Burning in the Sun
I had a race last Saturday called EOX240. I finished 9th only because many cyclists DNF (Did not finish) because of the extreme heat.
http://www.eox240.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&layout=item&id=34&Itemid=214&lang=en
We crossed Portugal from Spain to the coast in Zambujeira do Mar. I did 12h43 minutes in the 244 km off road.
The day before the race I slept in Serpa with my kids. Had a pasta dinner and went to bed at 10 pm .
The start was at 6 am in Vila Verde Ficalho in the Border with Spain. I put the alarm clock at 3h30 am. However for some reason the clock went off at 2 am and i didn't take notice of that. So i had shower put my bike clothes and prepared my food for the day. When i went for breakfast there was no breakfast yet because i had spoke to the owner (very nice people to get up at 4 am!) of the Hotel for a 4h15 am early breakfast.
I went back to bed with my clothes on and the sun screen all over me!
Well at 6 am i was ready to go. We were 80 riders for the day. Some of them i know them well because for these ultra races there are not many people crazy enough. Temperature at 6 am was already some 25 Celsius. It was a fast start and i decided not to let my pulse go above 170 so i lost the first group.
At km 56 at the first Food stop i was in the 30th position. I stopped for some water and one banana. After that I went on fast with a group of 5 with my good friend Pedro Henriques who would finish 6th overall.
At km 123 at food stop 2, i was already alone and temperature was already above 40 celsius. when i get there lot's of riders were sitting in the shade and were ready to call it a day.
I refill my Camelback eat more banana and 2 glasses of coke. I didn't got into the shade. My friends from BTT Loulé/BPI the team sponsored by BPI helped me with the chain oil and i was off to the sun again. I had 20 people ahead of me.
From km 123 until km 174 at Food stop 3 i went almost always alone with temperatures around 45 Celsius! Off course i thought about giving up but i always thought about my kids. It would be bad to be back at the Hotel and tell them i had quit. Well i stopped at a hose in someone's garden to refresh , then at a café to pour cold water at my head (more coke) and again & again. I stopped some 10 times during the day to wet myself completely!
At food stop 4 at 5 pm the temperature was getting better and the prospect of the finish line and a swim at the sea made me energetic again. I did the last part of the race at normal speed. It was a difficult day, almost impossible to ride. I saw cyclists in dams to refresh, they din't care about the race, i saw a huge snake with more than 1 meter, i saw cyclists under the trees waiting for something, i saw zero people outside, everybody was inhouse.... I stopped in bar's & cafés something i never do it was a day as i never seen.
After the race with so much water all over me i had big bruises in my bottom and hands because i tried to stay wet as much as i could but that is very bad for the skin. Well i finish , burned 8600 calories and now i feel fine. If i had quit i know it would be something that would annoy me forever.
This is a picture from the same place but in a normal day with normal temperatures. When i get a picture of Saturday race i will post but even the photographer flee from the sun.
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