Tram to Twin Peaks??

Interesting stuff here...

What do you think?

Tough luck...

I guess a little head wind on the bike this evening wasn't so bad... this is right around the corner from our house!

Back to reality

It's always tough to get back in to the swing after going away on a race trip. I was telling Colt in a CyclingDirt interview that going to those races is like a psuedo fantasy life where I can pretend to be a pro cyclist! I'll take it though, fun stuff.

I managed to move in to a solid 2nd on the last day despite thinking that we had taken a wrong turn during the race. Jeremiah, Drew and I got away about a third of the way in to the race but all of a sudden on this one long climb we could see a group of riders in front of us, one jersey I recognized to be Christian, 3rd overall just 7 seconds behind me. I panicked a little and rode way too hard to close the gap but we did, and actually rode right by the group and regained the lead. Turns out they had cut the course, not us, so we were OK. I was blown from that effort though so when it came time to ramp it up in to the finish I just cruised in for 3rd happily. Never would have thought I could have come back from 7th overall to 2nd!

The trip home was harder than the race- spent the night with Tim Darwick in State College with Blake Harlan and Colt. Blake and I had to be at the airport at 5 so it made sense to get as close as we could. Finally fell asleep on the floor about 1 am... and about 2 Tim's roommate came home drunk and started making food and banging around. 3 hours of sleep turned in to 2 and we were at the airport. 3 flights later I landed in SLC. Tired is an understatement.

Since I've been back I've been wearing many hats- prepping and showing Spring 2011 Pearl Izumi Run, worked a trunk show with Kaenon Polarized at an optical office yesterday, selling some tires, etc.

Next up is the Firecracker 50 in Breck on the 4th. Its right after our S11 Pearl Izumi sales meeting and Sammi's sister's wedding. Going to have to hold out on the open bar, try to get to bed at a reasonable hour and get a few spins in to avoid the dreaded "sales meeting legs."

Coming around

Turned things around after coming completely apart on Stage 2. Since then have 2 stage wins and 2 2nd place finishes. Both 2nd place finishes were super close- one I was right on JB's wheel, the other was the combined time Super D stage which ended up a tie time wise! He took the win since he had 3 1st places and 1 3rd and I had 1 1st, 2 3rds and a 2nd.

Killer riding out here and a super cool area. Interesting Amish and Mennonite settlements for sure. Wish I had a camera...

I lost such a huge chunk on Monday that its been a long road back to GC contention but I climbed at least one spot today. As much as I want to put it on cruise control tomorrow and just ride the last stage I think I need to pin it and see what kind of time I can get back. That's what I did today and it seemed to work. Who knows if my legs will agree though... been a long week!

Check here for race coverage:

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Ouch

2 stages of the Trans-Sylvania down and I have been struggling. One thing I have come to realize racing bikes is that you have to have your bad days to enjoy the good ones and that racing always involves a little suffering. Yesterday's stage will go down as one of the toughest days I've had on a bike and some of the most memorable suffering.

Hard to put a finger on it really- maybe the heat, maybe the humidity, maybe I am cooked or unrested, maybe I have some allergies that are keeping my from breathing well here but I felt I riding under a heat lamp and breathing soup in shallow breaths. I suffered all day with no power and lost a ton on the climbs and pedaling sections. If it weren't for the sweet slow speed technical singletrack I would have lost even more time. Once I blew up I was like a car with a blown radiator... start going a little, uh oh in the red again, steam coming out, better slow down...

Hope to come around enough to feel like I am racing and not just trying to survive to the finish...