Race day dawned cool and clear. Perfect Alice weather and great race conditions! We started out at the old Telegraph Station, my old place of work when I was up here, it was nice to see the old buildings and surrounds again.
Dan, myself and Scotty prior to the race start
Today’s stage was 49km, a mix of sandy fire road and some real special Alice single track. I was surprised at the amount of the single track around and also the quality of it. Full of razor sharp rocks and always loose and rutted, meant that you could never fully relax, there was always something round the corner to keep you on your toes!
The start was FAST! Being 3 weeks out of the 24 hour nationals I had my legs screaming very loudly at me in protest in the first 20-30 min. Not having smashed any intensity for some time and still feeling a decent amount of residual fatigue in the legs, I found today tough and uncomfortable, all I could do was to try and stay as consistent and efficient as I felt I could, everything else was out of my control.
After the first half an hour I slotted into third place behind Jess Douglas who was chasing Anna Beck. I was riding the single track smoothly and controlled but found myself floundering in the wind on the open road sections and sandy climbs, it was pretty energy zapping stuff.
Attempting to limit the time losses to first and second I managed to finish third, 8 min off Anna and 6 min off Jess…. It is a long week and I feel today was just the leg opener I needed after the 24hr. Hopefully the body will start to make those wonderful adaptations it does throughout stage races and I will find some more speed and comfort in the next couple of days!
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