Tripleshot Cycling

Today was tough: Chris, Sig and I agreed that it was the hardest day on a road bike that we've ever had. 170 km with a Mt Washington sized (20 km long) climb 30 km from the end. Richard had a crash, but still said it was a great day. The wind that canceled the TTT yesterday was still around. Unbelievable head winds and tail winds. The speeds were both incredibly slow and fast. I rode in a 10-man pace line for almost 100 kms. We were ahead of Chris and Sig (but behind the yellow jersey group) until about 15 km from the end. I didn't want to beat them by much, just enough to make up the minute I lost in the TT - but it wasn't to be. However, the cooperation in this group (two from Germany a Brit, me and the rest Italians) was fantastic. A motorcycle was giving us the gap to the Chris, Sig, et al chase group, so we kept pushing. Eventually four of the ten sat started skipping pulls, in fact a few just sat on, but it was still really cool.

I think JT understates the epic nature of the day. Sylvan's coach would have approved. Richard has a very nice hip hematoma. We have now used 8 CGF dressings on this trip. My heart spiked to 201 on the first descent at 10 Kms. It was caused by adrenaline created by the tight turns and wind gusts of about 50 kmh. I had to stop because the road went up and had a nature break. Heart now 141 but a minute behind the next last rider with 155 Kms to go. Saw John D heading back to the hotel after 20 kms. About 20 others had also turned around. Flatted at 30 Kms beside Marcelo who was waiting for the broom wagon after being involved in a 15 rider crash in a 2 km long tunnel. I got in the van too and fixed my flat then started riding again when we caught up to the last placed rider. I pulled him along for 60 Kms until I flatted again due to a defective tube which split open on one of the technical curves where Richard crashed. Back in the van until 100 meters from the finish where Giuseppe the fellow I was pulling had waited for me to cross the line together. Michael started on the shorter course and took a wrong turn so he ended up riding 120 or 130 Kms. Today is 122kms in length with 1900 meters of climbing. Maybe today is a better day for me.

This is more epic than the upcoming Giro! My helmet is off to all of you for showing so much heart!! Keep the TS spirit and ride hard.
Cheers,

Yesterday's efforts were in my legs today - lost 6 min to Chris and Sig. What seems to amaze others the most is that Sig and I missed what they are saying was the largest radio telescope in the world. Apparently it's the size of BC Place and we rode by without even noticing it. That's the sad reality of this race - you see brief, almost metal photographs of Sardinia, when you look up. Otherwise it's an intense focus on the road or rider ahead on descents, or on the cassette in front on the climbs.

120 km today, three huge climbs. I think everyone finished though a few did the Mediogiro course - a little shorter. No crashes, but Richard's electronic shifting didn't work well, which is a problem when you are either going up or down for 120 km.

It will be nice to eat for pleasure - not for carbs and protein.

Tomorrow it ends with a 25 km hill climb. 14 flat followed by 11 km and 800m elevation gain. Finish line at the top. Chris 11 seconds ahead of Sig after five days of racing (the same 11 seconds Sig lost on day 1 at the TT.

JT

Richard had the ride of the day. I think he did most of the corsa in big ring and a 23 with a double patch hip contusion. I had my best ride of the week. No wrong turns, no flats,
no heart issue, managing to ride with a group of 5 down to 3 through all the climbs. I finished ahead of 11 others and now sit third last on the overall. They awarded me a black jersey for yesterday's performance even though they knew I was in the van for 40 Kms so I accepted it. Might as well come back with a prize souvenir. I saw the radio satellite, didn't know what it was and forgot about until JT posted. It is massive and near the road so JT must have been a different world of intensity. Today I need to pick up a minute on Carlos 425 in order to not be last in my age group. Ciao, Marcus

All done. The hill climb final wasn't as bad as advertised, which wasn't great for me because I decided not to let anyone else set my pace - the idea was top be strong at the top. But if I'd inspected the profile carefully, I'd have known that the climb was done 3 km before the finish. Oh well, I wasn't going to make up those 6 or 8 minutes on Chris and Sig anyway. They had a great ride with Chris losing Sig's group for a minute or two, then bridging and winning the group sprint. I don't know how far the leaders were, but I am sure it wasn't that far. Ritchie made a great video of the ride down. Visibility was almost zero for part of it. The video is 12 min long, so I'll try to edited it and post it later.

The week has ended as it started. Beautiful weather and an easy ride along the coast. Bikes are being dismantled now, ready for the 4:30 am alarm. We take off with the sunrise in Italy and arrive with the sunset in Victoria - a long-long day.

Richard, that is the most intense look of joy I have ever seen!! What happened?!?!?!

That's not a look of joy....check out the look on the face of the female EMT in the background. Suffice to say that Richard's bib shorts ain't what they used to be.

Holly Poo! They were right. Look at the size of the cars and trucks. I cannot believe I didn't even see it.

http://www.epta.eu.org/images/telescopes/IMGL34981.jpg

I'll see if I can get a shortened version of Ritchie's video posted this evening.

JT

Giro di Sardegna – Is Tripleshot the Best?

I wanted to weigh in to the Sardegna banter. Other than a few VCL races, one gran fondo and a couple of masters races, I am new to road cycling (2 years, I mo.) and racing.

Sardegna was an awesome experience that would not have been possible without me being part of Tripleshot and to many of you members (get to that in a minute).

The racing highlights for me were:

• Starting and finishing every stage

• Finishing 3rd in my age group on the first day in the TT

• Doing a paceline with 8 or 10 others (some didn’t get it!) and catching the peloton well into the race that included Sig, JT and Chris—and sneaking up on them and yelling “Ondele! Ondele!”—knowing they were thinking “that could only be one person…”

• The descents—they were soooo fun!!! To me there is not much more fun in cycling than screaming down a mountainside with an upcoming sharp curve, popping into the wrong lane and thinking “there probably isn’t an oncoming car…and I probably don’t need to use my brakes on this one either…” [Buy Continental 4000 tires!]

The people highlights were (and are):

• Almost everyone in Tripleshot encouraged me with kind words on our weekly rides or at coffee (“you can do it, you’re looking strong”, etc.)

• Peter—I asked Peter a couple of months before the race if he would meet with me over coffee and perhaps give me some advice/direction for my training. When we met he had a training schedule printed out and I said; “oh this is what you are doing?” and he said “no, this is your schedule”. Wow! I did not expect that!! (I followed it Peter)

• Everyone who came along to Sardegna, including Spouses—everyone helped each other before, during and I’m assuming after as well

• Everyone who came out on those cold, wet and windy 6am Saturday rides

• Dave—Dave would not want me to write anything about him, so I will respect that and write lots. First I got a flat on day two of the race—and it was going well for all of us. After hearing my well yelled expletives Dave said “I’ll stop with you”—and he did. That was a very humbling experience for me, as Dave by doing that gave up his GC, and his age position—immediately by helping me! I never heard him once after that talk about those positions for the rest of the week or ever—if they mattered to him he never voiced it. As it turns out that day was totally fun, as we were on our own for 20 -25 K in a 90 k race, with Dave doing most of the pulling and we still managed a 37.2K avg speed!! Dave may share with you a story how the (unnamed) person he was riding with was berating him all the way with encouraging words like: “is that all you got?”. I can neither confirm nor deny this. What I can confirm—and everyone knows—is that Dave Speirs is an awesome guy and will help anyone!

• The Spin Bitches—thanks all for inviting me (you won’t make that mistake again!) putting up with my horrible singing and bad humour

• Mark Ford—for being an ongoing inspiration to all of us!

• Lister—and all the other volunteers to the cycling community in Victoria and beyond

Ever notice that people join other clubs or associations—and—never leave Tripleshot? In my opinion, that is because Tripleshot is simply The Best!

Thanks for having me,

Ritchie.

p.s. TransAlps 2015 here we come.