Once I finished last night, I went into survival mode trying to find some way to continue my race. Thankfully, the organizers were right with me. Turns out that earlier in the week, one of the other riders had toasted his front wheel. The organizers had purchased a wheel set to get him back in the race, and now the rear wheel was available. Even better, they were happy to rent it to me for the rest of the week.
Today we decided to rein it in a bit because after yesterdays long hours. We hear that tomorrow’s course is also very difficult with some significant elevation gain. The weather is also supposed to change for the worst with rain in the forecast.Mark and I headed off, and after about 15 minutes, I asked about his family. For the next 3 hours we bantered back and forth about our respective families and their plans for the future. The day cruised by.
Our only mishap of the day was a pretty scary crash at about the midpoint of the day. I was out front punching into the wind with Mark on my wheel. I felt a bit of resistance to my forward momentum and actually had the time to think I had potentially ridden into some loose sand. I pushed even harder on my pedals, and that was when the piece of wire fencing that I had picked up on my pedal came up tight. Instantaneously, I was on the deck and with Mark right on my wheel, he didn’t stand a chance. His bike went right into mine, and his momentum carried him right over my head. He was immediately screaming and I was sure that he had broken something or dislocated a shoulder. I kept asking if he was OK, and in between the screams he would say yes. So, if you are OK, stop screaming. After a little bit of rearrangement we checked the bikes and they were OK too. Unbelievable luck with a crash like that.
Josh rode with the leaders today and paced them pretty well all the way to the finish. Great riding.
Calindy came in but was starting to have issues with her asthma. All those flowers equal large amounts of pollen. High pollen counts do not bode well for environmental asthma. Grahams butt end was slowly starting to heal but he said that it seemed like he spent most of the day standing up.
Our residence for the evening was a hotel associated with a winery. The accommodation and food associated with this event is in general fantastic. This particular hotel was literally in the middle of the fields and had a great pool and surrounding fountains. One almost thought they might be in Vegas.
Our 1900 evening retreat to the bar continues to be a big hit. Everyone gets caught up on the days happenings and really gets to know the other competitors. I think that one of my best memories of this trip will be of the stories told during this time.
Wine is always served with dinner, although perhaps not surprisingly very little is actually consumed. If you haven't already tried Portuguese wine, I can recommend it highly.
Day 8, Albernoa to Monchique – 137 km, 3162m elevation gain - Profile here
Today was another killer day. Our start took us through the vineyards of the winery that we stayed at last night. From there on, the day deterioriated.
The weather changed for the worst and by the time I finished I was pretty hypothermic. The last hour or so was spent at elevation in pouring rain riding against a fairly stiff headwind. It finished with a substantial fast paved downhill. Most of us were under dressed further compounding heat loss. It didn’t help that circumstance kept me out on the course as one of the last finishers, despite the fact that for the majority of the day I was near the front of the field.
The initial part of the day was spent riding with Mark. After our “rest” day yesterday we decided to ride hard. It took about 3 hours before the leaders made up their half hour deficit on us. Josh was right with the leaders and as he rode through, there was no conversation. It was obvious he had his race face on and we expected we would not see him again.
Unfortunately, shortly thereafter the rain started falling. While we were coming down a rough jeep road descent we came upon the worst crash of the race. Our female leader Lindsay Haak was on the ground after what was clearly a very nasty fall at speed. Surrounding her were the rest of the field that had passed us including Josh, about 10 in all. Lindsay was having a great race to that point. Although she only started 10 to 15 minutes ahead of me each day, I had not yet caught her on any of the 6 preceding days. Pretty inspiring riding!
When I arrived on scene, I did a quick assessment of her and the situation. Through the translation of her boyfriend (also racing), it was clear that she had had at least some loss of consciousness with the crash, and was amnestic about her fall. She was moving all of her limbs, and from a quick survey did not seem to have any major fractures or dislocations. She had significant facial abrasions from the fall but had no other major cuts. She was a little disoriented but knew her boyfriend was there. There is not a lot you can do in this type of situation. About the only thing to do is keep the patient warm and leave any mobilization to the professionals.
Although the crash location was potentially at the worst place possible from the point of view of access for vehicles, one of the Portuguese racers had managed to establish cell contact with the organizers and help was on the way. I always carry a reflective space blanket with me and we covered her as best as we could with everyone’s extra clothes and the blanket. There wasn’t much point in everyone milling around so I suggested that if you were not intimately involved with the situation that the rest of the group move on. We headed on, although we all agreed that since the race leader (our Portuguese translator) remained on the scene we would not race.
The rain had started to fall with some force and our group slowly became smaller as individuals stopped for food, or to put on extra clothes. Eventually Mark, Josh and I as well as two other riders ended up on the pointy end of the field. I lost Mark and Josh on a particularly steep uphill, and this produced enough of a gap to save the two of them a significant amount of nasty riding. The two remaining riders and I went through CP 3 heading for most of the elevation gain on the day. In the time it took for Mark and Josh to reach CP 3, the organizers had decided to neutralize the day and get all the riders to the finish as fast as possible. They were stretched pretty thin trying to extricate Lindsay from her crash site. With the temperature plummeting and rain falling they felt that it was better to pack it in now, then end up with potentially 20 more rescues.
At CP 3 the organizers started directing all the riders onto a paved route to the finish town of Monchique. Mark and Josh were the first to head for home. I on the other hand was still on the original course with two other racers heading up a major climb. Bad luck does come in three’s, and shortly after CP 3 I had the third crash in three days. This time I was riding along, crossing and re-crossing a creek bed. The surface was that hard loamy dirt that when wet becomes super slick and as I attempted to ride the hump between two large potholes filled with water, my front wheel slipped into the left one, as my body crashed into the right. Covered in mud and water, when I got up I found that I had bent my chain, bent the drop out and snapped the right shift lever right off the shift pod. Shivering, I fixed the chain, but it was clear that I would have only three gears for the rest of the day; three chain rings and the middle cog. The other two riders passed me during these repairs and shortly after I resumed riding I reached a paved road. The organization was there and told me that the race had been neutralized and directed me down the road toward Monchique.
I was by myself, and really had no idea where I was going. My GPS was of limited use as I was now off course. I plugged along in the pouring rain with my limited gearing; slowly making my way up a paved climb toward what I hoped was the finish town. The organizer who had directed me down the road said it was about 20 km to the finish. Those next 20 km were some of the nastiest km I have ever ridden. When I reached the top of the climb the road followed along the ridge line directly into a blistering head wind. I just couldn’t find a gear that seemed right, and I am sure I was becoming increasingly hypothermic. I was literally counting down the km to 20.
When I finally did reach the 20 km mark, the organizers were there and told me I had a further 12 km more to the finish. I must admit, I had a meltdown! How I found my way to the finish hotel is beyond me. I couldn’t think straight and I am sure that I freaked out a few drivers in Monchique as I made my way through the town. Thankfully as I neared the finish hotel, a few other riders appeared and it became clearer where I was going. As it turned out, because I was the farthest person out on the course, and therefore I had the farthest to ride back to town. The rest of the boys were showered, warmed up, and dressed by the time I made it in.
The bike was a mess, and it again spent the night being repaired. I spent about 45 minutes in a steaming shower before I could again feel my toes. I then retired to the local grotto bar, and had a few beers to massage my beat up ego and hear all the other stories of the day.
Lindsay was transported to a local hospital and then to Lisbon where a CT revealed no major injuries other than a severe concussion. Calindy pulled out at CP 1 after finding that she was breaking out in a rash whenever a plant touched her exposed skin. She took a few pictures and she was literally covered in a raised rash on her exposed skin.
Mark and Josh cruised in to the finish and were one of the earliest to hit the showers. The rest of the boys were not to far behind. Quite an eventful day all in all.
Once again thank you to Carlos Dias for some of the great pictures!
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