Haute Route Dolomites, Stage 6!

So the two things I will remember about stage 6, one, cold! Very very cold. The second, hot. Very very hot!

The stage was similar to the day before, we were still in Switzerland so a large amount of neutralised riding, this was all fine by me. The only draw back was we had to be set off earlier than usual, this meant the first group would be leaving at 06:30.... So a 05:00 wake up call, attempt to not forget anything, eat and off you go. The earliness also meant no sun for an hour or so and it was super chilly. So I went for leg and arm warmers, with a gillet and wind/waterproof top.

We had around 5k of very gentle rolling until the timing mat appeared and everything suddenly went crazy and people started their usual insane pace that they could not hold and I did my standard start of getting dropped. Three minutes later I was holding gaps then steadily working myself back. Emma along with the leaders had started the climb towards the back of the group behind me and they came past me at this point. I had my breathing sorted so went with them. The leader Stefan was too strong and he gapped us. The pass was around 50 minutes of hard riding, I felt I had done a decent job, paced it well with a nice tempo.

We passed the timing mat and rolled to the feed station 50 meters away and started eating (my favorite part of the day). For what seemed like the first time for a few days the sun was trying its hardest to bust through the misty foggy clouds we were in. The top of the pass was above 2400m so very chilly and I am not joking it was called Furkapass (look it up if you think I am playing about)! Everyone kitted up the best they could and started rolling down the descent not quite knowing what was in store for them...!

The descent was long, very long. 50k or so on damp roads. Within a couple of hunderd meters my hands were already feeling the freezing breeze. We were on the north west face of the valley so never got touched by the sun which was now winning its battle with the clouds. It was wasting its warmth on the stunning scenery off to our right. There was very little chance to look about and enjoy it as my main focus was trying to keep my hands working. What felt like an hour we were then in a group of 30 or so rolling into the valley. Everyone was blowing into their hands and shaking their arms about in the attempt to find some heat in their bodies.

Possibly an hour later we were nearing the final feed station before the start of the second timed ascent. It was getting a little warmer at last. Then suddenly when we stopped, it was like summer had been switched on. Everyone was jolly and peeling off kit. what a difference from an hour ago! The next climb was shorter but steeping, I had joined the group with Emma in and it happened she knew a good rider called Raphael he was the guy I had worked with in previous days. The three of of hit the climb together, both of them at a seriously fast pace. I was well over the power I wanted to hold and still being dropped. They seemed to ease back slightly after a kilometer or so and I began to reel them in, first Raphael then Emma. I was still riding much harder than planned but it was feeling reasonably "ok" so stayed with it. I sat on Emma's wheel for a couple of minutes then moved in front to do some work, I always get guilty drafting for too long. Inside the final kilometer I started to ease out a gap and passed the mat. That climb was silly, very silly, way too hard but it was a good climb (and I was now warm, very warm)!

The final climb was another longer one, around fifty minutes, and about thirty minutes away so not long to recover. A little bit of food, plenty of fluids and we rolled away from the last feed station. The final ascent of the day was a bit of an unknown. Some had said it was a good grade then flattened off late on, others said it was just steady. Well, I feel it was neither. The same group started the climb and I stuck to Emma's wheel early on while I got my diesel engine chugging. I was still producing decent power even after the silly second climb. I moved to the front once I felt comfortable with the tempo. We were getting near to the elevation of the finish but the signs said we were 5k away.... We were chatting, "it must go flat soon". Emma dropped off with 4k remaining, sending me off with encouragement. With 3k to go annoyingly the road started to go down, 100m of elevation down. I could see ahead just as the descent turned into ascent again there was a juntion. I had to come to a near stop with the tourists messing about. A shake of the head and I started what I hoped to be the last 2k. As I saw the finish I put something similar to a (pathetic) sprint and crossed the line.

I had thought the three climbs had gone well. The results were pretty close, from memory I believe I was 20 seconds from the podium. The second climb was also as I had expected been a fast one, only a handful of seconds behind the race leaders time up there. All my time was lost on the final ascent. I was just happy to be finished and warm!

Above the view from my balcony. Looking back down the valley we rolled through.