Pics thanks to Matt Skinner
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The third day of the TransWales stage race saw another double dose of riding. First thing in the morning (and it is first thing, too - we're getting up at 6.30am to get breakfast, sort ourselves out and break camp before the start) the field set off from Machynlleth to ride to Coed y Brenin.
Last-minute access issues meant that the course was a little shorter than advertised - we made it 68km. It still packed a climbing punch, though, with three very substantial climbs. There were some excellent descents to go with them, though. The revised route took in the Mawdacch trail from Barmouth to Dolgellau - it's a disused railway path, which isn't all that exciting but made for some welcome easy mileage on increasingly weary legs.
Having arrived at Coed y Brenin there was a few hours for recovery, dinner and bike fettling (Mike's transmission now relies on a tyre lever and some zipties for reliable functioning...) before the second timed special stage of the event.
The wait was simply because the stage was a night time trial, with both riders from each team riding the 10km mixed fireroad/singletrack course and the times being added together to go towards the overall standings. To make things more interesting, it rained for most of the afternoon, lending an extra degree of slipperiness to Coedy's rocky trails.
Pics thanks to Matt Skinner
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We won't get the results until tomorrow, but the main thing is that we had a blast. SheCycles.com sponsored riders Kim and Heather were particularly enthused, having pushed one another to crazy speeds on the way round - we anticipate that they'll still be in the Buff leaders' jerseys tomorrow.
For most of the field, TransWales is turning out to be at least as tough as expected. Legs are tired, and sore behinds abound - standing out of the saddle results in a sensation not dissimilar to releasing a stuck axe from a half-split log, and the less said about sitting down the better...
There's no let-up though - Wednesday only has a linking stage, but it's another hilly 75km to the Climachx trail. More TransWales news tomorrow.
