Calgary/Cagliari Steve's Stage 1 Race Report

[Lund]

My notes on stage 1 • I invite the other 5/6 of this year's Sardinia contingent to layer in some details about their own races...

Sunday, April 20

Stage 1 is now behind us And while we all outmanoeuvred the spills and steered clear of the crashes, most of us got beaten up pretty good on the relentless ups and downs of the course.

Joe fared best, managing to weave his way up to the lead group early in the race and – despite dropping off at a few points – finishing in a very respectable time (results below).

Pete and I hung together with a large middle group for the first 1.5 laps. They surged ahead on the second technical descent of Domas de Maria, but Pete managed to bridge the gap and hung in there with them till the finish. My back was madly spasming so I dropped back into no man’s land, and for the second pass of the coastal road it was just me, the hills and a demoralizing headwind.

My biggest victory of the day was resisting the urge to throw in the towel after lap two and drop down to the MedioGiro. I could hear Peter’s voice in my head, full of mockery and disappointment (“Weak, Calgary Steve – really weak”), so I forged ahead. I caught up with a gal from London Phoenix who was whimpering through back pains of her own (from a crash just a week ago), and we worked together to get through lap 3.

Jen and then Eric and then Dave all followed. Six starts, six finishes!

Results from day 1 + the details of the course below…

Name • overall • (age category standing) • time
Joe • 82 • (7) • 4:35.53
Peter • 105 • (23) • 4:43.53
Steve • 119 • (19) • 4:54:12
Jen • 140 • (9) • 5:13:45
Eric • 150 • (25) • 5:20:23
Dave • 164 • (21) • 5:36:13

“Granfondo Sardegna – Chia Laguna” • 145.2 km • 2,172 m

Begin with 6k of flat. After the town of Domus De Maria, you tackle the longest climb of the route, which takes you after 4k to the Cantoniera Nuraxi de Mesu (301 m). A technical descent takes you to Teulada. After the town, you come to the Port and then the ups and downs of the coast road, which takes you all the way to the finish. GranGiro = three laps.