by Stu Merckx Man » Sun Feb 03, 2008 3:43 pm
yeh good ride, i got exactly 50 miles by the time i got home.
the wind was very strong, and it was like riding up a hill trying to squeeze your way into it.
rob was strong on the flats, but as the land started to rise the 15 kg weight advantage me and sylv have began to surface.
me and sylv kept together up all the hills, despite attacking eachother. i cant remember the exact number of wins or losses, but i think sylv won 1 or 2 more than me, but never by more than 5 or 6 metres. sylv had the edge on me on the really steep climbs, around the 15-20% margin, and i would only just be hanging onto his wheel, but anything below that and it could go to any of us.
the fist real battle we had was up the bec hill climb hill. sylv got a 15m gap on me near the beggining, but i managed to claw it back, and then come past him. as we hit the last really steep section we were side by side going for the victory with everything we had, but i couldnt quite match sylv and he got his biggest winning margine of the day at around 5 or 6 metres.
we had a good battle up toys hill. sylv attacked me about half way up gaining about 30m, but rasmussen stylie i just upped my speed slightly, and gentley closed the gap on sylv (who was riding as contador today). sat on his wheel for a bit then counter attacked, but i didnt fully commit and sylv got back on. a couple more switching of turns at the front and eventually i won.
the funniest battle for me was up titsey. i led sylv up the first bit of it, and just towards the end of te 16% section sylv came past to take a turn at the front, but i couldnt get onto his wheel. very quickely sylv opened up a significant gap of about 100m. i thought it was over for me, it seemed like there was no way i could close it. but as the hills gradiet lessoned i noticed that sylv was in and out the saddle still, and obviosely suffereing, so i made my biggest effort of the day and managed close gap without sylv noticing until he looked round to see me back on his wheel. we were right near the top, and sylv gave it one last sprint, but i couldnt come round him, my legs were fried after bridging the gap.
after that we took in a couple more hills and headed back home. rob was very strong on the way back, taking more care than me and sylv to take on food, and benifiting from it by how my legs were feeling behind him.
that was a great ride cheers guys.
stu