We hit the dusty road and encountered the main problem of the day - pure powder dust road and Mike's asthma aren't a mixture that worked well. We solo'd the gravel road all the way through to the second big climb. We'd written down our best estimate for the elevation of the second climb from the route book so we could guage our efforts, but as it turns out our estimate was about 100m off (too low of course) which was a source of comedy with Mckee.
Mike skipped checkstop 3, but I elected to fill a bottle and chase back on, which turned out to be a very good choice as the last 40k of downhill was way more work than we thought with a headwind coming up the valley. We TT'd onto a group that had no particular interest in working together. I'd take a pull, then they'd surge through and blow Mike off. I'd hold up, Mckee would say let's get back on, and we'd ride back up. After two repeats of that, each time the guy would say "oh, you're back" (my reply was I'd do this all day if you want to play games)... anyway we caught two 50+ guys from Canmore and rode with them instead, but they too weren't into the 4 is better than 2 idea. The one Canmore guy would pull hard enough to blow his partner off, and wasn't very responsive when we let him know his buddy was off the back. They were annoying to ride with, so after 10k, when he was busy dropping his partner on a hill, Mckee and I jetted off and finished off the day on our own. Mckee was 100% buried at about the 4.5 hour mark, and filled up the pain bank on the last half hour. We'd ride together on the hills with him grabbing my jersey pocket to ease the pain.
Mckee came out of the medic tent feeling better than when he went in, they gave him oxygen for a while to help overcome the asthma suffering on the last climbs of the stage. He talked to Craig before and after treatment, and Craig summed it up as "he sounds way better, I can understand what he's saying. After the race he was hunched over his bike, dripping sweat, and when I asked him how it went it was pretty hard to understand the mumbles that went along with the hand gestures. Mckee's got a suffer-o-meter that kicks in when the giverator is maxed out, and he can sure dig deep. We held on for a respectable finish in 11th I hear, but to be honest I have no idea as I didn't go up to the results posting myself.
Jon and Craig worked with Pat Doyle and Ed on the home stretch, and by all accounts (for the 4th day in a row), Ed has been digging deep and giving his all, and then some. I've seen him now at two stage finishes in a row cause they're coming in fast, and I'm fairly certain I haven't heard him speak yet... though I hear through the grapevine that others have. I don't know what anyone else thinks, but to me Ed is doing the deadgoats proud, he's the epitome of a hardcore mountain biker that on a moment's notice would ride TR with Pat, with all that entails in terms of effort. And on top of that I've heard Pat (not Doyle) captured an image that sums this up well, to be published at a later date.
Sounds like Trish and Dave finished same time with their rivals, Trish seems perky and energetic every night so I'm inferring she's having a great time. Linda and Brendan bounced back and the duo had a much better day than yesterday.
I didn't get a chance to talk to Tim B, but he was at the finish area in sort order and looked tired, so I assume they pounded it out on the gravel today and would have been happy with the result.
We went for a swim in Whiteswan Lake to lower our core temperatures and cooked dinner at our RV, so I don't have info on Gerry and Lloyd today.
I'm feeling strong, happy, and thoroughly enjoying the event so far. Looks like tomorrow will be the hardest day yet, as it's fairly long again at 93k, with what looks like two 700m climbs thrown in, which at least one involves some hike a bike. Mike is a strong hiker, and any gnarly descents let us make time on the Euros, so we're hoping for another good day.
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