PAUL PIAIA'S BLOG
The last stage meant it was going to be a fast a furious race to the finish. This mostly downhill stage had competitors going from 1800m to sea level in only 75kms. The pace was quite fast as people knew it was possible to go hard on the short uphills and recover on the long downhills. Instead of the main road back to Dili the course took us along the side rocky roads through Gleno. This included atleast 10kms of very rough rocky roads on the descent. Having chosen thinner tyres for the fast descent, those 10kms were very sketchy but I made it intact. Most riders were doing 60-70kms on the downhills, but many blind corners consisted of pot holes and washed away roads. Like the other days I was unfortunate to witness another fall in front of me. I had climbed a 5km hill with another competitor from the UN. Chatting on the way up I got to know about his work in Timor-Leste for the UN. Once we hit the top we started going faster and faster downhill. I was getting down as low as I could on every corner like a GP moto racer and taking the turns wide and coming in close to the chicane. On a blind corner he was just ahead of me and I heard a huge screech of tyres. As I went around the corner I saw him upside down in a ditch. He said he was fine and I should keep going. I later found out he road all the way back on a buckled rear wheel. The last 15 kms was along the coast road again into Dili but this time from the West. Unfortunately the wind had picked up and I found myself out there alone with a strong head wind. I’d gone so hard on the downhill and made progress on the other riders I didn’t want to lose any time I had made up so I just put my head down and gave it all I could. With a few groups only a few hundred metres behind me I luckily held them off and enjoyed riding into Dili alone. The crowds had swelled so much there was only 1 meter between the people on both sides. The crowds were great, cheering all the riders home and even throwing water on us to cool us off. Problem was the water was probably from the open sewers…I was lucky enough to have a police escort into the finish to disperse the crowd. It was a huge relief to make it back unscathed and exhilarated from the fast downhill.
TEAM BLOG
The final, "fast and furious" dash to Dili with 5 short climbs and several long downhill sections. For Piotr the challenge was "getting to the bottom in one piece," and Frank's highlight was, 'passing most people I saw in front of me without even pedaling!" Paul found himself "going around those corners like a Moto GP racer!" Coming into Dili was "challenging with the headwind" for Matt, but "glory was calling!"
All four riders finished well and despite some sore bums all are well and happy to not be cycling today. At the end of the tour out of 300 riders, the placings were for the AAI team; Piotr 41st place, Paul 46th place, Matt 86th place and Frank 176th place. More accurate times will come in the next few days.
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