The day started well, Mike met a fellow believer in the bike wash queue last night all the way from Washington DC and they prayed together this morning for a safe race for all, gave thanks for our wonderful race organisers + volunteers and asked for strong legs and big hearts.
Mike had a ripper start and Gaz wasn't far behind as we rolled through the mist covered lush green meadows with a few creek crossings reminiscent of The Fling.
Pretty soon there was a nice group of 4 Aussie Masters teams; Dicko and Michael, Ptree and Chooko, Minter and Chitts and Mike and Gaz plus the 50+ leaders.
The bunch worked hard together and while Mike and Gaz were just happy to cover Dicko and Michael, Minter set his sights on the leaders and pinned his ears back. To our surprise we caught them on the first big climb and they seemed to be struggling. At this point the bunch were down to 6 and kept working together till Mike and Dicko had a mechanical, then there were 4.
They planned had planned to finish together but at the 80km feed station Mike and Gaz had a two minute gap so they jumped into a bunch of 6 and went for glory.
In the end Minter and Chitts fought back to limit the loss to under a minute and Gaz and Mike were elated to take the stage win. Close racing is just so good.
The riding really was spectacular today and the riders' legs certainly took a hammering but the trails and scenery were just out of this world. On one climb the riders looked down on endless green pastures covered in tiny white dots. Yep they were sheep and the boys were getting some altitude.
Keep Riding
Mike
#Iamspecialized #cyclerynorthside #pioneer2016 #ridebeyond #jmlracing #cocowhip #clifbar
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