After 3 days without any trouble Karma stroke back on mountain stage 4 when I hit a potthole, trashed my rim, flatted going 65kph downhill and got kicked out of the 20 guy-strong front group. Before, we climbed already 20km uphill through a rainy storm and I found myself among the top 20 guys: only 3 (!) Iranian climbers ahead of us. I was feeling comfortable in the group, never having to go totally in the red zone. The descends in the rain were quite scary but I made it without trouble until that potthole thing and after I got a neutral wheel my group was gone; i was by myself before 20minutes later a group of 15 incl. Jared, Tom and Man rolled up to me and we finished together. My GC hopes were gone suddenly.
Today's stage 5 was uneventful, 120km with the wind going south - and no rain! Yeah! We averaged 47kph - going 10 minutes faster than the fastest estimated schedule. No break would stuck as the Iranians defended their leader and the pace made it single-file most of the time. To my surprise, the finish saw a little hill in the profile - wished I would have known that before...Well, it's over now. Got hit by good size of rock which jumped through the peloton in the last kilometer and got a nice little cut - but I didn't crash :-)
Tomorrow is the last "real stage" with a 147km leg towards Kuala Lumpur.
Good Night,
Stefan
Wow, glad you are in one piece. Too bad about the break in your luck (skill and karma). I hope you are starting to dry out and not molting. As a old hockey player with dozens of zig zags accross my body congradulations on the badge of honor decoration on your shin. Sleep well. ted
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