La Ruta de los Conquistadores Day 4

(See attached file: elevation_chart_stage_4_la_ruta_09.jpg)

Looking at the elevation profile for the final day the hills all seemed pretty short compared to the other days. The one small concern I had was the railroad tracks that I've been hearing so much about. It rained everyday that we've been here but today start off in a terenchal downpour. I got in the my usual position near the back of the pack but to my surprise I was right beside Roberto Heras. At the start I managed to stay with him and followed him to the front of the field. I was really happy because this was the first time I actually was in the lead group at the beginning. I was able to stay with them for about 35-40 minutes then I fell off the back. I was still riding pretty strong and the hills seemed to be normal less than two miles long. I made it to the first check point and everything was going great and I didn't bother stopping. As luck would have it things took a change for the worse. Going up a climb the pitch got pretty steep and I shifted into my granny ring up front and got chainsuck instantly. I stopped and pulled the chain out from between the frame and chainstay and was like WTF. I got back on and the chain was jumping all over in the back I stopped and looked for a kink but couldn't find it. So I just limped along on the climbs riding in the biggest cog in the back. When I finally reached checkpoint two I seen Tyson. He was there wrenching for a few people and I asked him to look at my chain, and he found the kink in like one second. I felt like such a dumdass for not be able to find it was happy that he did. So after a quick removal of the bad link I was on my way again. Shortly after that I hit the first section of the tracks. They didn't seem as bad as some of the tracks I ride on near my house. The railroad ties were made out of concrete and seemed a little closer together than usual. Then I got to the first bridge and couldn't be how slow people walked across them. At this point it was allot of on the tracks for a little then back off of them for a little. Not sure how many bridges we crossed but I was able to ride two of them. Funny thing is that I thought the tracks were not longer being used. I ran into a slow moving train in between two of the bridges, I felt lucky because I wasn't on the bridge like a few other were. After about 15 miles of tracks it was onto a dirt road the paralleled the ocean. After 5:24 I was finished even with all the troubles I had I finished OK 49 minutes back 6th in the vet class and maybe in the 25. I got cleaned up and was waiting for Ruth and getting a little nervous because I knew that she was going to have a hard time on the bridges. Then after a long wait she finally came rolling in and finished too. I'm planning on writing a little about my overall experience and post race thoughts but not sure if it will happen. Just don't feel like writing much now.'

J