Stage SIx: It's Getting Hot In Here
The obligatory road climb came after 38km of today's stage to Kaltern. If there's going to be 3,000m of climbing - again - then a long road climb is the obvious way to put it into the riders. Today's big climb was almost identical to yesterday's big climb, with a long winding road section followed by a fire-road climb. On both stages the second feed-station of the day marked to intersection between asphalt and loose stone. The big difference today was simply how hot it was. Most riders were out of drink well before the feed-station.
Jon decided to rest again today in the hope of being able to ride tomorrow - his birthday - and then the final stage into Riva del Garda. I found it tough today riding without a partner, especially on the big climb. I also like to follow Jon down the alpine fire-roads. My Racing Ralphs are lightening fast on the climbs, excellent in the wet forest sections, but rather sketchy on the long, loose sweeping descents. I over-cooked several turns today and my confidence slowly ebbed away, leading to more mistakes.
Fortunately, there was plenty of single-track through the forests that was very similar to the riding at Welsh trail centres. Any time I lost on the fire-roads was quickly recovered on the more technical riding. The outstanding feature of today's stage was in fact the amount of single-track. On previous stages I'd been wondering how much quicker a cyclo-cross bike would be compared to a mountain bike. Today was a pure mountain bike stage.
As we sweltered in the Italian sun on today's stage, the cancellation of Stage 1 due to cold, rain and snow and our forays into the snow topped Alps on Stage 2 seemed a distant memory. As the race heats up, and the sweat begins to pour, saddle sores make an appearance. Dancing on the pedals on the long climbs brings only momentary relief to legs and backside. If our Endura shorts could talk, I'm sure they'd be singing: "It's getting hot in here".
MTB Editor's Note: British Cycling strongly enforces the use of quality shorts and chamois creme. Sure, it is embarrassing rubbing creme 'down there' - but we find far less so than walking like a cowboy and being unable to enjoy another 3000m of climbing. Here ends the lesson.
Pete & Jon's sponsors:
www.skins.net | www.cube-bikes.co.uk | www.bentleybirmingham.co.uk | www.mulebar.com | www.highfive.co.uk | www.camelbak.com | www.udderlysmooth.co.uk | www.thecyclestudio.co.uk |Gateway Cycles
