i won my class, over 50 and finished 4th overhall
Last saturday i finished the longest mountain bike race in Portugal
I won the over 50 years class and finished 4th overhall. 4th overall is very good. My time was 11hours and 20 minutes of racin. two pee stops.
The start was in the border with spain at 6 am saturday.
i had dinner with the rest of the Team Europcar in Serpa while we watched Portugal Spain for the world cup
I was supposed to drink just one glass of red wine but ended up drinking 3 with the emotion of the game. The dinner was pork with rice. Very good rice. i can figure out a restaurant by the quality of the rice. Molho Bico in Serpa is 5 star.
We walked a bit in Serpa and drank a mint tea and by 10 i was in bed in Serpa
No wifi!
I didn't brought any reading material so i closed the light and pretend to sleep because i was going to wake at 3.45 am!
wake at 3.45
cold shower no hot water in Estalagem São Gens (if you can avoid don't go)
they left us coffee and one yogurt for breakfast
i brought 2 bananas from home
we were at the start line at 5.15. i did a decent warm up
start shot at 6 am sharp still poor visibility
first two hours were fast we passed some rivers i always carry my bike. Better get my feet wet than the chain.
at food stop one at km 65 i was with Luis from BTT fátima, we were 5th and 6th. I put a bit of oil and off i went no water or food.I lost 1 minute.
i rode with Luis and we catch Vitor Gomes and Claudio Rilhó after crossing rio Guadiana. Luis and Claudio are younger but Vitor is also over 50. He is my biggest competitor in all the ultra races.
before km 124 at food stop 2, ENTRADAS, Vitor asked the group if we want to stop to pee i said no. he stopped and i never saw him again. to ride alone in the hot is crazy
at km 124, water refill and eat some watermelon and two bananas and put some more oil in the chain.
off we went me , Luis and Claudio. Luis was the strongest i played the weakest almost never in front. We rode together until km 167 Garvão. Luis said we was going to stop a bit to rest (not a good sign).
off we went, Luis didn't stopped after all, after a water and food refill. They had ice and i put a bit in my camelback. Temperature after 6 hours of racing was over 35 celsius!
in the climb before Santa Clara dam Luis stopped and i never saw him again. i rode with Claudio until km 206 Santa Clara a velha but the last 6 km were difficult because i was without water (i said nothing to him)
At the food stop 4 we were 4 min off the front of the race with Nuno caeiro and a spanish guy. i was very tired. i ate and drank. i drank 2 cups of cold coke, some watermellon and off we went after washing my face and glasses.
my legs were off i let Claudio escape in the next climb. I was in 4th with 30 k to go but totally empty.
i thought i could not complete the distance.
i just rode and looking back to see when the other guys would catch me
where were Vitor, Luis and the rest of the peloton where was Sergio Costa that always finishes in front of me.
in the end no one catch me and after crossing the line i had to wait almost 30 minutes for Luis to cross the line. I was dead but the others were also in bad shape. Conclusion when you are empty always think the others are even worse! And sometimes they are!
The picture of the 50 years podium (below) was taken just with me because i wanted to go home and the rest of the field didn't had crossed the line yet. They gave me my prize and went home !
it was a good day, only some 50 people at the start line this is not an easy race so we never have thousands of people racing. 4th is ok if i didn't raced those 15 km without water perhaps i could do a bit more. Perhaps i could ride with Claudio until the finish.
Water is the most important thing in life if you don't have it you only think about it
I can't walk properly i hope tomorrow i am back to normal.
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