Getting to Idaho
Well first I left the house at around 4 and had to get all my stuff to the airport. once I got to the airport we dropped off my luggage and I made my way to my terminal. On the plane I just read my book. the plane landed in Utah 2.5 hours later. I then found my next flight to Boise Idaho, This flight was only 45 mins. as the plane landed I was on time and I called Andreas (coach/race team director) to find out where to meet him to get my luggage. any way I found him at baggage claim along with Aubrey (teammate). we then waited a couple mins till the luggage started coming down the carousel. I quickly found my suitcase with all my clothes but my bike box was nowhere to be found. So we waited another 20 mins before we went to the lost luggage counter. apparently my bike was ether in Salt lake city or Houston but no one knew where. So after realizing Delta lost my bike we headed to the house where we would be living for the next week. once we made it to the house I did a mental roll count to see if every body was there and every one was there already: Ben, Aubrey, Chris, Bo, Royce, me. along with Andreas and Rob Strange (Royce's Dad). Once we got everything situated I went to my room and unpacked everything and sat by the phone awaiting Delta to call to tell me where my bike was.
Prologue (1.4 miles)
Well my bike is still somewhere were I can't get it. We are now at the start of the Prologue and got all our packet pick up stuff. My # for the week was 518 and I learned that the race was going to be monitored by chips for a more accurate race. After telling the officials about my bike they promised to launch Aubrey first and me last so That I could quickly switch out pedals and adjust Aubrey bike so I could use it for the stage.
As the stage started I waited at the finish line and waited with 2 alans and a pedal wrench. as Aubrey came flying by I cheered him on and got ready to get the bike once he hits the turn around and comes back. As Aubrey finished I took his bike and changed out all of the stuff and sprinted to roll out. once I was rolled out I got into my spot behind my 30 second guy and I waited there till It was my turn in the start house. Once I was off I sprinted really hard and got into a very hard pace I then took the only corner at 28 and kept on going. Once I took the turn around I was almost out of breath but I kept going I then caught my 30 second guy with 200m to go. I then sprinted as hard as I could and threw my bike at the finish. After I finished I went back to the team car and gave Aubrey back his bike. I then changed out of my skin suite and sat next to my teammates and waited for the final results. Once the results came I found out that Ben had won the Prologue and I got 4th with only 3 secs off of yellow. the rest of the team all filled in in the top 15.
Stage 1 (40-45 miles)
Today is the road race. I got my back at midnight from the airport, put it together and was ready to race.
My teammate was in the yellow jersey, after the prologue last night. It was really cool, they actually had a yellow jersey. Our teams plan today was to put time on the guys in second and third in the GC. We were going to do this by putting me in a break and having one or two teammate try to bridge up at the right time.
We started w/ 3 major teams consisting of 26 total riders. The teams were BYRDS, OBERETO (Beef Jerky), and TEAM TEXAS. Once the race started with a 2 mile neutral roll out before the actual race started. After the neutral section, our team went to the front and started pushing the pace. After 15 minutes of controlling the pace, I attacked and started a solo break. I quickly got over 2 minutes on the field, and was holding a high steady tempo. After an hour or so off the front, I saw the field start to close the gap. Once the gap was down to twenty seconds, Ben bridged up to me. We began working together and were pulling away from a very tired field. We caught and passed the 17/18 year old field that stated 10 minutes in front of us. This helped motivate us to hammer. We were going into a left hand turn at over 26mph, when the the lead police motorcycle stopped short. Ben rammed into the cop,and hit Ben very hard. We both crashed and quickly got up. Ben broke a spoke and steer tube, and my bike was tangled in barbwire fence about 10 feet away. By the time I got my bike out of the barb wire and started going the field had past us. Ben got up quicker and was already back w/ the pelaton. I was about 10 seconds back when I began to chase covered in blood. I was closing quickly, then two guys attacked. I was not able to follow the attack due to tired legs from the break, so I started to TT back at my own pace. The field was soon out of site after the feedzone hill. I figured my race was over. Keeping my own tempo going I eventually found a dropped teammate 20 minutes up the road. We were able to work together to get within site of the field. Once we got site, we raised the pace and made contact about 15K before the big mountain finish. Once we caught the field, I surveyed who was left. It was basically our team plus 6 others. After sitting in for 10 minutes recovering. About 2K from the base one of my teammates attacked. This attack only left the strongest of riders. On the climb two riders countered my teammate and got about 5 seconds. Realizing the attacker was one of the GC contenders, I immediately went to the front and led Aubry and Ben towards the leaders. I closed the gap as much as I could, but could not hold that pace and pulled out. I wound up finishing 11 seconds behind the leaders. My job was done, Ben kept the Yellow jersey and took second on the stage.
STAGE 2 (CIRCUIT RACE - 50 MINUTES)
The plan for this stage was to try to put time between us and the other GC contenders.
As the race started one of the other teams chased and nobody chased. This put a lot of pressure on the field as he was gaining time in a hurry. Once the guy got over a minute we moved to the front and started chasing. I tried to attack, but I was a marked man. They were on my wheel instantly. The attack did allow Ben to bridge up to the leader as well as the guy second in GC. This was not good since Ben was outnumbered in the lead group 2 on 1. I launched an attack to help get Aubrey up to lead group. At this point we had 2 on 2 in the break. I sat in the pack and did zero work since I had teammates up the road. With about 10 minutes to go a guy behind me in GC tried to bridge. I did not go, because I figured people would chase. I was wrong and had to run him down on my own. Ben won the stage, but we were unable to put time on the others. I came in 11 seconds behind the leaders.
Stage 3 (IMTT 4 miles)
Heading into the TT the plan was to go FAST.
I started the time trail at a good pace not wanting to blow my engine early w/ the plan to ramp up gradually depending on how I felt. Before this the wee-mart bridge is what I called a climb. I kept a very high pace the entire time and took 4th overall in the TT. I believe this point was about 1 minute off the GC lead and 4 seconds from the podium.
Stage 4 (CRIT 50 MINS)
Our plan today was to try to gain the lead back we lost in the IMTT. We would do this by launching countless attacks.
The moment the race started Chris attacked off the front, we caught him in about 1 lap, then Bo attacked, we as caught in 1/2 a lap, then Ben attacked. Three laps later Ben was reeled in. A good sign the field was weakening. I took off and stayed out for about 4 laps before getting caught. The Aubry took off. the field was too tired to chase, and he was down far enough in the GC. For the next 30 minutes we sat in the pack and rested. Once Aubry got over a minute, BYRDS started chasing. They caught Aubry w/ 1 1/2 laps to go. Ben countered, but was not able to open any time gaps, and we ended up in a field sprint. Ben won the stage, and I took 4th.
RECAP
At the end of the race, Ben took second in the GC, I got 4th, and Aubrey got 6th. The rest of our team was in the top half of the field. Very strong showing by Team TEXAS. Again, thanks for all the support from my sponsors and Pearland Cycling Club.
