Day 2 Lake Cowichan to Port Alberni

Dusty long day... 128+ kilometers. a couple of really ugly crashes at the start. two poor guys went over the bars when initial pack left the the start line. we were suppose to have a 10k controlled start but once again too many anxious, novice riders moved to the front and a for bad luck two or more went down hard. not a fun start.

once the controlled start terminated the race too off fast. Grant, with much enthusiasm and strong will, and I were in the beginning dropped from the main pack but were able to get back on at kilometer 22. Fortunately we got on the wheels of many and stayed w/ the pros until kilometer 58. At the first aid station, many blew through and we were once again dropped. We are actually, along w/ many other riders, going to contest this. The race mandates "proper" check in.

Anyhow, we filled up our deuter packs (thanks to Rich Stagliano of Live Fit Medicine) we knew the importance of proper fueling. And at 90 deg water consumption was critical. With plenty of water and food, we raced on again w/ a few other riders, trying to bridge the gap to the lead group. Too far ahead, we picked up some more riders also dropped by the main group and worked on. Pull after pull, we charged on to aid station #2 at km 99. With a long hard hill a few kilometer before the station we pulled ahead of most of our group, along w/ 3 mixed male female teams, of which two are pros! boy they were tough. At km 15 grant and began to do much of the work and pulled us right to the 2km single track at 125km. I, regretfully, went the wrong way (on a badly marked intesection) and lost about 2min, enough time for 3 more teams to catch up. Determined, we recovered and repositioned ourselves for a strong finish. Grant with true determination gave it his in the last kms. It was a great finish and we rolled w/ lots of enthusiasm to a strong finish. 5:07min.

take a look at the attached photos! It was so dirty and dusty on Stage 2 from Lake Cowichan to Port Alberni we'll report back on our overall standing tonight! Scott/Grant Team Bike Rx