After yesterday’s hot, horrible stage, I began to get worried about, well, just about everything. So, while I was waiting for Rob, who was lying in the infirmary getting an IV (it’s a long story, but with a happy ending, as you’ll see), I visited a guy in a tent who hooked me up with some pills for my legs. ‘These are for tired legs’, he said. ‘The maximum dose is 2 a day, but for the Haute Route, take 6’. I was in no position to argue and I popped 6 of those bad boys last night. This morning I felt more or less human. Thank Science for science!
The stage today was short, at 111 km, but with 3500 m of elevation, it was going to be little killer. After a downhill neutralized zone we started into the first of our 3 climbs and I could really test out my new legs. They worked, but I might need to up the dosage today if I want better performance.
Essentially, the day was up, down, up, down then up, finishing in the swankiness of Val d’Isere. I rode with Rob and Mark for much of the way before they spun ahead of me. I also found fellow blogger and frequent commenter, Jan (here’s his report of today), who finished a couple of spots ahead of me today (he’s Belgian. It’s allowed). We then went back to the hotel and waiting at least 4 hours for our bags to arrive (very bad move, Haute Route organizers). Here’s our village. Sorry, this is the only photo I could muster today.
On the day
Mark: 77th place, in 4:13
Rob: 100th place, in 4:18
Gerry: 111th place, in 4:22
Team Vicious Cycle: 26th place (up 7 places from yesterday!).
General Classification (over 2 days so far)
Mark: 86th place overall.
Rob: 109th place overall.
Gerry: 116th place overall.
Team Vicious Cycle: 26th place (91 teams)
We are, as you may be able to guess, pretty happy about our performance so far, both individually and as a team (the top 3 times of each team is what they use for team rankings, hence those 3 up there).
Tomorrow’s stage is the Marathon stage. Over 160 km and a dumb amount of climbing, of course. Oh, and the forecast is for 5C tomorrow morning. Cycling is fun.
Hey Gerry, I see the guy who finished third in Etape du Tour in Annecy (Peter Pouly) is having a good run after a couple of stages in HR. I also notice that out of 600 starters the only official numbers are for 470. Does that mean over 130 have been eliminated so far?
Good results for you, Coach and the team. We are all proud of you. Nice work!
Pierre
Pan i aqua boys…..
Super results — congrats!
Well done again Team.
Great stuff Gerry. What’s with the pills though? Doesn’t sound like you guv’nor! What are they?
try to get the same drugs as Peter Pouly….he seems to be recovering well
How about the rest of the teams results ?
Seems like you all are having a ball.Continued luck for tomorrow!
What were those pills!!!