Day 5, Friday- “Easy” Day, 105,3 km

  Today was said to be the “easiest” of the stages as there were only 2 climbs.  After 5 days of racing this stage didn’t seem so easy though.
  With my hip as achy and tight as ever (even despite having it stretched and massaged out a bit) I knew it was going to be another fight at the start and a hard effort to move up over the hills.
  And long behold it went just like that.  The group shot out and as hard as I tried I was just able to catch onto a group as the uphill started and the energy drained riders struggled up the climb.  But where I lack in speed and acceleration I am able to make up for in endurance.
  About halfway up the hill I feel myself lift off my seat and surge ahead, leaving the other riders behind.  I thought at least someone would have followed, but after a couple minutes of pushing I settle back into a quick rhythm up the hill and realize I am alone, what else is new ;).  So I finish the climb feeling pretty good and work the downhill to try and not get caught.  But just as I’m thinking I may have the next climb to brace alone, I am joined by a couple German riders.  The means of their ability to surge ahead over the flat part of the course I shall refrain from mentioning as I was so mad for my hard effort and their ease to make up ground.  So the next climb I did all the work, as I knew it would go, and we eventually made our way up to the next group that was also struggling up the long hill.
  I put myself in the front half of the pack and enjoy the rest of the rolling downhill complete with surges, turns and on-coming traffic to keep it exciting.  Once we hit the 20km to go mark I feel like it’s the home stretch and the work of the group seems to bring the finish that much easier and faster.  After another long hard day I was happy to say there was only 1 more stage to go.

  These last couple stages have turned out to be the toughest but also the easiest.  I am forced to work my ass off in the beginning to try and stay on a group, then work again through the climbs to break off that same group and move up to another.  But once I am with that second group the course becomes that much easier as the group shifts and surges, always working and going faster.  This is also the funnest part of the course as it becomes almost like a game.
 

Day 6, Saturday- Last Day, 98 km

  For this last stage I wanted to try and get a better warm up and get a better spot closer to the front.  But these two ideas didn’t really line up too well, because in order to get a good spot you have to get to the line sooner, which as a result takes away from extra warm up time.  So in the end I started mid pack with just as little warm up as the previous days.
  The start was a little more relaxed for the first 5km or so, which gave me some confidence to stay with the main pack.  But just as I was feeling alright with my position there was a rapid change of pace going through some uphill curves and as hard as I tried to stay on, I became one of a 7 personish pack that couldn’t hold onto the acceleration.
  Just as in the previous days the first climb was tough but not enough to pull me back with the others that seemed to be crawling up the slope.  I put in a small acceleration and worked up the mountain alone.  On the downhill I felt the usual rush of pushing to keep my lead.  But soon found the same German riders as in the stages before being pulled up to my side by some “magical” entity.  Over the course of the short flat part we made it to the next large group just as the next, last, and toughest climb was starting.  According to the altimeter it had a slope of about 15% and was about 5-6km long.  Seeing this in the course booklet I thought it might be an exaggeration, but there was no exaggerating… it hurt.
  Pushing past my tired notions to stay with the group and trudge up the slope I accelerated towards a rider that had gained a 200m lead.  We worked together going back and forth to lead, and with the top in sight I couldn’t be happier.
  Over the 6 days of racing there is never really a chance to enjoy the views, scenery, or environment since your focus is 110% on the race and riders in front of you.  But on this climb and this last section of the course there was not way of avoiding the amazing landscape.  We were climbing the side of a canyon or gorge (Les Gourges), that over looked the entire Ardeche valley.  Riding up you could see the steep walls and cliffs that were slowly carved out by the river below where people were kayaking and canoeing.  Once at the top, we rode along the side of the gorge which kept you alert to the possible consequences of a curve gone bad.  Going straight where the road turned left could send you over the edge into nothing but a free fall, not to be found for who knows how long.
  It really made me realize how crazy cyclist are going over this part of the course.  Taking downhills and turns at 60-70 kph (40 mph) that you have never seen in your life, just hoping that your reflexes and luck keep you from sliding or crashing… with nothing more than some manufactured styrofoam and plastic to keep your brains in your head and not on the pavement.  But looking on the bright side of life, the rush of taking these downhills and launching off a curve towards the riders in front of you makes the risk all worth it.
  The road outlining the lip of the gorge gradually led inward with some ups and downs that made the legs burn and feet ache for the finish.  With the other rider out of sight (probably with the next group) and myself in no-mans-land I kept pushing just to not get caught by the group behind me.  It was a hard last 15 km to go through “false flats” and winding town roads, but as the 5 km to go mark finally arrived so did the down hill.
  I was happy to enjoy these past few km, taking in the fatigue of these past 6 arduous days.  I accepted the disappointment of not being in the top pack and sticking on the tough accelerations in the beginning.  I thought about how much work I have ahead of me for next year.  I allowed myself to be proud of completing such a feat after only about 2 months of training.  I was grateful for the chance to be in this race and my ability to get on the bike and ride in such an amazing place.
  The finish line arrived along a beautiful river in a small town with a bittersweet relief that I had completed the 98 km of the day and the 556 km of the Tour de L’Ardeche.