After our 220+ km ride, we enjoyed a gourmet dinner outside, overlooking the River Kuai, some of us even brave enough to down a Singha trying to replenish the 6700 calories we used. Well out of Bangkok, the only things we could see from the hotel room were green trees and mountains, a nice change from Shanghai.
Stage 3 started with attacks upon the left turn out of the hotel driveway, and didn't let up until about 8 riders got away at 10 km, when the pace settled down. The gentle rolling hills where already causing pain, when after 40 km the first climb -- 300 meters in 4 km -- of the day came. Andre, Alex, Paul, Hawk, Michel all went over strongly while Allen and Jim lagged at the back of the pack. Allen ended up dropping out after 82 km with a sore back, while Jim pushed through to the finish line.
The second half of the race was divided into many small groups, with small steep hills leading up to a final 200 meter climb over the final 3 km. Michel almost got on the podium in the 50-59 year category, finishing 8th. Alex, with scabs all over his body, finished 16th for the day, bringing him up to 13th in the cumulative standings. Andre worked hard, pulling a pack of 20 along before finishing in the middle of the pack. And Paul, after dropping out at 130km the day before, showed that boys from Shanghai can climb: at the base of the climb (the most steep section), he took off and quickly dropped 8 of the 9 riders with him, with the final pursuant falling off shortly thereafter, gaining 41 seconds on the final ascent.
Thanks Allen! Keep at it there will be more Singha's to come!
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