The Great Mexican Enima...

The Vuelta Mexico is finished and Gracias Dios for that. The last 72 hours that I spent in Mexico are the most memorable moments of the Tour, but also some of the most difficult.

Friday: The stage was shorter, 80km, something like that, but it also meant that it would be a very fast stage. Nothing special happened in the stage that is worthy of noting but my day began and ended right after my post race meal. I went to a restaurant: TGI Fridays. How cliche, I know. I went back to the hotel afterwards and felt awful. Tired, overly full and bloated. Ughhh. Got a massage, and tried to rub my stomach and calm it down but nothing was working. Then, that feeling of praise was coming over me. Yes I was feeling it! The great white god in the bano was calling and I answered! Oh boy, I must have absolved some bad sins that I had committed during the previous seven stages because I kept seeing the White God through the night with all fluids leaving my body. I was being purified! I hate being purified like that....I'm not even religious. I was wasted, physically tired, mentally cracked and had one more day.

Saturday: The last day! Hooray! 50Km of deathly pain was all I had to make it through. I was totally depleted form the day and the night before. I was almost dropped out of the neutral start parade. The stage started and was about 25km up to 9500ft and then another 25km back down into Mexico City. I was popped right off the back and I couldn't hold onto any car because the commisaire was right there with me the whole time. Little did he know I spent the night praying to one if his Mexican bacterial Gods of Hell! Eventually I was able to hold onto an ambulance, I think they knew the 50kms would take 3 hours if I didn't hold on. I caught up to Dan and Mark who were waiting for me. Dan, whom I waited for in Puerto Rico after he had cracked during some extra training miles, was waiting for me. He kept my spirits going by pushing me and Mark blocked the wind. You guys rock! Really rock! Upon reaching the summit we dropped off the mountain, the three Toshiba amigos, ready to be totally done with the race. By the time that we made it into Mexico City they had reopened the roads! What?! Try to imagine 20 million people moving off the roads for a bike race to come through. We were escorted by two race sponsored motorcyclists, and an entourage of police, officials and ambulances behind us. I was so dazed and depleted at this point that I just followed Mark's wheel like I was in a dream. I dream where we were trying to get to the finish but there was just too much traffic to get through. The kind where you try to run but can't. It was that kind of frustration. After we saw the 10km to go sign I knew that I was just a few more minutes of this pain and suffering. 5km would come soon, then 3km then 1km. But we never saw anything after 10km. We got lost and ended up going into the back side of the finish ceremony. People were like "what? where the heck did you come from?" It was pretty much the most ridiculous race I have ever been in. I had never suffered more and been more dazed on my bike, and have never had to negotiate such a large city. The combination was like a bad acid trip. I was happy to have finished the race with Mark and Dan though. It was a fitting end to our year of Mexican travels.

Saturday night and Sunday:
Check back tomorrow for the conclusion of the Great Mexican Enima.....