We arrived at Shoshone TS4 at 4:00am. I have already changed in the car and I was almost ready to go as soon as we stop. I needed to change the lights from the route bike to the tt bike (the weapon of choice for this stage) and I would be ready to go. Stage 4 was a hard stage for Jessica and her stomach was giving her some troubles. TS4 was located in a gas station and while I am going behind the building to go to the bathroom, the crew put more gas on the Tahoe and got Jessica and her bike back in the truck. We are ready to go about 4:15 or so.
Stage 5 consists of 56 almost flat miles, I have a small climb from mile 6 to 13, then a long decent and about 30 miles of a really really gradual ascent. I got into the bike and here we go. I was a bit concern that my legs would not be there for me (since I have been cramping a bit in the car and I didn’t feel good at all at the end of stage 3). In any case I started fairly conservative to allow the legs to warm up. Then after 5 to 6 miles I started the climb to Ibex pass. I have been feeling a bit weird until this point, I was pedaling but I was still sleepy (I keep wondering how could I be sleepy if I am exercising) then one of the relay team passed me and stayed in front of me for a few minutes. This woke me up, suddenly I felt awake again and I went after the team that passed me. I passed him and kept going. Now I was in the grub, feeling good, legs ok and spirit high. Since the gradient was fairly mellow I stayed in my aerobars pretty much the whole way.
I got to the top and then I tried to descend as fast as I could, I got to the flat part and I almost didn’t feel the small gradient. I continue to pedal as the sunrise started to approach. Man that was beautiful, what a way to start the day.
Up to this time (7am) the crew has been driving the car behind one of us for exactly 13 hours, I think they were so happy when they could leap frog me again. BTW during the night and on Sunday the crew is allowed to pass drink to the rider from the passenger seat, which makes things so much easier.
The car moved ahead and left me with my bike and this gorgeous scenery. I keep pedaling and the miles continue to tick. I finally made it to Baker around 7am and Jess is waiting to get the baton. This TS (TS4) was setup across the street from the Mad Greek restaurant, not the fanciest establishment but it had a restroom, warm coffee and some really good toast. I was so happy to be there, I have been thinking of something warm during my morning ride, hoping that there may be a gas station or something. The mad Greek restaurant seemed very luxurious at that time :)
We got into the card and we speeded ahead to catch up with Jess. At this moment I was feeling really good, I only had one more stage to go (35 miles) and it is sunny and nice outside. The route between Baker and Kelso is a very deserted-rough-pavement route that climbs at a 2.4% gradient for about 22 miles and then goes down for about 12. We leap frogged Jessica very closely during this stage and it was nice see her doing so well.
I finished my toasts in the car and I changed into my cycling clothes, knowing that I only have about 2 hours to the next exchange (my last stage).
Here are the statistics of the ride:
- Distance: 56miles
- Time: 3:26 (including a pit stop for the crew)
- Total climbing: 2,186
- Avg speed: 16.38
Note: I was a bit disappointed with the time given the profile and the distance of the stage :(
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