Tour of California Stage 6.
Palmdale to Big Bear Lake,
135 miles,
12,000 feet of elevation gain,
A hot day.
Cheering fans and money on the line,
Can one word sum all this?
Yes.
BRUTAL.
No, that doesn't do it justice. I need an another adjective (or limerick or Shakespearean sonnet or maybe even a a 7.5.7 Haiku). I am opting for the easy way out this morning because the race defining 20.9 time trial starts in downtown LA in a little over five hours and I have six hours of work to do prior. So you get one juicy word to add to the above descriptor.
Freaking.
That, in the popular vernacular, pretty well describes it.
FREAKING BRUTAL.
You will, I guarantee, hear many derivatives and variants of this when you read, hear or watch this stage replayed and rehashed. None of them will work any better. Some will call it cruel, some classic, some demanding, and others yet, will take a stab at signing it with their signature sporting syntax. They are all good. And they are all applicable. But for my money, to describe what took place over those ridiculous 135 miles under a blazing California sun, was cycling spectacle and athleticism at its absolute finest. I stand in awe today as we prep for the TT.
More, much more (and I got both the mountain stages on film) later. But for toady as we flirt with that elusive paradox of exhaustion and excitement, the saga continues, with the cellular level understanding of yesterday's degree of difficulty. Off the charts, FREAKING BRUTAL.
The Fast Friday Boys (almost) ready to go.
Claudia hammers up the first mountain pass.
Finish Line at Big Bear Lake.
2 comments:
RAMROD is 140 miles with 10,000 feet of gain, and the last 40 miles are flat with a typical headwind. Kinda sorta comparable but 2,000 feet easier. Yowza.
I remember how much of an effort it took me to finish RAMROD and it didn't get any easier the third time around.
Tip of the hat to the ATOC racers.
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