Holy Crap Batman, this race is going to be extremely difficult. One day, and I am already exhausted.
Mark and I headed out at 0928 hr with the rest of the 50 year old riders. Calindy and the rest of the girls headed out a little bit earlier. Surprise, surprise, within the first 5 km, Mark already had issues with his GPS. On the first downhill, the rattling of the bike caused Mark’s handlebar mount to rotate upside down, and presto, the next bump dislodged the GPS. When it hit the ground it exploded, distributing batteries and other sundry pieces all over the place. He recovered the pieces, but when he put it back together, it would not turn on. In retrospect, he inserted the batteries “upside down”. At the time though, it was clear that for Mark to get to the finish, he had to stick with me. Off we soldiered.
Day 1 of riding in Portugal revealed a very long day in the saddle for all of the racers. Although none of the climbs were particularly long, there seemed to be innumerable short kickers. The course weaved through many small villages; almost all of them seemed to be stuck in a time warp. The course wound its way through each town’s small alleys and usually the town square, the surface was almost exclusively cobbled stone. Once out of town, most of the time was spent on sandy double track trails, many with significant erosion from this winter’s rainy weather.
Many towns had “taps” of fresh water constantly flowing in the town square, and this became our source of hydration when needed. Occasionally, café’s allowed a quick stop for bottled water or a Coke for that sugar boost.
Trevor and Graham caught us at about the 94 km mark in a town called Lamosa as we stopped for water. They filled us in on the trials and tribulations of the riders they had passed on their way through the field. Josh had flatted, but had no spare tube or pump. (Anyone who knows him surprised?) Paul had also flatted by spiking a tubeless tire directly onto a stick. (What are the odds of that?) Graham and Trevor kindly disturbed their own spares, and then rode on. Calindy and Suzie (our token eastern Canadian) were slowly cruising through the day, determined to make the checkpoint cut offs, but not expend any more energy than was absolutely necessary.
Our finish town put on a great show with the local marching band playing some local hits. A great deal of the discussion at dinner revolved around whether any of us were actually going to make it to the finish if everyday was as hard as this one. Think about it. Day 1 of a 1200 km long, 9 day race and you have already spent 8 hours and 46 minutes in the saddle. Calindy’s time was an unbelievable 10 hours and 24 minutes. (and believe me your butt is well aware of that saddle) This is going to be one hard race.Day 2, Freixo to Guarda – 110 km, 2892m elevation gain - Profile here
Off we go again… Mark and I had a 25 minute head start on the rest of the boys today and never saw them until the finish. We rode together again and finished in 7 hours and 2 minutes. So let me see… two days, 15 hours and 48 minutes of riding. This race is certifiably insane. Poor Calindy had a time of 8 hours and 43 minutes: 19 hours and 12 minutes total. Absolutely crazy!!!
I was smart enough to bring along a significant amount of supplies in order to deal with saddle sores and at the finish today, the line up started. The weather has been ideal; about 20 C and sunny with cloudy periods. I cannot imagine what ass destruction this race would cause if the first two days involved a significant amount of rain.
I felt pretty good off the start and about 10 km in there was a very cool descent and climb on a Roman cobbled road. One of the interesting things in this race is that you must trust your GPS absolutely. The entrance to this road was essentially unmarked. One minute you are busting along a dirt road, and the next thing you know you look at your GPS and you are clearly off course. You double back, and cannot see any “trail” leading off the road so you trust your “map” and head into the grass.
Sure enough, after about 50 meters it becomes clear that you are riding on some sort of trail and after about 100 meters it is clear that it is paved in cobbles. The road descends down to a river and over an ancient bridge before heading up the other side. As you ride it, you think about the people who built it, and then the centuries of people who have traveled it. This is the sort of thing that boggles your mind and makes your day go by at least a bit more quickly.
Once heading out of this valley, Mark and I started a long climb of about 700 m elevation gain to Castelo Rodrigo. Yesterday’s ride and today’s early enthusiasm soon caught up with me and if had not been for Mark, I think I might have packed it in. I felt like sh…..t!
Castelo Rodrigo was apparently really neat as Mark raved about it for the rest of the day. I was feeling like I was about to puke so wasn’t really paying much attention. I do remember that we once we climbed up to it, we basically toured around the inside of the castle walls on our bikes, apparently crossing huge moats, and riding through huge wooden gates and cruising on the walls.
As is usually the case in this business, one hour you can feel like you are about to die, and then a few hours later you feel pretty much normal. My saving grace on this day was a sandwich I had made at breakfast consisting of a bun, some cheese, and a piece of ham. Despite the fact that it was only Day 2, I do not think that I could have stomached one more gel. The sandwich filled my stomach and provided me with enough respite from gu hell that I soldiered on. I actually do not remember very much of the rest of the day as it really became a test of survival. Thank God Mark was there to pull.
Our groups GPS troubles continued on. Shortly after Trevor left the start, his GPS went blank. He returned to the start to seek advice and eventually borrowed one of the organizers to continue on. Turns out some moisture had found its way behind the touch screen. Poof! Toasted GPS.
Our finish hotel was in Guarda and was really top notch, at least a 4 star by my calculation. The organization once again put on an excellent spread to eat as we finished, and we started our daily 1900 “meet in the bar for a beer before dinner” routine.
Our finish hotel was in Guarda and was really top notch, at least a 4 star by my calculation. The organization once again put on an excellent spread to eat as we finished, and we started our daily 1900 “meet in the bar for a beer before dinner” routine.
Tomorrow has the longest climbs of the race. A few even look to reach TransAlp standards. It will be interesting to see how I feel after two really tough days.
Many thanks again to Carlos Dias for some of the pictures.
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