Stage 1 had 60k of Malaysian mountain biking on tap for us. It's actually the longest day so it's nice to knock that out early. However, I think the remaining days will hurt the most because they are much shorter thus being more intense. I found out quickly you have to race at what feels like 70% because you will over heat if you go to far into the red. I was working pretty hard to keep the main group 30 seconds or so up the road until we hit one of the first sustained climbs. It was around 5 minutes long and pretty steep, under direct sunlight. I started to boil going up it and got goosebumps so I knew it was time to back it off a bit or I would pay for it later. A bit later I was able to get a good group and we worked together well and began picking people off. Our group eventually split and soon after I suffered a flat. Bummer! I was almost back rolling until for some reason my air chuck on my big air wouldn't work. After I finally found someone to lend me a pump I was on my way. A ton of people had passed me in the 10 or so minutes it took me to get rolling so I was pretty motivated to pick them off and work my way back. I rode all the descents super cautious because I didn't want to suffer another flat, but sure thing I got another one. After that, there were around 10 or so k left and I just rode it back pretty chill. Might as well save it for tomorrows stage where I could potentially get some valuable UCI points. I don't think I saved too much because I feel pretty blown right now! Haha.
The course was definitely a challenging one. It was filled with lot's of tight and twisty trail that was had many little twigs making things pretty bumpy. There were tons of short punchy rollers that took their toll on me! Throughout the course there were also many stream crossings. It felt good to get splashed and cool of, even it was for just a moment. There were also a lot of sections that crossed cow pastures that were a bit flooded after lastnights rain. I was a bit scared to drink out of my bottle after getting that sprayed on it, but I did my best to wash it off. Jack let me borrow one of his Osprey hydration packs and that thing saved me for sure. The feed zones didn't have neutral support, and me being here unsupported that could have been a problem! Unfortunately for Brady he caught some kind of bug and didn't get to start today. He's pretty much been in the fetal position all day. Hopefully he'll be feeling better and come out and do some work out there!
I've been having a blast down here but I think the one thing that could keep me from coming back is the heat. Holy cow it's hot! 38c according to my Garmin throughout the stage. It's pretty much a race of surviavl out there. Time to put the feet up and rest for tomorrows stage..
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