Srdegna day 6

[Marcus]

Tonino described it as a relatively short stage but hard, and I agree.  Only 92km, with 2200m of climbing and more terrific scenery.  There weren't a lot of flat spots.  We started on a mountaintop at 900 meters and descended for 10kms in a controlled start which was a good thing as it would have being chaos without it.  John decided to ride the medio course,  70 kms with 1450m of climbing. Both courses finished up where we started on the mountain top.  I was the last male up the hill and thought I had earned another black jersey but they gave it to someone else, might have been the guy last overall.  The medio is probably the better option for riders who have similar fitness levels as John and me.  John's average speed was marginally faster than mine over the shorter course but he placed 148 out of 175 while I was 126 out of 129.  Dave made the top 100 at position 100.  Hard to believe tomorrow is the last day, it seems like we are out riding forever and then it's done.  Tomorrow is just a short 55km, rising gradually to 1100 meters at a mountain pass.  I am now only 15 minutes ahead of the last placed male as he took 11minutes from me today over the last 10 km climb.  I hope to do better tomorrow as I don't seem to lose nearly as much ground if the slope is more gentle.  One of these days I might figure out why I can sustain a higher heartbeat over flatter ground than I can over steeper pitches, or maybe that's normal?