yet marked.
We rode through few rollers before it kicked up again and again and again. Rolling out of the next stop point someone mentioned that my brakes were rubbing. Sure enough there was a rubbing noise but it was not my brakes. It turned out to be a couple of stones stuck under my brake caliper and I had to remove my wheel to get them out. By the time I got back on my bike the group had gone. I did not panic, I just settled into the ride and slowly started the effort to bridge back. We reached the top of another climb and I used the decent to close the gap down catching them just before the summit.
I was having a good time in my pain cave and it was not long before the three of us were away again. We pushed each other over the climbs. When we were not climbing Jason set a blistering pace on the flats and gentle grades. I checked in on how I was feeling and was happy to find things going really well. We caught, hung with and then left other groups on the road and then we pulled over again to re fill water and re-group. I was totally surprised to learn that we had completed all of the categorized climbs and would be heading to the coast. The time was simply flying by.
Re-grouped we headed downhill to the coast and the decent was breath taking and great fun as we swooped around corners. Once on the coast road we charged to the last KOM of the day, Coleman Valley Rd summit a category 2 climb of 1.5 miles. At the bottom of the climb to group exploded as Jason and I set the pace up the climb. It was a grueling climb but I had nothing else to save myself for so I gritted my teeth and hung in. A couple of times I thought about giving up but each time I gave myself a pep talk and dug in. James was a strong rider and he had beaten me over every climb we had ridden together so far, but not today. With 1K to go my breathing was labored, my legs felt like they would explode and my mind kept wanting me to give up. I shut out the voice in my head and ignored the pain and redoubled my effort. It was working I was pulling away. With 200 to go James was back to just in front of my back wheel. This climb was mine and I turned myself inside out and pulled away. I had him and I went on to take the KOM encouraged by Jason who made it look easy.
From the top of the climb we had a few more climbs to deal with before the run into town. Jason got on the front and drove the train home. We finished well ahead of the pro's and I was stoked with how I had ridded. I grabbed the Rapha stage cap and then some food to start the recovery. I missed the end of the race but that was ok my day had been awesome.
We had a 2 hour transfer to our last hotel in Sacramento and tomorrows final stage. I can't believe it is nearly all over.
Here are a few pictures from the day. Not many as I was too busy enjoying myself - sorry.
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| Chris Carmichael |
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| Fast Freddie Rodriguez |
Remember to keep it Rubber Side Down and MaxLifeOut
I think you had a nice day.
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