Perak Amanjaya Eco Race 2009
Pushing for the Podium
Mari Chandler of Tecnu Extreme/Asolo Adventure Racing / 08.12.2009
We were currently in 4th place and less than 3 minutes behind a spot on the podium which was held by Team Salomon TLDM from Malaysia. The day began with a long 48 mile bike leg of which the majority would all be on paved roads and flat. The first 12 miles were pretty easy as everyone rode in a peleton as expected. The next 4 miles were insane as we had to loop around some rice paddy fields. We were forced into a single file line through wet tall grass with mud underneath. It was a struggle to remain with the lead group through the slippery conditions, but we hung on. At the edge of the paddy field was a bridge that led us back to the road, but we had to heave our bikes up onto it as it was 4ft or so off the ground. Kyle and I were back on our bikes and on the road only to find ourselves a good 200 meters behind the peleton.
We knew we had gotten off the bridge before the Malaysians and needed to get back with the lead riders. Kyle took off and I got on his wheel and we rode as hard as we could and eventually caught the group.
We settled back into the peleton and enjoyed the pull and recovered from our sprint. The pace had slowed again and the French team (Chiru Racing Bikes) and the Japanese team each tried to break away, but each time we caught back up with them. With all the goofing around with the pace our Malaysian friends were able to rejoin the group as well. No one would take the lead and push the pace except us and the 2 teams from South Africa (Team McCain Adventure).
I took the lead and Kyle got behind me and we picked up the pace. The next thing we knew we were all alone and the peleton had dropped behind us. We expected them to catch us, but that was the last we would see of them for the next 24 miles. Kyle and I alternated leading, giving 1 min hard pulls while the other recovered all the while thinking at any moment the freight train of riders would run us over, but they never came.
We held 24-28 mph on our mountain bikes as we were led by a police escort and camera crews all the way to the TA. It was pretty exciting to have gotten a break-a-way from such a strong group of riders and be in the lead. At one point we heard that we had 6 minutes on the chase group behind us.See All Event Posts
