TransRockies Day 5

With the exception of some confusion on the first big climb, today was a pretty good day for us. I was hurting a bit at the start – I'm not a big fan of the roadie stuff at this point, as I'd rather be grinding up a climb. Carey and I lost each other on the first big climb, as she stopped to take her arm warmers off and didn't see me go by. So she thought I was behind her, so she eased up her pace, meanwhile, I picked up the pace and took off around some guys who were riding a bit too comfortable for me. I heard from some fast guys behind me that were passing that she was looking for me. Poop! I thought..I hope she doesn't stop...should I just keep going?? After all, she is a faster climber than me...will she catch me??? Our chasers are behind us, and we don't want them to catch a glipse of our pink jerseys....Argghhh! I finally reached the top and some guy came by and said, “Oh no, I'm so sorry, I told your teammate I thought you were behind her.” Argh..NOOOOOOO! The good was that I got a couple minutes of rest, but we definitely lost some time to our chasers by the time she got to the top. So from then on, we made sure to stay right next to each other and just rode a steady pace on the rollers until we hit the next big push.

And push we did...push, carry, drag...lots of steep pitches that weren't rideable, and several that were rideable that just made the legs burn. The final descent into Elkford had some sections that were just huge rockslides, the longer of which we ended up running so we didn't crash or rip off any derailleurs. The majority of the descent was just rocky, fun and fast, although for Carey it was pretty brutal as her rear shock crapped out on the first day and she hasn't been able to get a replacement. Thanks a lot, Specialized Canada, for not coming through with a replacement shock in time! She says it was like riding a pogo stick, as the shock has no dampening. She's a trooper though and is just toughing it out.

We gained another 30 minutes today, so now our margin is up to about 1:50..enough to fix a few flats and a broken chain.

If Kim M. is reading this, she should know that she's going to receive plenty of goodies, as we get more swag everytime we win a stage.

The weather has been great, no rain (other than a drizzle on the first day) and it is getting warmer. The predicted high tomorrow is about 93 degrees, so all these poor Canadians are going to fry and we'll feel like we're right at home! Just need to drink, drink, drink!