A good day in the mountains
PS For me it’s difficult to decide what i want, i like so many things! Normally I want what I have and enjoy it a lot.
Saturday I did my first podium in a Mountain Bike race. I did 3rd in the UltraMarathon EOX 240k (one of the biggest one day events in Portugal). I did 11h18 minutes. Last year I did 12 hours on the same event from Vila Verde Ficalho until Zambujeira do Mar. This year we had some NW wind which did not help. I left Lisbon with my brother Friday at 6,30 pm. Stopped at Portel near Évora to eat at the best restaurant on the village called Hotel. I was thinking about some pasta but they didn’t have any of the sort. I had Pulp rice which is not ideal with Alentejano Bread and olive oil. A bit of red wine too. Saturday I wake at 4 am and eat pasta at Monte da Retorta in Serpa (One of the best places to stay in Alentejo, good view, nice rooms and a top breakfast), arrived at the start in Vila Verde Ficalho at 5h45, 15 minutes before the start. I had to rush to the start line and when I got there something was wrong! I saw that I had the road bike shoes instead of the mountaing bike shoes that stayed in Lisbon. The day was over before it started!
I went back to the car, and found my Spinning class shoes, changed and back to the start line. Everybody was gone and I was the last one to start! I start passing the slow people fast, pulse was at 175. After km 5 I got a wire/ arame into my chain/Cassette and had to remove it with care. I was the last one again. Then I start to pass people and at Check point (CP) 1 at km 60 I was 15th. I stopped refill my camelback and eat bananas. The organization had some mechanics from Tangerina shop that took care of my bike. All of this in less than 1 minute. I did the same until CP4 at km 202. Always refill and eat a lot. At CP4 I asked about my position and my brother said I was 4th and the 3rd was 15 minutes ahead of me. In mountain bike it’s impossible to make that time in 40 k if the guy doesn’t die. But he did die, the Homem da marreta arrived for him and I saw him in the distance struggling. The Podium was possible!
When I got near him he said he was with a problem in the navigating system (GPC) and came with me for a while. He was young ang belong to the Repsol Team, full of Tatoos everywhere. Not good at all.
I had to do something because I could not keep up with this guy in a finish sprint.
When the last climb of the day came I started to move a little faster without showing effort or deep breath, when we where in the middle of the climb I spoke with him asking about his GPS with a normal voice (I tried hard on this). After this he stayed behind and I never saw him again.
It was a great day that didn’t started so well. As you can see in the picture I need to lose some weight and perhaps some years to be able to fight Gonçalo Correia (Gonçalo did Transportugal 2012 and stayed 3 places ahead of me) the winner and a very good cyclist!
Tomorrow I am going to London to visit Hedge Funds. Next week I will be in São Paulo. I am very happy. 
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