Today was a hard day of racing due to the heat and humidity. We reached
33C and 80% humidity today.
We started the day at 5:30am with breakfast, and headed to the course at
6:15.
We drove to the start, which was in Orange Walk, roughly an hour drive
away.
We started with a temp of 26C and it went up very quickly. Racing
started at 9am and we estimated ~3 hours to cover the 64 mile stage.
Feeding wasn't allowed for the first 20miles, so the boys had to carry
enough water to last roughly the 1st hour. We gave them two bottles
each as well as two water bags at the start line. Belize has a very
interesting way of distributing water of putting ~500ml of bottled water
into a small sealed plastic bag. This is more common then bottles down
here.
After early attacks, a breakaway finally managed to stick at the 10mile
mark, which included James. Dustin was the marked rider of the tour
based on his results from the Nations Cup and every move he made was
followed closely.
As soon as the feeding was allowed, the caravan action got crazy, as
riders from all teams were desperate for water and riders were drinking
a bottle every 10minutes for the remainder of the race. Colter suffered
the most of the team, severly dehydrating himself and struggling to keep
on the bike. As the race went on, the boys were continually getting
more and more bottles, that most went through 8-10 bottles in the 3 hour
race.
James and his breakaway stuck away for the whole day and James finished
5th overall. The remainder of the team staying the peleton and stopped
chasing to regain the breakaway after the lead was more than 5min and
they were struggling to keep up with their fluid intake. Colter was
dropped but kept riding and fought through his heat stroke.
We finished the day with no crashes, but stuggled with the heat. James
finished 5th, the others finished 18-21 @ 7:47 back. Colter made the
time cut, finishing in 25th @26:51 back.
We are now trying to get as much fluid and electrolytes back into the
riders.
The Time Trial tomorrow is only for time, and with no time cut, becomes
only important for James to give a full effort. THe other riders will
take it easy in hopes of recoverying for Saturday's hard stage in the
mountains.
THe organizer continues to provide excellent support the team with
vehicle support. THe caravan here is very different than anything we've
ever experencied. All the time cars are pickup trucks, we sit in the
back with wheels, and the coolers with the water bags and bottles.
Riders throw bottles into the back of the truck, grab bottles & bags.
Overall, everyone is having a great time and is enjoying the experience.
Day 1 showed us how much we are able to push our bodies and what are
limits truly are. This was a great expereience for the boys that will
help them when they come back home.
Other than the heat and humidity, everyone is doing fine and survived
Stage 1.
Jay