About 3 or 4 hairpins from the top of the Alpe, I heard this music and a bloke talking
jovially from the microphone in a car. He was following a rider, a rider who told me he
was going to be the last person on the ride to be accredited with a time and told me to
follow him.
However, I just couldn't, as the cramp kept on returning. I was walking almost as fast
as I could barely cycle. I did manage to mount the bike again just before passing a cafe
on the right and then going under a bridge and making a left turn. I went over the timing
mat at the finish line, but no beep.
I honestly don't know what more I could have done. I had cycled over 3000 miles since
January, including several 200 km and 100 mile rides, taken the Nuun tablets and salt
crystals in my bidons, and was sufficiently hydrated before the ride.
