Team WEC is as ready as its going to get. There is no going back now. We stuff as much water and food in and inevitably suffer some pre start toilet urgencies. Al starts after me as he is younger so has to chase :-)
I line up at the back of my start group. Game plan today is to go as easy as I can and not lose too much time. You cannot win the race on the first day but you can definitely lose it, The guys in my wave have not got the memo and so charge off. I am surprised at quite how fast they are going.
I try to team up with 2 back markers to work together but quickly lose them. I am on my own and this is the story for the day except for one guy who continually passes me and then gets lost so has to backtrack. This cycle continues at least 5 times until the last 30k where there are no turns so he finally gets away.
The day starts at 22C with a slight tailwind and the temperature climbs steadily to 28C. This is a bit hot for me but I try to moderate my pace to match. Eat, drink, check GPS and keep pedalling. It is very different doing this with no company to ride with. It is weird to be slogging away with only yourself and I’m finding it tough to manage my pacing.
Last climb of the day is a bit of a bugger. It is relatively short but steep topping out at 21%. which forces a few people to zig-zag across the today to reduce the gradient. The top is beautifully rugged but the track is pretty rubbly. From this point on it is all downhill (literally) with the last 40k being fast but quite rough so hard on the shoulders and hands.
I am very glad to climb off the bike at the finish as I found the day quite hard and ask to see where I came in. I am surprised to hear 31st which is too far up the field for my game plan which is to take it easy for the first 3 days. Clearly, not having company has messed this up a little. Must do better tomorrow. Rather than go up the bank to the road, there is this disused railway bridge which is a shortcut so I grab the railing in one hand and shoulder the bike and don't look down.
At the end, Al reports that he has had a tough day and 'this is nothing like a long day in the surrey hills!' He gets a starring role as the poster boy of the stage video.
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