Tour of Virginia

 

Stage 1: Rolling 4.1 mile Time Trial

 

            I placed 27th in the prologue. I think I paced myself more evenly over the course than many riders who went out way to hard.

 

Stage 2: 1hr. Criterium

 

            I had been told that the crit course was pretty brutal, but I wasn’t prepared for the intensity of the race. It was a five corner crit with a very steep hill about two blocks long. The course plummeted down a very steep hill into a sweeping left hander which led to a fast tail wind section before the hill. Everyone was moving up on the tailwind section but with junior gears I was spinning like a sewing machine and could barely move my legs fast enough to hold wheels. On the hill I thought I was moving up, picking through holes, but I was only passing riders who were about to get dropped. The front looked smooth, but I never got there.

 

Stage 3: 110 mile Road Race (9,400 ft. of climbing)

 

            I was a little bit anxious about the race because I knew from last year that I could make it over the top of the tough climbs with some of the strong guys, but the race started so fast that making it to the big climbs became an issue. Knowing that the field could split any time I burned a little too much gas moving up in the wind and on short steep hills. The front guys had it pegged at 28 mi/hr for the first hour and a half. On the second category climb the field began to stretch dangerously when a rider crashed in front of me and I fell on top of him. It took a while to get back up and I panicked to get back to the front group. I made it on and told myself that I would stay there or blow… then I cracked like an egg.

 

            I spent the next two hours riding alone hoping to make the time cut and knowing that there was a grueling cat 1 climb ahead. I cramped up badly on my way into the finishing town and got caught by a group of 30 riders including the race leader with about half a mile to go. After the race I drank four bottles of water and weighed myself. I lost over eleven pounds on the day.

 

Stage 4: 111 mile Road Race (12,000 ft. of climbing)

 

            I was blown from the day before and the terrain on this stage was much tougher. I made it over the cat 1 climb at mile 60 on the back of what eventually regrouped to be the front of the race but got gapped on the descent and lost time.

 

Stage 5: 103 mile Road Race

 

            My legs finally came around a little, and I wasn’t just going on a bike ride. The whole field came into the finishing town cranking out the last 20 km at around 30-35 mi/hr. I stayed in the front 20 and followed wheels. At about 1k a rider swung wide and I cued up for the sprint on his wheel, but then his tire blew and that was that.

 

 Stage 6: 35 mile Criterium

 

            A few guys got popped off the back, but for the most part the whole field stayed together and averaged 30 mi/hr.

 

 Stage 7: 100 mile Road Race

 

            It couldn’t have been cooler to compete in an NRC race in my back yard. I knew every mailbox on the roads today, and the finishing circuits were in town, so I was pretty motivated today. After a flurry of attacks a group of about 10 guys slipped off in the first 15 miles. There were a lot of names in the group so Rite Aid and Harley drilled it and had us strung out all day. It made for a fast but smooth stage.