Part 2

To be continued….

Saturday 3.1.2015

Podium day, I start among the first one, as we start in reversed order. As I head out on the streets with really good vibes, I notice that they are cut off from other traffic and I see people everywhere and police officers literally every 50-100 metres. Before we ride up the podium, we are parked at the plaza and there are a myriad of people shouting for a picture, a cap or a signature. I still feel confused, when people, young and old, men and women calls my name. Many asks me where I´m from and are very excited to hear I´m from Finland. I´m guided up to the podium, and I hear how the presenter tells the spectators in Spanish about me and people starts to cheer as I ride up and stop alone on the podium to wave to the people. Then he tells me Suerte (good luck) and I ride down as flashes go off and people are cheering and clapping. On my way back I see the big names coming in the opposite direction, but still people are cheering for me too enthusiastically. I ride back to the parc fermé and hit back to my hotel, where the doorman, Maca, Diana and Lu from the front desk asks me about my experience and wish I come back safely to their hotel after the race.

Sunday 4.1.2015

Departure: 06:40
Position: 125
Standings: 125
Time on special:1h53m49s

Day1, we started off with a 144 km transport to the special, which was followed by a 175 km long special. The start was at a local race track, my starting position was among the last ones and we started every 30 seconds in pairs. My race partner showed no interest in going first, so I went ahead and rode in the less dusty conditions, as I did not have to push at all in order to keep ahead. The stage was gravel roads among fields and there were a lot of people alongside the stage, who still had energy to cheer, even though most of the bikes had passed. I rode conservatively and avoided mistakes and unnecessary risks, like riding in dust. I could ride my comfortable pace from time to time, but mostly I had to adjust my riding to the dust. At some point I heard a quad blasting past me in the dust, followed by a helicopter, so I figured that had to be the fastest quad, since they started after the bikes. But at least my sponsors got a little exposure, since I saw I was in the shot as well…

After the stage there was a boring 519 km transport to the service and I arrived to the bivouac in the afternoon. When I arrived in the town where the bivouac was, I noticed my riding mates were not stopping for the red traffic lights. As we´d been told to respect the traffic rules, I stopped at the red lights and immediately was surrounded by eager fans who wanted to take pictures and talk to me. As the light turned green, I had great difficulties to get going before the lights would turn red again. I now realized why the others had rode through the intersections inspite of the red light. Maybe one km from the bivouac there was a long queue into the area and people everywhere. I tried to zigzag my way between the cars, but people wanted to give me high fives and take pictures and asked for autographs. Finally I managed to enter the bivouac, where only contesters and authorized people where allowed. I rode to the washing spot and cleaned the bike, before riding it back to our service truck. I asked Martin to change the rear tyre, since I knew the next day would be some hill climbing and I wanted to play safe.

I took off my sweaty riding gear and went to the truck to get my camping box and got my shorts, sandals and towel, plus an energy bar. I went to have a cold shower (the only one available), which was refreshing and came back to start and prepare the road book (I got it and the changes at the end of the transport) for the next day, marking dangers with pink and turns with blue markers. When that was done I went to have dinner and to listen to the riders briefing, where the next day was covered as other issues that had risen during the first day of racing. After the briefing I picked up some water from the food tent and headed back to the service truck to install the road book in the holder on the bike. I still had to put all the stuff I needed (like energybars, sports drink powder and money etc.) into the race jacket, so I wouldn´t have to do it the next day.As it was already dark and it was past 22:00 I got my mattress and sleeping bag and put them into my tent.

I had still to go and see my starting time for the following day, so I knew when to put on the alarm. At this point it was already pitch dark, so I went to my tent and I tried to catch some sleep, with generators and engines revving nearby.

To be continued…