Stage 2: Crazy times

Wow. What a day. Today's stage had everything- gusty winds, rain, large portions of unsealed road, slick descents and surprise climbs. The stage was 114km from Masterton to Palmerston Nth. Not as hilly as I'd have liked, but with a few pinches to break it up.And so many crashes. 3 of the team crashed, luckily not too bad but the road claimed a lot of skin today from a lot of riders.

Sarah 'Bernard' Roy got in an early break and held it for around 40km. Top effort. Alex overcame an incident with a creative bike handler (and has the ripped knicks to prove it) to finish just back from the front bunch. Bec 'I'll just finish this stage before knocking out some REAL work' Halliday and Bron 'Does the left side of my arse look big in this photo or is that just the haemotoma?' Ryan stuck with Alex and helped her limit time losses.

Meanwhile, Laura 'is there an AA for compulsive stretchers?'Luxford and myself found ourselves at the pointy end of the field and in a break. We put in a lot of work and caught Ruth and the NZ chick before being caught by the chase bunch.We both finished in the front bunch of around 40 riders. It was disappointing to put so much work into the break and still be caught but that's life. The good news is that we have some good legs in the team and some good chances coming up. For now, i'm just happy that stage is over.