Portugal MTB tour - 2018 UCI S1

Taaskord Portugal MTB tuur sõidetud! Raske nagu alati, kuid head mälestused nendest päevadest.

Kohe esimesest korrast kui ma seda tuuri sõitsin, lummas mind ja teeb seda siiani, just see, et sõidad paarilisega. Kas on parem päev või kehvem päev, alati läheb see jagamisele. Jagasin taaskord neid päevi Greetega.

Proloog - 6 km 139 tõusumeetriga

1. etapp - 79 km 1850 tm

2. etapp - 86 km 2500 tm

3. etapp - 96 km 3150 tm

4. etapp - 25 km 800 tm

5. etapp - 70 km 1800 tm

Proloogi sõit oli huvitav ja silmad lahti sõites oli kahes kohas võimalik kurvid otseks sõita, tähendab et ettesõidetud rada läks kurviga, aga linte polnud, seega sai ilusti nad sirgeks sõidetud. Kuna meile sai liidrisärk selga vaid ühe sekundiga, siis eeldavasti just sealt see tuligi, kuna rada läbi sõites väga paljud silmi lahti ei teinud.

Järgnevad kolm etappi olid minu jaoks rasked, kindlasti tegi vaimselt raskemaks ka teise tiimi eest minek, hoidsin oma tempot ja kannatasin nii nagu oskasin. Valusamaks tegi need sõidud veel joogikoti kandmine, mingitel hetkedel oli alaselg nii valus, et ei suutnud mõelda pedaalimisele vaid seljavalu kannatamisele. Teisel etapil kaotas Greete esikumm õhku ja nii mõnigi kord pidi ta selle täispumpamiseks seisma jääma, aga kuna see kaotas suhteliselt vaikselt õhku, siis polnud mõtet aega raisata sisekummi panemisega. Kolmandal etapil kui olin veel täiesti kindel, et suudame ehk esimesele paarile konkurentsi pakkuda, läks esimesel pikal järsul tõusul Greete kett kasseti ja kodarate vahele ja kiilus nii korralikult kinni, et kartsin tõmmates ta ratta käikari küljest ära tõmmata. Seal niimoodi olles, tahtsin lihtsalt maha istuda ja öelda, et mina edasi ei lähe, iga aasta on minu tiimil mingi jama, tundus, et mul on mingi needus peal, et see ei saa ju jälle minuga juhtuda.

Kuid võtsin teiste innustusel ennast kokku, keerasin keti lahti, tõmbasime ta sealt suure pingutusega lahti ja panin keti lüliga kokku. Ja sõitsime edasi, kuna olime palju aega kaotanud, siis eesmärk oli finishisse jõuda ja seda vähemalt teise tiimina. Õnnestus.

Neljas etapp oli rohkem xco sõidu moodi, stardis ilma kotita ja minu jaoks emotsionaalselt hingelähedasem. Rada eelmise aastaga põhimõtteliselt sama, seega pingutus meeles. Jõudu jalgades oli ja laskumisi sai nautida. Hea oli roosadel särkidel eest libiseda. Saime võidu! 

Viies etapp algas kohe järsu mäega, kus jalad sai kohe pakuks. Kuid palju oli tuttavaid radu, mida ma Vouzela kandis sõitnud olen, palju suurte kividega laotud lõike, mis kõik tegid raja tuntavalt tehnilisemaks, mis mulle jälle meeldis, mäkkegi minnes huvitavam. Otsustasime ka kottideta minna ja igas toidupunktis peatuda, et joogipudeleid täita, päris janu oli vahepeal, kuid siiski paar kilo kergem liikuda. Kui alguses olid roosad särgid eest libisenud, siis enne poolt maad olid nad meil kinni püütud ja maha jäetud, nüüd oli vaja vaid lõpuni kannatada, et võidukalt lõpetada. Viisteist kiltsa enne lõppu tuli ootamatult järsk kurv lahtise kruusaga, kus Greetel libises ratas alt ja peale kriimude sai ka ratas kergelt kannatada, kuid sai sõita. Ja siis viis kilta enne lõppu ühel järsul tõusul hüppas ta kett jälle kasseti ja kodarate vahele, meil polnud aimu kui kaugel teised olid seega pidime kiiresti tegutsema, kuna ta käikar oli juba kannatada saanud, siis minu mõte oli et hoian nii kõvasti kinni käikarist ja sikutame ketti kuni ta vabaneb, kuna lahti ma seda uuesti teha ei tahtnud. Õnneks saime kätte ja jalgadele valu!

Saime ka viimase etapi võidu!

Kokku oli meil võistlusaeg nende päevadega 21h26min44sek.

Suur aitäh Greete! Me kogesime raskeid hetki, kriitilisi momente, aga meil oli ka lõbus ja toredaid hetki ning palju positiivseid emotsioone. Need viimased kaaluvad kõik muu üle ja mul on väga hea meel, et Portugal MTB tuuri saime koos kogeda, WE ARE AWESOME!

Aitäh kõigile kaasaelajatele ja toetajatele ilma teieta ei oleks see võimalik olnud!

Once again Portugal MTB tour is done! Hard as always, but good memories from the days. From the first time I rode it, the fact that it is for doubles fascinated me and still does. Better days or worse days they always are shared with your partner. Like last year I shared them again with Greete.

Prologue - 6 km 139 high meters

1. stage - 79 km 1850 hm

2. stage - 86 km 2500 hm

3. stage - 96 km 3150 hm

4. stage - 25 km 800 hm

5. stage - 70 km 1800 hm

Prologue was interesting and checking the course with open eyes, there was two corners that we could ride straight, I mean the track on the ground made a corner, but as there were no tapes then we could cut them. And as we won the leader jersey by one second I guess it was from there, because when we were practicing I didn’t see many people opening their eyes.

Next three stages were hard for me, also it made it mentally hard to see the other team ride away from us. It was even more painful with the drink on my back, at some points on the stages I literally couldn’t think of pedaling because the back pain shut my brain. On the second stage Greete front tire lost some air and she had to stop couple of times to pump it up, but as it did lose slowly it was not point of losing time by putting in a tube. On the third stage when I was still sure that we might get closer to the pink jerseys, on one steep climb Greete was trying to fix something after a corner. The chain had got stuck between the cassette and spokes, and so hard that it seemed impossible to get it out. I was afraid to pull too hard as then we could damage the derailleur. At that moment there I just wanted to stop and not continue, every single year my team has technical problems, I felt like jinxed, how was it possible to happen to me again! But with the encouragement of others I collected myself, I opened the chain to have clear from damage of the derailleur, we pulled hard to get the chain free and then I mounted the chain again with the link. And we rode on, as we had lost a lot of time, the goal was to make a safe way to the finish and at least finish second. Which we did.

Fourth stage was more of a xco, and started without drink bags and for me emotionally it was so much more closer to heart. Track was basically the same from last year, so the effort was known. I felt energized and had fun going down. It felt good to get away from the pink jerseys. We got the win!

Fifth stage started straight with a climb, where the legs exploded. For me there were many track that I have ridden in Vouzela area, lots of roman big stone paths, which made it much more technical and for me more enjoyable, even the climbs were more interesting. We decided to go without drink bags and stop at every feed zone, sometimes I felt thirst, but it was so much lighter to move. If at first the pink jerseys had gone in front, then by the middle of the stage we had caught them and left them behind. Now all we had to do was suffer until the end to finish in first. Fifteen kilometer before finish there was one unexpected corner on lose ground and Greete front wheel escaped and she crashed. She got some scratched and also bikes was a bit damaged, but we could continue. And then five kilometers to go, on last very steep climb the chain jumped again between the cassette and spokes. We didn’t know how far were the other girls, so we had to act fast. As the derailleur had gotten damaged a bit in the crash then my idea was to hold on to it as hard as possible while were pulled the chain as I didn’t want to take it to pieces once again. We managed to pull it out and then all out until the finish!

We got the last stage win also!

We had been racing for 21h26min44sec.

Thank you so much Greete! We had hard times, we had critical times, but we had also funny times, good times and positive emotions. And the latter overrule everything, I am very happy to have spent the amazing Portugal MTB tour with you, WE ARE AWESOME!

Thanks to all the cheerers and supporters, without you we wouldn’t have done it!