After a grueling ride on the second second day, we had a very comfortable stay at the Montego Bay resort to help us recover. The third and final day of the tour is planned to be a short one ending at Tiracol Fort hotel. The day’s competitive segment of 9.8km was going to decide the overall winner as well.
The day’s competitive segment was planned to start at 18km mark. We regrouped near a nice palace at 16km mark to pose for pics and let the organizers get everything in place for the TT segment before we start.
The day’s competitive segment of 9.8km was on a rolling terrain. As I got to the start, I got down into a bit of aero position with the hands on the hoods and started my effort. I didn’t want to wait for anyone and wanted to focus on my pacing.
For the first 2-3 minutes, I kept reminding myself of the golden rule of time trials, ‘never start too hard’. I kept it at slightly above the power I know I could hold for the duration of the TT. I kept it under control even on the climbs so that I could maintain the pace even on the downhills.
The minutes ticked by and the kilometres ticked by. I noticed quickly that the ride surface on the left side was quite rough and began to move towards the middle of the road where it was smoother.
With the open roads, it was a bit of a tricky thing to do but thankfully the traffic was minimal and I managed to sight the oncoming vehicles most of the times. Near a couple of blind curves, I moved more to the left to keep safe.
The difference that the smoother road makes to pacing is immense as you won’t be bouncing about and losing pace and the ability to put the power down.
I was able to hold the power evenly through out and managed to finish strong. I was quite happy with my pacing and was sure no one else would have finished faster.
That was until Vincent uploaded his ride and blew my mind by finishing 22 seconds ahead of both me and Murali! Fantastic ride by him! With such a strong ride, he took the overall win as well.
After day 2, Murali was 15 seconds ahead of Vincent and I was 2 seconds behind Vincent. My goal was to put at least 18 seconds on Murali and Vincent so that I could take the overall win. I managed to give my best and there was no way I could have gone any faster on the day.
Murali apparently started a few seconds behind me and managed to keep me in sight the whole time finishing with exactly the same time as me for the segment. That way he was safe from me taking his position. But, Vincent shook everything up with his massive effort.
After the CS, we started riding towards the final destination of Tiracol Fort for our lunch and the prize distribution to wind up the tour.
After a fantastic lunch and the presentation ceremony at Tiracol Fort, we bid our goodbyes satisfied with another fantastic edition of Tour of Goa!
PC: Ravi Mishra
Kudos to the organizers for pulling it off successfully and safely after a tough year! Thanks to all the participants for a super fun time.
Watch the day’s video here: