Race Day 4

What a difference a day makes!  After an awful day yesterday, today was just incredibly fantastic.

I don't know whether it was the 3.30am feast of almost a whole packet of muesli and yogurt (I have been suffering with serious insomnia) or whether it was the tape that the physios put on my back to help with the back pain but the moment I started pedalling my legs felt so strong. Stronger than the first day even. How does that happen?  Iwona told me that that happens in stage races but I was not sure if I believed her.

The climbs were brutal: so steep. And the descents were extreme. But I felt in my element loving every minute of it. (Well nearly: trying to force down food and gels was really unpleasant by this stage but if you don't do it, it's game over).

We went North today staying in Poland.  The views,  if you had a chance to take your eyes of the trail for a second, were stunning. We even covered a couple of ski runs. I've been thinking that it would be great to come skiing here in the winter with John, Eve and Charlotte.

I gave it everything I had hammering down the final single track descents to the end.  With the tape, my back pain was bearable provided I was able to change position so pushing up some of the steepest climbs was a bonus. Fortunately the last climb was on road and although initially I was seriously in pain, some chap who was not in the race cycled past me out of the saddle and it occurred to me that if I did that it would release the pressure on the muscles that hurt. It worked a treat.

It was a such a great feeling to finish. I finished in 4th place and only 9 minutes behind Iwona who had been about 30 -40 minutes ahead of me on other days.

As to the others, Anna had a great day  despite a broken chain which she managed to fix in 5 minutes. She came in shortly after me also in 4th place in the under 30 category. Emila has just been getting quicker and stronger each day week and came 7th in her category.  Steph and Tash ended up together for the last half of the race and enjoyed the riding all the more for it. 

And to our podium girl, Iwona, she was second today making her second over the whole race and only narrowly missing the win. What a result.

So then it was time to pack up.  Although it's great to finish we are all really sad it's over.

There is only one way to deal with the risk of falling in to post race depression: plan the next one!!

A final word of thanks to John, my super star of a husband who is always full of encouragement and support for my mountain bike adventures even though it puts so much of an extra load on him holding the fort at home.