El Sal # 5

Saturday, May 06, 2006

It’s Saturday morning and my legs are swollen from the day before, really sore as well. I suppose that’s to be expected as we all rode up a huge mountain, in the dark, that has 15% gradient and more in some spots. El Boqueron is the name of the mountain, a volcano really, that sits just North of Santa Tecla and looms outside my hotel window. Almost everyday the top has been shrouded in low cloud, hidden from us, but yesterday she showed us her true height as we rode towards her.

We rolled down this goat path, down out of some town set high up on a hill and charged down a highway at 60kph. I tried to find a move to stick myself in but really didn’t have the legs for that kind of speed. Having a 12 in the back as my high gear wasn’t working either, though I knew the 25 would come in handy at about kilometer 150. I attempted to bridge, start and sneak my way into a break, but all for nothing except some more swelling in my legs. Eventually a break formed and 6 guys rolled off the front, at least this time I was at the back licking my wounds. We raced up to a small town, went around the center square, past the church, past the screaming school children and back down the hill, all at 50kph. On the way down the climb we’d just done, my rear wheel went flat. I quickly pulled over and got a super quick wheel change from Josh and I was back at it. It took me forever to get back into the caravan, dodging trucks, follow cars, and other riders with flats. It was actually kind of scary, but a 55kph scary, you know? I eventually got back to the pack and I tried to shake out my legs, but they were now swollen and really sore, and I still hadn’t climbed yet. Yikes!

The pack was behind a small break of 5 guys at about 2 minutes, but no one was really concerned about them. The Tecos team was setting a good tempo and we all knew that the break would be caught at, or near the base of the climb. Over some huge highway rollers and we finally started to drop down into the valley that would lead us to the volcano. The sun was starting to sit a little low in the sky and I thought that we would surely be climbing up to the top in the dark. We banged a left hander and started the climb. I was sitting about 35 deep when we got there, but then the legs started to fill and I knew that it was going to be a long haul to the top. Guys were detonating all around me but some guys were digging deep, like the Tecos guys that I was with for a bit, one of the team that set tempo for the last 3 days. Yeah, he just rode away from me. Must be nice, I thought to myself, to be able to ride at the front all day every day and out climb most of the guys that’d been sitting in all that time.

It was lonely going up, there wasn’t really anyone left around me after Dr. Lance caught and passed me, so I just started to stare at my Polar and tried to keep a good rhythm. My heart rate was low for what I was doing- only 155, but I knew that the legs were done and I was very tired. 3 5 hour days in a row, no massage, no real food; it all finally caught up to me. What can you do, I just rode. Up and up I went, sometimes going no faster than walking pace, it was that steep. At one point I saw this beautiful butterfly that was flying right next to me- then it passed me, that was about how fast I was going. Jared was on the side of the road and handed me a Coke, which just about saved my life, I think, or at least got me up the climb. I’d been out of water when we started it, so it felt really nice to get something down that had some sugar in it. A little while later Tony C. handed me a bottle of water that I poured onto my legs, hoping to cool them down, but that didn’t do shite, I was still slow. I caught a couple of guys, which was hard to believe, and kept on creeping up the hill with Jared in the bus telling me that I was doing well and to keep going. The bus had to switch its lights on, and for that I was thankful, I was starting to imagine things moving in the twilight. It was getting really hard to see. I finally made it to the top and it was pitch black, the lights of the finishing banner and stage lighted the finish line which I coasted over. I was done, legs totally spent and knee completely swollen from standing up at 45 rpm for 15km. I swear I saw 13 shades of Jesus up there and a purple elephant.

Never again.