Wednesday – Stage 2:  Johnstown – Altoona Road Race – 160km

Today was one of the toughest stages I have ever ridden.  We started at 1pm with temperatures hovering around 95F.  The humidity was so high that we were sweating before we even started.

I spent 30 minutes on the trainer to warm up as the profile showed a 7 mile climb only 1 mile from the start line and I knew it was important to get any soreness from yesterday out of the legs.  I also put new look cleats on this morning and our mechanic commented on how they appeared to be about 1.5cm too far from the ball of my foot.  We moved them forward 1.5cm and as they felt okay, I nervously decided to race 160km in the hills with this new cleat position. Secretly, I prayed I would be able to walk when I got to Altoona and knew it was risky to try out a new position during a tour.

We climbed at a steady pace up the first climb, with the peloton splitting over the top.  About 15 of us had a 30 second gap on the peleton but it was a long day, so we sat up and let the peloton regroup.  Julie lost touch with us on this first climb and did 60 miles alone before she got in the car at the feedzone.  She wasn’t the only casualty so early in the stage, with a number of riders struggling with the hills and heat.

It was so hot that I had drunk my first bottle in the first 12km and the second one by the 20km mark.  Fortunately, we were able to drink at any time, so Ann Marie, Julia and Hiroko took it in turns to go back to the car for water.  At about the 25km mark, Erinne flatted and with the strong headwinds and hills, couldn’t get back to the peloton.  Hiroko dropped back to pace her back on, but after going about 1km behind the caravan couldn’t find her and had to give up and chase back to the group.  Erinne rode to the next feedzone and decided to pull out.

Only minutes later, Ann Marie’s tyre exploded and after a fast front wheel change, Ann Marie was chasing hard through the caravan.  At almost the same time, I chased a Rona attack and got into a break of 8 riders.  The break was well represented and it was a hard decision to work and establish the break, knowing it may cause the field to chase and hamper Ann Marie’s chances at getting back on.  The girls in the break weren’t working well together and soon we were back in the field and Ann Marie made it back.

The pace became slower and slower as the heat took its toll.  Heather Albert (Goldies) rolled off the front on one of the many climbs and everyone watched her go, without attempting to follow.   We all thought she was crazy to try to ride 130km on her own.  The field continued on at a slow to steady pace, climbing one hill after another.

Unfortunately, Julia lost touch with us after the first QOM, leaving Hiroko, Ann Marie and I in the peloton.  The 2^nd QOM was situated at the 125km mark, and both Rona and Saturn attacked at the bottom.  The peloton was strung out into a single line as we hit the 7km climb.  The gradient varied from 10 – 15% and with the humidity, the sweat was pouring off us as we climbed.  The peloton split to pieces up the climb and Hiroko, Ann Marie and I ended up in the 2^nd group, containing about 18 riders.

The profile showed a few small climbs to the finish, but the organisers had grossly underestimated these small climbs.  We had 10km of brutal hills with gradients exceeding 15%.  We were almost zig zagging up the road trying to maintain momentum.  We rolled into town, over 8 minutes behind Heather Albert (Goldies), who had done an amazing solo effort, taking over the yellow jersey.

I moved to 28^th on GC.  I really liked the new cleat position and think it made my pedalling stroke far more efficient.  Our masseur gave us a really firm massage to clean out the legs and then I collapsed into bed, with my whole body pulsing with fatigue.