Team time trial

On Sunday we had the state team time trial, four man teams, 32miles and
flat. This year the added challenge was the 3 sections of gravel that was left
after some kind of road work. There was talk of changing the course, shorter, adding some climbs and descents...all which would make the essential part of a team time trial less a factor, smooth, synchronized and steady team.
In the end, the flat road with gravel was kept, which I preferred, but
it turned out to be our downfall, as one of our teammates ends up
flatting, only 6 miles into the race. The rule is that you have to
finish with at least 3 people and that it's the third rider across the
line that stops the time.
After the flat, we just had to keep going. We now all had to take longer
pulls into the wind, with less rest in-between. We still had 26miles to
go!... oh this was going to be fun!!!!
I was now riding with two of the fastest guys in the state, which is
good news, but it also meant that I was due for some pain and suffering.
Our pace-line was going smooth. Our team training had paid of, and there
was never any gaps or surging causing any problems. Pretty fast though I was taking shorter pulls. I wanted to try and keep the pace high when I was at the front, but to do this I could only stay there for a short while, before drifting back and making sure I got on. Nathan and Flavio did a great job. Luckily for us Flavio was having a good day after suffering form food poison all week. Up until a few miles into the race he didn't know how he was going to respond. And Nathan is always strong. After battling fatigue the last few weeks, I was pretty happy with my
performance, not quite up to par, and clearly the weaker link, but I
managed to dig deep and hang in there, focus and push though the pain.
Stopping wasn't an option, it was a team event, and there was no way I
could let myself drop of, it simply wasn't an option. All I could do was
suffer and get though it.In the end though it was not quite enough, as we ended up losing by less then 1sec a kilometer. 40sec back from the winners. An extra riders
would most likely made all the difference. Oh well... what can you do.. we did the best we could with what we had.