The start

This is it, away we go! Up at 4:30am for breakfast and packing. Of course, it's hurry up and wait. We stand around for ages and finally get going in a convoy. It' dreadfully slow going around 10km/ hr with a few stops along the way. We get to the pyramid for a little ceremony and photo ops which are pretty nice and finally head out at around 9:30. Another 30km of convoy still going pretty slow and we finally get where we can let loose. I was expecting some kind of start but people just dribbled out and the cops were still holding us back until some of the local Egyptian riders joined us and talked to mour police escort. I was chomping at the bit so I went with the front pack for about 25km and realized that I was going to pay dearly for this so I dropped back a bit. Lunch was at around 70km so I caught up with the front group and we had a bite. The Egyptian riders either took their time or had enough so I left with the fastest three riders but they dropped me right away and I rode about 50 km by myself when I was finally caught by a few riders in a pack. That gave me a chance to rest and I figured I could hammer the last km or so and finish fourth. Everything was going according to plan and we saw one of the front riders had a flat so I thought third was in the bag as there were only two of us left as I had pushed the pace a bit. Unfortunately that little stunt brought on a cramp that I've never had before on the inner righ thigh, it felt like the adductors... Very odd so I pedaled with one leg for a few hundred meters and a guy caught up with me. I then saw the finish line and tested the leg which responded well so I passed him for a fourth place which is what I probably deserved anyway. Total 136km and 170km for tomorrow, I will be more conservative and ride with the 2nd pack. The top three are a bit too fast for me at the moment. Let's hope it will change as I get leaner and fitter. Right now, I'm just tired and it will take at least a week to adapt.