101km 1600m climbing

SXC Racing finishing time 5:53:13

What was supposed to be a more gentler stage (well in Epic standards) was changed to one of the most difficult epic stages with over 50mm of rain over night, and constant rain throughout most of the morning.

Farm roads on the flat plains were turned into mud baths filled with thick clay mud. Think the first Capital Punishment with more climbing. River crossing were deep, and it turned into a day of survival.

As MTB riders we were actually doing well for the first 25km through the mud - the conditions giving us an advantage over the roadies, and actually slowing the pace of the first 20km to something more sustainable. The Euro's came into their own, used to these type of conditions - the days results speak for themselves.

Our day was one of mishaps though. Experiencing 2 punctures, and then finally a torn rear tyre. Each time we managed to nurse the tyres back to the tech zones, luckily only 5-10km from where the incident occurred. The worst thing was working so hard for our position, only to loose 30 - 40 places to fix yet another puncture. I felt like a yo-yo moving up and down the field.

Personally I was strong today and actually was liking the conditions, but the constant accelerating up through the field, took its toll on Brian, and after the tyre replacement, decided to just sit and consolidate our position, so we could fight another day.

Our bikes, basically need a full rebuild after today, our brakes were non existent at the 50km mark, bottom brackets, headsets you name it. We have been at the mechanic all afternoon getting things sorted - the guys will be up all night after the carnage of today.

Overall we lost between 30-40mins today, which is actually not too bad considering how the day unfolded. We ended up 31st in category and 142nd overall. The days result drops us at 21st in category and 111 overall.

Tomorrow is the longest day by distance with 136km riding and 1800m climbing. Unfortunately the forecast is not looking good, and we are heading into more wet and muddy conditions. I now wonder why our training days were spent training in 30+ dry conditions!

Time to rest, recover, eat and sleep!

We are definitely living up to our team moto:

"Only those who risk going to far can possibly find out how far one can go."

@SXC_Racing