Passport Please and Tour de Beauce

Protecting Yellow Again
My first flat of the year, was no little thorn
Start of TT
Leading Walters
Sweet Goobers

The sometimes rush, rush of cycling added with and almost 6 hour race can make it easy for some short term memory issues or add forgetfulness with some international travel necessities, such as a passport.

The team trailer was heading up to Quebec directly after Sunday's Philly race, where our team duffel bags would go as well, to limit our flying hassles. Some last minute hotel changes and with the immediate rush I forgot to take my passport out of the duffel and put it in my carrion. This came to my attention at about 1am on Sunday night while in bed. I tried to reassure my self by stating that you don't need to a passport to enter Canada. But it was not really working, as I have kept up with the World news. I was off to the airport anyways as Sarah was headed back to Colorado. As I dropped her at the gate I said, "Maybe I'll be seeing you later..."

The attendant reassured my fear and said that there is no way to be flying into Canada without a passport. Stockton, my team manager was right on the case when he arrived at the airport, a bit ticked of course but still managedto get me a way up to Beauce. He found a flight to Burlington, Vermont. He called the mechanic re-routed his trip to come pick me up in Burlington and off I was for another stage race. I was so tired and physically wrecked I was not sure if I was happy I was going up there or not. I was eager for my break to come, but did have a week left in me.

Tour de Beauce went very well for us. Walters got things going from the get go on a long first stage, 5 hrs. or so, with a stage win. For the following stages it was tempo time for the rest of us, which works quite well when you're tired. It simplifies things, ride at the front for 140km. Done. Even though we lost the jersey on the Mont Megantic stage, we got back to the front in the crit to pull back a breakaway in perfect fashion, with one 1.5km lap to go, and lead it out for Dom, but small error led him to get 2nd. Still, it was good fun stringing out the field and bringing back the hopeful breakaway. After a week of great weather the last stage brought down some heavy rains and made it rather miserable. I was in two breakaways that each got about a minute up the road, but the legs pooched out on me towards the end and shut down the opportunity of a stage win that I was seeking.

I was very pleased to get through the tough week, as the roads were relentless, still had a cough and I kept counting the minutes to having some time off the bike. Walters made the race great for our team by grabbing the yellow jersey on the first stage and having the Kodak Team set tempo for the first 4 stages and getting to show our strength as a team.

I am in bed now, sleeping. I'll be doing this for a while.

Philly Cheese Steaks are Good

A Brit in Philly Sarah, My Guapa
Ready, Set, Go
Following Zee German

It was a week of downtime in downtown Philly after the RAS. The thought of it is quite nice after a hard stage race, but not having the chance to head home for this week took it's toll. Yes, I get home sick and miss Sarah. I wouldn't say home sick for Boulder, but homesick of the comfort of our new apt. there on Pearl St and spending a week off with my wife. I spent the week with Walters and Rollin in a great old house in the historic district of Philadelphia. We took our time getting the day started, enjoying our home made coffees and going out and about taking pics with our KODAK cameras of course. I struggled with the heat and humidity as it was a drastic change from Ireland's Spring Weather and the high allergic levels. CSC Invitational was the first race back, and it was a suffer fest. The heat took it's toll and made most of the field drop out. I hung in there until the finish but could not manage much help for out sprinter Rollin. The race took a lot out of me and made that following week miserable with a nagging cough and green snot! This made for early departures in the mid week races, Lancaster and Reading. I awoke highly motivated for the Big Philly race as my wife flew in and a few old friends. I did have a few nerves at the start, as the venue is quite a scene. It's no local Chicago crit. It was my job to keep Walters up in the first 15 riders heading into the Manayunk wall each lap, in which I succeeded in. Its a full on sprint each lap to the base of the steep 1.5km climb, but we managed to duel it out and head into the run in safely. It was my longest race ever, it being 156 miles. This year was done in record time of 5:45hrs. not bad aye... I was spent have the race and was struggling with the fact that I would be on a plane the next morning to start a 6 day stage race up in Quebec. The Tour de Beauce...

FDB Insurance RAS Stage 8, Dom Rollin's Turbo Diesel Power and the end of the RAS, very nice!

The threats of nasty weather for the last stage were diminished by the shy Irish sun that showed up to lighten our spirits. Our plan was to keep fairly mellow for the first half of the race and then try to attack the yellow jersey to snag it back. A small break or 3 including David McCann took off rather early and zee German’s began to set tempo.
They hired the zee otha’ German team to help them control things which made us rather fed up. So we began to attack over the third climb on the stage. We put quite a lot of stress on them to make them loose their organization. Dom Rollin turned on the turbo and was off and another poor old rider made the bad decision to get on his wheel. Dom kept a 15 sec. gap ahead of us for about 20km, in which zee Germans could not reel back. Once we hit more twisty roads Dom was out of sight and was on a solo effort to catch the breakaway a minute up the road. The gap grew slowly; I got on the radio and told Dom, “Zee Germans are loosing powa’!” Once he closed into the breakaway, McCann slowed things up to wait for him, to add the horsepower to the break. It worked. They gained up to a minute and forty seconds, virtually placing Dom in the yellow jersey. The German Suunto Team and Stevens teams continued to drive the pace, giving us a easy ride in the pack to keep us fresh for getting Jesse up the road on the finishing circuits, seeing that most of the German domestics would be blown by the time we’d arrive.
McCann began to attack the breakaway and dropped one of the Aussie riders, which did not work well in our plan as then they began to help the chase. Once hitting the second to last KOM the field dwindled rapidly but the yellow jersey managed to follow the wheels. Jesse gave it a go on the last lap, but zee German had yellow feva’ and it was too late for us.

The race went very well for us. It being Kodak Gallery/Sierra Nevada’s first International race we were all very pleased and hope we can continue jumping across the pond for competition. We’ll focus on recovery now in Philadelphia and we will be prepped for the Triple Crown.
See you then!

FDB Insurance RAS stage 7, Aggression, a lull and some more Aggression

With the stage profile mostly ascending for the first 40km, the pace was rather relentless. We took part in it; of course, as it shows we’ve showed up in good form. Dom would string out the field with his huge turbo diesel engine, and then one of us would launch an attack to keep pressure on the yellow jersey. We kept on like this for a while, but everybody was on board with fresh legs from yesterday’s short stage. On the first long descent there was a nasty mid field crash that took our teammate, Josh Thornton out of the race. Josh landed straight on his head, going about 70kph. Not a scratch on his body, all impact to the helmet. He was rather shaken up, but started feeling a bit better in the evening.
The field settled down during the middle kilometers of the race, a good thing for me as I was having some stomach issues and puked profusely every time I drank a sip from the bidon. I went back for some coke to try to settle the stomach; I was the last rider in the field for about 40k’s just hanging on. Good times. I started to come around for the last quarter of the race, and moved up steadily leading up to the last KOM. I went on the attack with a Glen Bak,(Murphy and Gunn) and David McCann,(Irish Nat. Team) I was hopeful it would stick, as we hit them at a good time, but my personal attempts of going for a stage were shut down by the chasing Australians. Once caught, I attacked again with 1km to the KOM, I was able to get over the top first and keep the pace up. The descent was too open and not technical enough for me to stay off. I was caught soon enough. The rain made things a bit stressful descending with the whole field but we stayed up front to keep Dom out of trouble and set him up for another stage. The “Dominator” took over early with about a kilometer to go and took his third stage victory, to the disappointment of the rest of the field. Did I mention I was getting tired, one more stage.

FDB Insurance RAS Stage 6, Getting Tired...

“Would you like some fries with your mashed potatoes?”

Yes, indeed. The routines of food at stage races can be rather hard mentally towards the end of the week. Chicken or beef, 3 differently cooked types of potatoes on the table and over cooked carrots and broccoli. Stage 1, Stage 2, Stage 3…the same is served. It does start to crack you a bit. We did add a drink to the menu tonight however, Champagne! Dom Rollin went off early on with the right breakaway and rode away from the group of 15 or so in the last few hundred meters and took his second stage victory. “Very nice…”

The pace was fairly steady for us in the pack, and to be honest I was rather happy to be taking somewhat of a break after yesterday’s massacre. My legs hurt, back, neck everything. I woke up in the middle of the night last night to use the bathroom and could hardly walk to the toilet. I was praying it was 2am or still early enough where I wouldn’t awake the day in that sort of state.

It’s 10pm right now and still rather light outside. The scenery up here in Northern Ireland has been spectacular, and with the nicer weather today it was actually a bit enjoyable. We head to New Castle tomorrow on a 160km+ stage, with bad weather expected in the days to come it will be no parade to the finish. Come on legs.

Our bikes and equipment have been holding up supremely under the stress and weather it has been handing over the past week. Randy, our new mechanic has meshed in well with the team and has set up our fleet of Kuota’s equipped with the latest from SRAM with precision. All needed to handle the rough and nasty conditions this race offers.

FDB Insurance RAS Stage 5. Hell of the North Perhaps?

Howling winds, dark skies and pissing down rain. As if the stage profile wasn’t daunting enough, right? “Living the dream…”
The Irish Murphy and Gunn team and Zee Germans put it right in the gutter from the gun. By the time we reached the base of the first KOM the field was ripped to shreds. Cresting the second KOM a group of 40 was established, “These are the men of the RAS!” is transmitted through the P.A. of the lead car. After seeing cross eyed and wrestling over my bike trying to hang on for dear life, things finally settled and we all made the selection. The rain continued, the wind battered us and after a bit of a settling, attacks began again. A group of 6-5 established a few minute lead, and we were forced to set Thornton, Walters and I rode on the front, relentlessly with no help through the grueling tempo once again. It was just 3 of us, as we kept Jesse and Dom fresh for the final. narrow bumpy roads. While heading down the final KOM’s I found myself descending a 8ft. wide road at 80kph, pouring rain and urinating in my shorts as my bladder was about to explode otherwise. Walters was having trouble of his own yelling, “I can’t see a F&%# thing!!!” After the race he said on the downhill he couldn’t keep both his eyes open at the same time. The epic Memore Gap was upon us, Ireland’s most famous climb. Starting along the coast it turned inland and ascended wickedly at 18-26% for 3km!! NO JOKE. We set Jesse up nicely while the rest of us, still managed up it rather well considering our long effort on the front, seeing that we still made it over with most of the guys from our group. It was a bomber descent to the finish, where our nerves were left back at the hotel to keep up with the pace. We limited our losses today, to Jesse being down by 36sec. Not too bad considering the brutal stage, and small numbered roster team to keep things under control. I imagine we’ll rest well tonight, and tomorrow we’ll be switching to attack mode from defense mode, seeing the we are all healthy and fit and highly ambitious to win this race.
As K. Stockton our director would say, “Game on.”

FDB Insurance RAS Stage 4. Defending Yellow

I’m trying to think if I have been on a team where we were defending a leader’s jersey, but can’t recall right now, probably because I’m smashed from today’s brutal 5th stage. Yes, that means I’m delayed by a day on my reports. Truth is, it’s been hard to find the energy after the tough days. Yesterdays stage 4 was a tough one, seems as though the Irish have been kicking up the speed higher and higher as the stages add up. We were well prepared though and battled the numerous attacks from the get go, rather good considering there is only five of us. At one point I found myself in a breakaway with GC contenders that was gaining time quickly, K. Stockton quickly told me to wait for the field and join my teammates to chase them down. Of course, one has those selfish thoughts of thinking hey this breakaway will stick. But cycling is a team sport. I returned to the field and we settled in to a strong chase to shut off the opportunity of a dangerous break. Soon after regaining control, 5 riders went off on the attack but were not too serious on GC. We maintained a tempo to the finish. At the 20km mark, as we were reaching the Atlantic coast we drove the pace hard and started splitting the field to bits, (a good feeling). In the process we captured the breakaway with 5km to go and set Dom Rollin for a 2nd place stage finish, securing his point jersey a bit more and keeping Jesse safely in Yellow. The run into the finish was amazing. In the last 20km the roads were rolling and twisty, cutting through the rugged terrain of Ireland’s Northern coast. This certainly made things easier mentally setting tempo, rather than being on some mega U.S. highway.