So I hit up Taranaki Tour over Queens Birthday weekend in the hope of pulling off a good result to prove to myself that I'm ready for the States. But in the end I was the 2nd to last finisher about one hour and five mins off the pace.
Have to say it was a pretty gnarly tour. Stage one included 100kmph gusts which took a few riders out. Unfortunately I was dropped in the first 10km so spent the rest of the stage sitting on the back of B grade. There was no way I was gonna have a DNF by my name on day one. I lost about 35mins and don't really know what happened. I thought it might have just been from the food poisoning I had the day before but I didn't get much better throughout the tour. That afternoon we were supposed to have a TT but it got a bit dodgey with the wind so they decided to scrap it.
Stage 2 I had nothing to loose so just kept attacking early on. I was in a chase group when I punctured, had to sit up and wait for the wheel wagon following the bunch. They were motorpacing me back on when I punctured a second time. I got a wheel change and then decided to sit up and save myself for the next stage.
So that afternoon I rode away again but felt like a rats ass the whole time. Once I was caught I stayed in the bunch for a few k's before dropping off again. Determined not to get a DNF I just kept rolling along. These stages were pretty slippery becuase of all the rain and by the end of the day there were a few people paying the ambulances a visit.
On the final stage I was feeling shit again but thought fuck it and just attacked anyway and got into the break. We got out to about 2 mins but about a lap later they dropped me and the bunch picked me up. I didn't last in the bunch either so I managed to get a 100% success rate at finishing out the ass on every stage...mint.
So there you have it. I got smoked. I know I had the power in the legs but just couldn't transfer it to the road.
Hopefully I have some better yarns to tell when I get to the States next week.
Cheers
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