Tuesday, May 09, 2006

Gila (pronounced HEEla, not Geela)

Day by Day race reports
Let's make this short and sweet:
Day 1: TT , had great conditions, felt good, result SUCKED...no idea why...but that's all I had that day...Ann Samplonious tore it up, beating Kristin Armstrong by 2osome seconds...Impressive!

Day 2: Moogily-Woogily stage...there was a crash right before the second sprint, I narrowly avoided...but most my teammates had to chase after that...Especially Jane Z who chased for ~1hr alone...but showed some great grit and caught just in time to climb the 6.7mi finishing motion...I unfortunately had a small chain malfunction (it dropped to the outside of my big ring wrapping itself around the crank x2)...the next malfunction was the roof rack from which they tried to retrieve a spare bike for me due to the complexity of the chain wrappage...yet the rack proved to be more difficult to maneuver, therefore plan B was instated w/ replacing my chain...so then I was off, a lonely 6.7mi up to the finish...as hard as I could..

Day 3: Fort Bayard day...today I had a BIOmechanical...on the first climb (up to Pinos Altos)...Caught the chase group (w/ all my teammies) at the base of the best decent all year, and then the main peloton at the base of the next climb...once again found myself alone midway up the feed zone climb...but was able to help a teammate home in some terrific winds....I have to mention, Hiroko has the best attitude of any racer I've ever met...she had a very lonely day..and after > 4hr alone in horrible winds she was still positive and smiling...thanks for the lesson in 'keep it in perspective'...

Day 4: Crit...Finally I felt like myself again on the bike....chase some breaks...none stuck...except the solo of Austin Powers (ok, I know that's not her name, but it's funny) she is the downhill skier who is riding awesome...I love when these fairly new riders come out and school all these 'big Pro' teams, reminding us yet again...anyone can do this, don't flatter yourselves...so the rest of us ended in a bunch sprint...

Day 5: The Gila Monster...not much happened in the first 63mi..the typical early break went off...and was caught at the base of the final 3mi climb...plus 15mi of rollers....I actually had ppl to ride w/ this year....but nothing to write home about...

All in all, not my best performance...not pleased...searching for that ride where I take a lot of risks and am rewarded w/ good results...next week is Joe Martin...maybe I'll find it there

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