Short's Report:Tour of Belize Stage 8

Tour of Belize: Stage 8

Where do I start? I can barley sit here to type this. Today was definitely the hardest day. The stage was 112 miles through the mountains. We completed it in 4:45. The finishing climb, which we had to go up twice, was very, very steep. Things didn’t quite go as we had planned. It went something like this….

We started at the Guatemalan border at 10am. It was really nice sleeping in. This was the last good thing that happened. The race started out blazing fast. I’m not really sure what people were thinking with such a long race. With John sitting in 3rd place overall I was determined to be at his side the entire day. I didn’t know that it would start 3 miles into the race. We were going pretty fast down the road and one of the Hincapie riders hit a huge hole (which I pointed out) and went down, really hard. His bike flipped and took John out. The fall wasn’t so bad. It was the rider who wasn’t paying attention and ran into him that hurt. As soon as I heard the crash I turned around because I knew that John was right behind me. I saw John go down and immediately turned around and raced to him. He had the wind knocked out of him and banged his knee and elbow really hard, he also had a flat front tire. I took my front wheel off and got it onto John’s bike. While I was straitening his bars and shifters Randy got a new wheel onto my bike. Now John and I are chasing a field that’s going 30mph. It took us a while but we made it back. As all this was happening Mike got away with a small group. I spent the next 30 miles riding off to the side of John making sure that he knew were every pot hole was. It was crazy. Everyone’s IQ drops when they see a pot hole.

As we got into the mountains the hammer dropped. Again I stayed at John’s side to make sure everything went smooth. I was amazed at the speed that we were going up the side of the mountain. As we crested the top of the first climb some counter attacks went. We didn’t chase because we wanted the race leader too. This was a mistake. This guy was already falling apart. Small groups kept getting away. Chris got away with a small group and made it across to Mike. As we started going up to the top of the steepest mtn in Gap I was having a lot of trouble. I came off the back to keep from completely blowing up. I was in severe pain and turning myself inside out to keep from loosing contact. I went over the top with Dave Wiswell and we worked together to chase back on. Once we got there Boyd got away with a group. Now it’s down to Joe and I to watch after John. Our team car came by to go check on the guys up the road. As soon as they got out of sight I flatted my rear wheel. I went to the back of our group to tell the head official to radio up to our car and tell them to come back. I was determined to ride the flat until they came got there. I had forgotten that we had two cars for this stage. I turned around and there they were waving me down. I pulled over got a really quick wheel changed and started to chase the pack which was single file (this means they are going really fast). The only thing I kept telling myself is that I needed to get back up there for John.

As the chase started to slow we noticed that we need to try and bring this back together even though we have guys off the front. I went to the front and started pulling with Frank Trevisio and a few other guys. It didn’t take long for guys to starting sitting on. By this point we are getting very frustrated. The race leader was cracking. As we came into the next town we made a u-turn at a round about and headed back to Gap. We could see the break at this point. We knew the gap and we knew that we needed to get it under control. The only problem was that the Guatemalans new this as well and they were driving the break. Around the round about John and Joe went to the front and started chasing. I would have tried to but I was beginning to fall apart. All the chasing back on started to get to me. Once it was obvious no one was going to help them chase John attacked. He got away for a while and then the race leader brought him back. As soon as he saw that we were all back on he took off again. This time he had Frank Trevisio with him. Frank only lasted for a little while and decided to go back to the pack. Honestly I don’t think that he could go pull for pull with John. I kept a close eye on John as he rode off into the distance. It was clear that we wouldn’t see him again until the finish. That’s thirty miles.

The next attack that went included Joe. He and several other riders rode away. I was happy for this because I knew that they could catch John and help him. I just went straight to the back of the group and tried to hang on. I was bonking and out of water. I had a car there but within the last 20 miles there is no more service allowed from team cars. My legs are now starting to cramp. By this point I’m really starting to dislike this sport. Why do I do this to myself?

As we approached the base of the climb I couldn’t do it anymore. I got dropped. Then the official’s car came by and said that there was 2k to go. I thought that I could make it that far. I shifted to my big ring and flew back up to the group as soon as the climb kicked up to 10+ percent. Now I’m done. I could see the finish at the top but I just couldn’t go anymore. I was in my easiest gear just grinding up this climb. I finished just off the back of the pack by about 10 seconds, I think.

We are not sure about the results right now. We do know that John is no longer in 3rd overall. However, Mike got his jersey back. We will wait until the morning to come up with a plan for tomorrow. I might be pointless. Locals tell us that it always comes down to a field sprint. I’m not sure that I’m up to this, especially after another 90 miles.

Everyone is exhausted tonight. John’s knee is really sore and I’m barley able to stay awake as I write this.

We’ll talk tomorrow.

Tomorrow’s stage: 90 miles