117km - 2110m climbing

Highlight stage of the trip, 57Ks through a national park. Absolutely gorgeous riding, lots of wildlife, horsemen, even some (very surprised) French hikers. Up a river valley, then across the river (on a bridge, the only one we would see) into a pump track type of trail. Then around into another valley, big climb and descent, and our first and multiple rivers crossings of the trip. And these were the real deal. Leah fortunately had been adopted by a wonderful Spanish guy named Manuel, who was actually a pretty good rider, and also a very good human probe. So she (to both of their delight) managed to ride most of these (even to some good natured heckling and videoing by a Basque group…no idea what they were saying, all sounded cheerful). Hamish stuck with the front 4 over the first 3 climbs until the first KOM, and then was promptly dispatched. From here on in, he rode tempo and enjoyed the scenery (until someone had the cheek to try to catch him. At which point he took off again, only to get lost, like most of front 20. By the way, Leah had had a nice chat with the aid station boys and KNEW that the trail went back over the bridge and out. So had no misdirection, and no extra Ks. While spending 5 minutes in the aid station to Hamish’s 2 minutes. Hmmm.). Hamish however WAS pretty lucky, as he only went approximately 1K up the wrong trail, before deciding it didn’t feel right, and turning around. Less fortunate on the day was the 3rd place rider on the GC, who did an extra 20 (!!) Ks before turning around (so yes, 40 in total) – still not sure what clued him in, as I can promise you Leah would have recognized this immediately. Maybe that’s what you get for riding so fast you don’t recognize routes you have already seen.

Finished the night into a…let’s call it rustic…camp site. Yes, in a tent. Open, 8 man (if you were lucky. If you were a single boy, more like 20 man, and as one of the guys said, likely to float up and away in the night…and thank goodness they didn’t serve beans at dinner although by this stage not sure that made a difference), plastic on the ground. River for a shower. Italians as roommates (it’s like little birds. All night.) Fortunately the food WAS very good (Rosewood – worth a check if you are in UB) – and it was a pretty friendly experience – especially the camp toilets. Which were, no kidding, inside little 3x3 tents with a zip (zip down = occupied), honest to good white plastic thrones with a lid, seat, etc, over a hole in the ground. But generally not toilet paper, because what would you do with that anyway? From Hamish’s perspective, these were pretty plush long (short) drops.

Hamish: 5:03:50

Leah: 7:23:00

Fastest: 4:44:02

Slowest: 9:12:00

8 person tent and river rinse or very cold shower