Stage 2 - a freaking hot one

It was another tough day as I struggled again with the heat. Temps were well over 90 f and if that wasn't enough, the distance was killer at 125k.
It was a neutralized start as the police escorted us out of town. Jo and i placed high enough overall to be seeded in the B group start area allowing a closer glimpse at the front. We entered the day in 9th in mixed team category. The first 20k was like a road race. In fact the whole day would be like that. We were in a huge pack with all the top teams. The first hill splintered the pack. Jo and i worked a bit to catch back on and cruised into aid station 1 easily with the draft of the peloton. Then all hell broke loose as everyone bottlenecked into the mandatory rider check. A short bit of panick as Jo couldn't find me as i totally blew past it to fill up water. We were quickly on our way but chasing riders already up the road making it through the checkpoint line ahead of us. The chase group got larger and faster but our efforts were fruitless. I blew up and got shelled, barely able to turn over the pedals. The heat was getting to me again. Jo once again bailed me out pulling me and even pushing me up a couple hills. I was so overheated and wanted to stop so badly just to get my heart rate and core body temp down. We hung tough battling it out with two mixed teams, dropping a German pair. The other team, Team Kopek in 4th place, dropped us. We pressed on to the only singletrack of the day where we caught up to the Kopeks and the Bike RX guys only after they missed a turn and had to double back. It was futile trying to hang as we couldn't match their speed. We were pretty dead. We hung tough and came in about 5:10, good enough for 6th on the day. Overall we moved up into 7th.
Jo's husband Tim and his partner Adrian won the day ahead of Trek and Kona. James and Nick also of Flight Centre did well in finishing 7th.
I was so happy just to finish. The legs have tightened up quite a bit and i'm working hard to refuel and rest for Stage 3 and the early start.
Tim and Adrian are the winners of Stage 3.