They wake us up like every day, at 6AM. The music of Ho Hey (What memories of Morocco!) plays. It’s very windy outside. In fact, it blew all night We hope that the stage will not be like yesterday.
We do the daily routine, and we stand at the starting line, in the first drawer (with the pros). Here you take the risk of going out at too high a pace and then it takes its toll on you and that’s exactly how it happened today. We started very strong, going with the second group and with the wind on our face. We immediately took off and were caught by the third group that we were able to join until km 20. After the first ten kilometres from the start we were already in the mountains in the middle of some small canyons, where the pedaling was much better, since the wind has begun to slacken. At first, it was rolling pretty well, but the terrain here has gravel-like sand that makes it roll slower, and you have to be careful not to skid. Here we went alone, cycling with two other who had hung around with us until we reached the first hydration point at km 26. There we joined three other athletes for quite a while, making a cool descent at the beginning, until we took a track that was going up and the wind hit us in the face again, for quite a few kilometers. When we reached forty kilometres , and we were going with a cute group, we saw the control point 1.5 km further, at the top of a terrible climb with more than 20% of ascent. Almost everybody in our group got off the bike at the beginning to push it, without trying to get on it. I wanted to try to climb it on the bike and I succeeded (it was funny because everyone who was in front of me pushing the bike said “stand aside, que sube la niña”! (stand aside, the girl is cycling up!) 😂😂 Itó wanted to take a picture of me but there was no time left. When we got to the top, after the effort we had made and when we saw the views there, we stopped to take some pics. Once at the top, it was our turn to go down, a descent as strong as the ascent we had been in. I enjoyed it very much, but my arms were broken.
After 5 km we pulled on a track that was a “fake plain”. It never ended! For 5 km you were going up 2-3%, but it was full of gravel, and it was very difficult to pedal. We couldn’t see the end! It took forever, and the wind was blowing again, what made the effort harder. At the hydration point, we stopped for about 10 minutes to drink and eat. Today we were taking it more calmly. We were already more than halfway through the race, 56 kilometers. We pedalled along the side of a road for about 4 km, and we took an off-piste with a descent where you had to be alert because there were a lot of loose stones, and you had to be careful because once this bit was finished, we were on this pebbly sand they have here in Arabia, which is very slippery. Since it was downhill we enjoyed it, taking the hardest areas to avoid falling. Now yes, kilometer 70, and we can already see the sea in the background, at least we will enjoy it more than yesterday, even though the 15 km by the Red Sea were on a “rule ondule” track, as they call it, like wavy potatoes. Oh my God! What an ungrateful terrain, your arms and shoulders get wrecked. Today we also stopped here to take pictures 😂, I think we had such a bad time yesterday with the wind, that… today we had to enjoy ourselves a little.
At kilometer 90 we have already done the same stretch as we did yesterday, until we reach the camp. Now the heat was pressing, the wind had stopped, and it was noticeable.
103 km and we arrive as first classified in mixed duo!
