Jul 10
5
Day 6 Kaltern-Trento
Day 6
Kaltern-Trento
I wanted to ride for myself today and thought of starting at the very back o the race to see how many people I could pass and how far up to the front i could get. We had a neutral start and I made sure I was the very last rider acfross the start line. As we came out of town I noticed that Erin and Sandra were just getting back on their bikes from fixing a flat tire. I thought this unusual as they started 5 minutes ahead of me, so I held up my pace and waited for them to bridge up to me and then I pulled them as far up to the front as I could, up the first climb, which was both huge and beautiful, and then I took off ahead to try to get them some water at the aid station. They were in fourth place overall in the womens field race and neede to get back into the race. My days plans changed when I saw them on the side of the road and anything I could do to help them was the new plan. I was really suprised at how quickly they rolled through there, where we werre taking 10-15 minutes to get food, and water in us, they were 1 minute. I think this is the challenge of racing and riding this event. We climbed the Menghenpass together as well with me out in front and the girls settling into their rhythm. I later learned that Erin was very sick and had not eaten much the day previous and was gutting it out.
The Menghenpass was absolutely stunning. The road switches back and forth in the trees before opening up above the tree line onto these sweeping fields. Other than the Timmelsjoch this was one of my favorite climbs this past week. Tobias was near the top of the climb and barely recognized me. I had to chuck my water bottle at him before he knew who it was. He gave me my spare bottles, some coke, and a laugh. He was also playing opera music as loud as he could from his car. I got dropped by the girls on the descent, as I figured would happen because I do not descend very well, I am still not comfortable with the spped and braking power needed to let it all hang out. I have also seen some really big risks this past week where riders would hang it out and then lock up their wheels in order to make the switch back. I just can’t do it. Mike can. He loves the descents and is very comfortable letting the bike go, slowing it down quickly, and then leaning into any corner. It was quite fun being a domestique.
The second feed station was just across a small flat section and I figured that the girls had a couple of minutes on me that I should be able to make it back up to them but the heat started to get to me and I needed to stop. I was at the aid station for about 10 minutes drinking and eating when Ellen went by. She was set free by her partner Lisa and was pushing the pace today too. I left the aid station and chased her down. She was surprised to see me, but was also happy to have a familiar face to ride with. We worked together with a couple of other guys to keep the pace going on the flat sections, and to set a good rhythm on the uphill sections towards Trento. We got onto one paceline and got stuck at the front for extra pulls a couple of times and ended up cooking ourselves a bit too much. WE had to let that train go at one point. Oddly enough though we came across the line before most of them as they all cracked as well.
When we got into town the streets were very busy with traffic as Trento is a larger city rather than the usual ski towns we were stopping in. The cobbles were fun to ride on and made it feel like we were participating in Paris-Roubaix. We crossed the line together. Mike and Joerg were waiting and a bit surprised at where we were in the field. I figured we had ridden from the “D” group up into the last bit of the “B” group. After a few minutes of settling down I looked around at how beautiful this finsh area was. We were in the main plaza of the town right in the courtyard of a massive church. The square was buzzing with locals and racers alike and it seemed like a normal day in Italy.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/39122225
