Stage 8 - The Finale

The last stage of the epic was considerably shorter than all the stages thus far. With just 61k our race started later and ended earlier. The extra hour of sleep really didn't seem to make a difference. It still felt the same as 5am wake up. I think everyone was in good spirits knowing it was the last day. I carried much less Accel Gels and Accelerade. Today, I just wanted to travel as light as possible knowing we would do over 1700m of climbing. The course profile indicated only on major climb and then mostly rolling to slight climbs to the finish. There would be only one water stop which was an indication of the expected duration. The weather was cool though out the race. Starting from my usual position the race started out as a slow crawl from the back of the pack as we took two turns and started climbing. Some teams had decided to take it easy today and make it to the finish safely. Others like Jim and JD had positions to protect. Me? I just wanted to finish it out strong. The most interesting thing about this stage is that there was not only a mandatory portage section (a historic wagon trail) but also a neutral "no pass" zone -something about the land owner paranoid about being sued by a rider (sounds very American).
So i rode pretty well up the major climbs and again caught up to the same riders as previous days. I stupidly crashed twice on slippery downhill turns. Luckily i lost little skin and no mechanicals. With the weather cool and plenty of water in the camelbak I decided to bypass the water station. The portage section would be a log jam that would allow me to refuel and recover. That section was a good 1000m followed by a fast railroad ride, singletrack and downhill. I pushed the next climb to bridge up to a team right before a downhill right as we entered the "no pass" zone. My biggest mistake was not passing them before. i found out quickly that the were inferior riders on the descent and in technical sections. While they did provide great drafts they seemed unmotivated to push it. Three riders including a pro woman who lost her partner earlier decided to f the no pass rule while i played in safe. With 5k to go we got sucked up completely by a swarm of riders i had previously passed. Oh well. As i jumped on the train i got a nice push from Dylan. One team attacked with 1k to go. I jumped across and we went clear. It made no sense for me to outsprint them so i let them take it. In the end i made it and that's all that matters.
It was cool to see Stefan waiting at the end looking refreshed and in good spirits after a few days of relaxation.