ToF Stage 3

If only I was as good on my bike as I was with predictions. Fredrick of Thanyapura, whom I was talking about, won today's stage in style and became the leader in the GC now. He attacked on the "wall" on the 38km right from the start and forced a super hard climb. Anyway the truth is out for me. I am not in the shape that I had desired for. And in this condition, is very hard to compete at this level.

I was with the first pack on the first half of the climb, but David Gowty from Cannasia in front of me opened up a small gap. The small gap then became a bike length, then 3, then it became too huge to close. Soon the second pack passed us, including Matt the leader. I suffered at the back of this group and the pain from my injuries didn't help. I felt pain all over my body and sore hips throughout the day. Soon i was spat out the back of the group. When I reach the top of the hill, I could see the group just ahead of me. But on the descend, they pulled away. After the descend, I was joined by a Cannasia guy and Specialized. We worked together for awhile before the Cannasia guy got dropped. I continued working with Bhimshi, Specialized KynKyny from India.

As if things weren't bad enough after the crash yesterday and getting dropped today, shit things happened again. On one of the junction, we were waiting for the marshals to guide us but they didn't. So we continued going straight and descended for another 2km before hitting a dead end at a jetty. The both of us were dumbfounded. I could hear Bhimshi cursing and swearing. We quickly u-turned and grinded back up the 2km climb. On the way up we saw the race organiser Titaree driving down looking for us. I could see from her look that she felt sorry. Oh well.. The wrong way had taken us a good 5-10mins. By the time we reached the top, the 30-39 cat just passed us and we quickly tagged along. After that it was just suffering and more suffering. I wasn't even competing anymore, I was trying to survive. Anyway, I finished the stage in 28th place, almost 30mins behind the 1st. Matt did not manage to finish the race and is out of GC contention. I hope he wasn't the Confero guy who crashed badly.

 I couldn't quite believe how badly this race has turned out for me. I thought this race would suit me. Maybe I'm burnt out from the exams and training, or maybe I'm just not quite cut out to be a cyclist. My motivation from the build-up up till the race was good. But as soon as the race started it seems like i have lost it. Anyway there are still 2 stages to go. Tomorrow will be another tough stage with lots of climbs but it'll be short. I still have a chance to redeem myself. I might try to go on the attack tomorrow. We shall see...