The rain came in at Andalucia Bike Race 2018 - Stages 5 and 6

STAGE 6 was a VERY wet one. I raced in waterproof shorts, Gilet and waterproof shell and apart from early in the stage when I was on the border of being a bit too hot I was quite comfy in my choice of clothes.
The second stage from Cordoba was always going to be a short fast stage at 55kms but because of the poor weather the stage had to be shortened to 34kms. With the winning time expected around 1hour 30 the day had been made even faster. There was one main climb to take us to10kms, this was the same climb that took us out of Cordoba two days ago on stage 4. What followed was 10 kms of descending then a bit more climbing and a descent to finish. The first ten kilometres were going to be important, I needed my legs to climb well to make sure I could get closer to the front to not be held up on the single track descent because these promised to be fun if ridden freely.
I was going well and knew it as there was less congestion with riders tackling the rock gardens. At 8kms the guy in front slipped back off a rock which had a domino effect on to me, in the process of stumbling backwards and then trying to clip back in and pedal my chain had fallen of the front and my rear mech had shifted out of line. At first look I thought my race was over or I was going to have to go single speed as my mech looked bent but then I realised it could be resolved. It took me far too long to get my chain back on with the chain device and shift my gears back in line. As I was sorting my bike out trains of riders went past including at least 5 women. I spent the rest of the stage trying to work my way back up, the single track was fantastic especially when It could be ridden freely and at my own choice of speed but this was very rare and when I managed to pick off one small train I would have a free moment and then catch the next small train. I really needed more power to get me up and past the trains of riders in the occasional small openings quicker. It took me 2 hours 16 and I finished 16 on the stage and held 13th overall. As trails go they were great fun, just a shame abut the traffic.Other than having the small chain issue, a stronger start and being more explosive especially on today’s stage would make a big difference so I know what to do about that. Overall I have felt fit and good all week. 

Mark has found the last couple of days tougher, having problems with his vision and hearing has not helped and although he finished in the 40’s in his category today he only lost a couple of spots on general classification, finishing 20th overall. Crispin had a good day finishing in 2 hours and 22nd overall. Marc Chamberlin finished 5th vet overall and Jodie Barnet 4th vet overall. Not bad at all.


Overall

It has been a Fantastic week and a great way to start the season to remind the legs and mind what it is like to race again. The weather affecting the race is disappointing but there is not a lot that can be done about that. We may not have left the rain behind but we seem to have missed the snow and cold spell which has covered the UK this week.

Thanks to Mark and Crispin for the relaxed company and making life easy. Apart from an early mistake of booking a hire car from Madrid rather than Malaga (where we had flown to) requiring an hour plus of queuing up at all the car hire desks before we could find an available car big enough for three people and three bikes, we had a very straightforward week and the incident just added to the humour of the week. Mark picked up the duty of making omelettes and egg fried rice for breakfast and Crispin the duty of making risottos and rice based meals for dinner and late feasts. I seemed to get away with pottering around…. a bit of washing up and so on.

Thanks also to: OTE sport for the nutrition on and off the bike. I started each stage with two bottles of energy drink and once these were drunk I refilled my bottles with water at the second or third feed station and then used a couple of gels an hour to keep me going. This seemed to work well for me, then a recovery drink after and a couple of everyday bars to snack on between meals plus hydration tablets in my bottles throughout the day.

The Focus Raven out from Hibernation for a pre race spin. 

To Cyclopaedia for the Focus Raven which in its third year of racing is still going well, to Mark again for keeping her smooth. I decided this year to use a dropper seat post, I would of been happy without it but also had a lot of fun being able to hit some of the rocky descents with more confidence at speed. On the second day Mark changed my cassette so I could get up the steep short climbs. Thanks also to Scott - Fit in No Time for guidance and always a voice of confidence and rationality. 

Well done to the organisation team, Andalucia Bike Race has been well organised and good fun. 

Personalised finisher medals. 

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