Tunis is a very interesting road race, because most of the roads are dirt. This year, saying the course was on dirt roads really tends to misconstrue. Sand and fist-sized rock roads is more representative. Early in the race, we started the off-road section. We soon hit a section of very large rocks, that were devastating to the field. I heard atleast five flat tires as I prayed for my own tires to hold up. Some how they did, and I kept on riding. Another section of 2 miles or so was deep sand. In sand, bikes tend to lose all traction and slide around, sort of like a car on an ice rink. It took a lot of energy to keep pushing the pedals forward and stay focused.
By the end of the second lap, four of us had broken away from the shattered field: Matt Sauls(MSU), Jen (MSU), Josh (Texas), and I. Josh and I decided that we should try to slowly drop Sauls by keeping the pace high and relentless. After two more laps, it worked, and we were left with Jen from MSU. Jen is a woman's A rider, and therefore would not contest the Texas win for Josh and I. All we had to do was keep the pace high enough to stay away for two more laps.
By this time, I was really tired and beat up. We ended up staying away and thought we were home free for the finish, when I made my one mistake of the day. For some reason I broke my concentration for just a second and crashed. Just plain fell over. I have no idea why. Because of this, it took me way too long to get on my bike, and an MSU rider caught up with us. I was completely done, so all I could do is pray that Josh could take him. He ended up riding really smart and patient and won! I took third, which is okay, but I could have had my pick at 1st or 2nd. It is frustrating to get that close to a win and then lose. But that's racing. I know that I learned a valuable lesson for the future: the race isn't over until you are across the finish line. That was my takeaway for the weekend. And a cool brick/3rd place trophy thing.
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