Uh oh.. my Mum’s now a STW member ) “Hi Mum…”
I’m logged in at a hotel in El Paso, re-booked my flights for later today. Coming home earlier than expected for the best reason possible.
All a bit of a blur at the moment and I’ve never felt so tired. Just looking over some photos now. Felt strong on the last day, until I got over the line and had a beer, turned into a limping, sleepy wreck in about half an hour.
Liam, Alex and I rode the last 20 miles as a relaxed bunch, we’d met near a food stop in Silver City around 12pm the night before and as long as none of us slept for more than an hour or so we all knew it’d be close. A straight-through was tempting but I think fatigue would’ve been greater than it would have been worth. I’d got past them just after dawn unknowingly as they stopped for supplies, once I realized I was probably in front I tried a TT finish and was fairly confident of holding my pace for the last 30 miles when I saw them chasing in the distance, but my lack of aero bars (stupid principles..) and 34t single ring up front weren’t helping. When we regrouped and relaxed, then decided we should go over the line all guns blazing I knew I wasn’t going to get 3rd, Alex deserved it and had done since a week earlier. He’s a tough rider with good experience in long events, you only need to know his list of expedition achievements to feel demoralized when riding against him. Spot error had me in 4th, but Liam got 4th within a few yards of Alex, I was 5th a hundred yards back, spinning like an idiot.
Such a hard thing to do, way harder than I expected (and I had the full-on fear pre-race, I knew it’d be a major test) since I never thought I’d be racing with riders that close for 80% of the race, looking over my shoulder at every stop, wishing I had some tactical experience or advantage aside from being prepared to sleep in the dirt wherever I needed to. Extra points for sleeping out every night, no motel/shower stops from one end to the other? A bit grim, I know ) I sat in a stream now and then to clean off..
And to Mike Hall – you’ve become a legend of the TDR. It’s truly amazing the pace he rode at and the miles he covered each day. We really felt for him at the closed road in Abiqui, he deserved an almost unbeatable record. But from here, positions and records seem less important now, what counts is how you ride and cope with what comes up. Mike showed how it can be done and everyone noticed, wherever we called in, if Mike had been there people were talking about this crazy-fast guy who was 200 miles ahead already. Jesse is a hugely talented and really nice guy too, from BMX world champion to TDR 2nd place as a rookie and a very long way ahead of the rest of us. Managed to look pretty damn cool while doing it too. I feel proud of my ride as well as very humbled by the guys who were so far in front of me.
A few pics coming up.
