September 30thPretty stressful day today. I haven't had this level of pre-race nervousness for a long time. Woke up very early again and so went for a spin at first light. Came back with two soft tyres - there is a some plant around that produces little thorns that are very good at sticking in bike tyres. I picked up four holes, and Miles got another two when he took the bike for a ride a little later. I'll try carrying the bike out of the parking lot tomorrow and see if that helps; there doesn't appear to be any on the roads.  ........ At 10:30 there was a meeting at the civic hall for everyone involved with the event. There's quite a lot of people here, and it was good to finally put faces to names. Race dictator Garrie Hill laid down the law for the event and outlined how things would work. There are ten slots on Route 305 each evening, with qualifiers to be run as required on the airport frontage road. With not all the teams in attendance yet, there was room for everyone who wanted to race to go on the main course tonight. I was put in the top tier of five, who go off last thing before dusk. Then it was just a matter of making final preparations and killing time until 4pm when we had to drive out to the course (which is about 15 miles out of town). The weather is nowhere near the conditions they had last year. It is much colder and the wind is frequently strong and gusty; yesterday people were laughing at me wearing my big down jacket - today they were less amused and more envious! We kept hoping the wind would die down as we headed out to the start area with the other teams, but it wasn't to be. This put off a lot of the riders. Matt and Sean weren't ready to race anyway, and in the end only four of us braved the conditions. I debated back and forth whether to run whilst warming up, and in the end decided we might as well, just to trundle down the course and get a feel for it. Sam had a similar attitude, wanting to take the opportunity to test his new bike. We were rushed on the start line and the launch was a little dodgy, but I stayed upright and was away! The wind on the top half of the course was not fun - it kept trying to blow me off to the left, and at one point I put the brakes on as I didn't want to go any faster. I just kept the pedals ticking over without putting any power through, and just let the bike accelerate by itself. The road is a little bumpy, but I think it will be okay without the wind. I got up to about 48mph, and was clocked through the traps at 47 - not bad for barely pedalling - happy to have had a safe run. Sam also took it easy but went through at 57, his experience in the Varna showing. And then I could relax for a bit - such a relief to have the first go out of the way. We just have to hope for better conditions the rest of the week. More later..... 
And this is just quite how in the middle of nowhere we are........ |
