Tour de Bloom Stage 2 cat 1/2

[DuncanBryson]

Saturday morning, with the Friday's race still fresh in the legs, we set off for stage two of the Tour de Bloom. Stage 2 consisted of a 6.5km 500m+ hill climb which essentially boiled down to a mass start uphill time trial. We went off at the gun (or whistle in this case) at a bit of an absurd sprint given the climb ahead of us. Nick slotted in with the top guys while I avoided burning any unnecessary matches. This proved a successful strategy as riders were dropping off the back quite quickly after trying to keep up with the leaders. Still struggling to get air in with the remnants of a lingering cold I settled into a steady ride at my FTP, slowly pushing past popped riders. Nick rode somewhat conservatively as well and, with a little gas left in the tank by the end, regretted not pushing to make a split in his group midway up. With the GC men tearing up the climb the rest of the bunch slowly made their way across the line with little on their minds but the upcoming criterium that evening. After a short cool down we tore off back to our accommodations for some refuelling and sleep before the crit.