After an early night and an even earlier morning (5am) the 4 of us packed our bikes on to the truck, got on to the coach and were on our way to Gozo... a small island a short very choppy ferry ride away from Malta.
Upon arriving in Gozo it soon became apparent that today was going to be wet... VERY wet. We cautiously set off from the ferry port towards the course wary of the wet roads. Luckily 90% of the ride was on fresh grippy tarmac, a very welcome surprise...
The welcome surprise soon turned to most unwelcome dread and fear when we arrived at the course, We were back on the same lime stone roads as we left behind in Malta, Slippy in the dry, Absolutely lethal in the wet, Imagine riding on black ice on top of polished glass with a layer of washing up liquid on top (exaggerating... slightly).
Now at this point its soon becoming apparent this "stage race" is actually a stage wait with the odd bit of racing, todays stage was based at a horse and carriage racing track so at least the wait was slightly more interesting watching the single horse and carriage go round and round the track, More importantly there was a nice warm indoor café to wait in.
An hour passed and we were told there would be a managers meeting to decide whether the stage would go ahead. Alot of shouting in more than a couple of different languages and 15 minutes later the stage was cancelled. After a collective sigh of relief from (almost) all of the riders We put our bags back in to Steve's car (from team GBcycles.co.uk) who had once again very kindly offered to take our bags to/from the stage and we were on our way back towards the ferry.
Another slightly less choppy ferry ride and we were soon back on an annoyingly dry Malta. Time for a bike ride it would seem... Heading from the ferry back towards the hotel (and the part of Malta we know well enough to ride without getting lost) took us up the main climb of tomorrows stage 4, an awesome race track smooth steep climb with 3 tight hairpins and a strong tail wind... Needless to say having not ridden properly all week and on my plastic bike I got a bit carried away and sprinted off. OUCH,this was not a good idea!!!!!
Down what is quite possibly the sketchiest descent i've ever seen and we were not far from the beach. knowing that Izie's friend Steph was going to be at the beach side café and with it being nearly dinner time by this point we decided to stop for a coffee and something to eat.
Food eaten, Coffees drank and Steph met/seen and it was back to the hotel to wash the bikes and kit.
With tomorrows stage featuring a good steep climb, a technical descent and not much in-between it should suit Lou (who maintains her 2nd place) perfectly and with Izie now out of the running for GC due to yesterdays misfortunes Lou couldn't have a better rider working for her. Between Lou's climbing and Izie's descending this should be a cake walk... (who the fuck walks on cake??? like seriously)
So that's it... Stage abandoned due to the weather, more coffee than probably healthy drank, bikes ridden and a much needed easy(ish) day for this tired mechanic.
Stuy :)
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