Starting this season I had two target. Finish the Eiger Challenge and finish a marathon at the top 50%. Last month I finished the Eiger Challenge. As I wrote, it was a close call, but I did it. So that left the second target, finishing on the top half. With two marathons left for me this season, I needed to make it happen soon.
For GRG I was joined by Marijn. It is always good to go ride with people that are faster then you since it really helps on motivation. Marijn has been a serious sporter for some time now and so we spent most of our ride talking about cycling, rowing, nutrition and, of course, women.
After almost running out of gas on the way to Malmedy, we arrived at the starting area. Coming to Godefroy, I was feeling confident. I was getting used to my Liteville, and I was fit and highly motivated. The organisation was not that well. Less so then I expected, We did manage to find the tent with the number boards and ate some pasta before hitting the sack.
The weather was expected to be bad. And it was. Luckily, I cam prepared this time. Swapping my Ralphs for a Fat Albert and a Nobby Nic. Marijn was running Nics front and rear. Standing at the starting area, it was already raining. It took Marijn about 20 seconds to disappear into the distance. I won’t see him again until after the race. The begining of the course was not really muddy, and I began to question my decision to go for tires with big nobs. Then the rain got intense.
The course was getting muddier and I was getting colder. By the 30km line. I was happy I went for nobs. At the 42km feeding station, they were handing out warm soup. Being soaked to the bone and cold, warm soup tastes fantastic. I didn’t care it took 10 min from my time. I needed to warm up. After about 60km the sky cleared up and I could ride the rest of the race in somewhat sunny weather. I was feeling good about my riding time, and it turns out I was right. 108 from 240 overall and 38 from 82 in the Masters 1 class. Target met.