The Race Day

Well the race day came. It was an early start. Rob got up just after 4am. He wanted me to do the same. I stay in bed till six. The race didn't start till 7am. I still had time. I got to the start line at 6:40am but with 8500 competitors it took me a while to get where he was starting - 3500 people back. If you look on the bright side, he was still ahead of 5000 others.

I didn't actually see much of the race. Only the start and the finish. They looked fresh when they started and no so when they finsihed. The first guy came through in 6 hours and 24 mins - a good 10 mins ahead of 2nd. It must be close to the times they will post on the actual tour de france. Over the next 3 and so hours I sat beside the side of the road, waiting for the T-Mobile jersey to come into view. Camera at the ready. It was at the ready for a while.

I had almost given up hope and thought something had happened when finally I saw him coming down the home straight. I was relieved, not only because I saw him finished but if I had missed him then it could have been impossible to find each other with so many people about.

I got the run down. A very short version. Something like "That was one of the hardest things I have ever done". I couldn't quite relate having sat on my backside for the whole day but I tried to help. I dutifully got him food and took photos of him in a not so active state. This is the "Is this little gold (not real gold) medal around my neck really worth 10 hours of pain" picture.

In the end, he went hard for 150kms till the high gear ratio he was using became a bit much for the body. The final 46kms took 4 hours. It will be interesting to watch the actual tour de france when they run the race on monday.

I believe it was worth it. There are always lessons to learn and ways to improve.