So i’ve needed a week of detox, but I’m finally ready to post about the Tour of California. what a week, what a race, what fans! this was the longest, hardest and best attended ToC ever, i can only hope it continues to grow by the same leaps and bounds.

 

Prologue- after a few days of sitting around the hotel in Sac with nothing to do but ride the bike path and watch the weather report, we were all worked up to get the race underway.  as the rain was looming and due to come in midway through the field’s start times, the team split Tom and I up, i went first and he went last to hedge our bets on the rain destroying any chance of a good ride. i went good but blew the first corner, so oh well.  tom and i were still a second apart as usual, and ended up just out of the top ten in 11th and 13th places respectively.  andy, pete and jeremy also rode well, and we were the 4th team.  a good start.

 

stage one- rain, cold, hills. i knew the course and knew what w were up against, but the weather really took it out of a lot of people, as on the KOM up Howell Mountain the field split five different ways when the pace wasn’t even that hard.  an elite group went over the top 10 seconds ahead, and were within sight all through Napa and onto the last hill, Petrified Forest.  Maybe 20 seconds over the top of that hill, but i was certain we’d get them back.  3k later, the time check comes in at A MINUTE FORTY FIVE!! everyone sits up, thinking there’s no way were going to be able to ride them down if they’re going that quick, as we were chasing full stick at that point. 10k of coasting later, the new time check comes in at 1:30, and you know someone’s made a serious mistake, both the time keepers for adding a minute to the first split and the racers for believing that nonsense. but the wind was out of the sails already, and we come to the line over 5 min down.

 

stage 2- the worst day weather-wise and a horrible day to be off the front, so i went for it all the same.  we went full gas through SF and finally got some breathing room out of Pacifica, which was a welcome relief.  the whole trip down the coast seems a blur of rotating though, fighting cross winds, ducking your head from the hail coming in straight from the ocean, and trying to eat enough.  riding that break rates with one of the best experiences i’ve ever had, and i’ll remember it for a long time.  truly epic.  the fans were incredible all through the coast, i was amazed how thick they were up on tunitas and skyline as it was pretty damn cold up there, and then Bonny Doon and empire were just spectacular.  i was pretty dead going into the bottom, came around in the middle and then died off again up towards the top of the climb.  i knew where to dig in, where to wait, and that sure came in handy when there was nothing left in the tank.  coming down Empire i could not get out of the caravan as some of the team drivers were absolute idiots (this seemed to be a big problem this year, not much consideration was given to the riders), which made the chase hazardous and even more draining.  coming into town, over the last five km i was amazed to see every inch of the streets lined with fans, and at the finish it was wall to wall people, surpassing my own wildest ideas about how the city would turn out. awesome.

 

Stage 3- it was so silly to even attempt to ride Sierra road in the condition i was in, i was out the back in the first 500 meters and was seriously wondering if id finish the day.  i got in a good group and we were working our way back up when Omer crashed, breaking his pelvis, and i took it a bit easier after that.  i was able to rally my legs to get me through Calaveras well and i caught back on, but Astana was busy both riding hard and flinging riders to the ground, which made for some drama.  it wasn't until we got out to the central valley past Patterson that things mellowed out, we had a strong head and cross head wind which made it manageable in the group.  if it was cross or cross tail we’d have been split asunder and I would have again been in danger of not making it. i was very happy to just roll across the line.

 

Stage 4- some pretty big hills waited for us east of Merced, and we did not start slow as it was constant attacking until a select breakaway ripped themselves off the front.  I was able to ride within myself on the climbs and was just grateful the sun was out. i really think I'm solar powered, because the turnaround day to day was just great as soon as it was nice out. we rode a great roller coaster route into clovis where i was able to try a lead-out for Frank.  

 

Stage 5- the longest day, just sitting mellow in the group for 4 hours, then a bit of nasty cross winds in the last 20 k made for some hard riding and a select group splitting off the front into the finish, i was the only one who made that group and so took my own chances in the finish and ended up 13th.  the family came for a visit and so it was nice to get out for some dinner that was not the race buffet.

 

Stage 6- ITT in Solvang, as usual.  the legs were missing something extra but so were everyone else’s too, as i ended up 11th and 38 seconds faster then the last year.  Tom went an incredible 55 seconds faster then the previous year to ride in for 7th, awesome.

 

Stage 7- it was breakaway time, and BISSELL stepped to the plate riding big moves for the first hour and a half.  i was in three separate splits that looked promising but it was not to be, as the move that finally went clear was the only one we weren’t in.  frustrating, but it was not for lack of trying.  they stayed clear to the end, while we had a bit of drama with frank and tom hitting the deck in one of the weeks massive and pointless pileups.  there were a few solo wrecks during the week (Omer, Nydam, Van Ulden, King, etc) that were real bike racing crashes i.e. happened for a good reason, but the ones that took out big groups and big names (Friere, Andy, Levi, Horner, Vande Velde, Kirtchen, Mancebo) were absolutely pointless, moments of inattention when the race was “off” that spelled disaster for more then a few racer’s spring.

 

Stage 8- I knew we had to make the break this time, and fortunately the first to go was the one that stuck, though i thought we were done in several times.  i stayed persistent, just plugging away and we finally went clear.  unfortunately, we got the good gap right as my knee started to hurt a bit too much; i was feeling it after the time trial and I'm sure attacking hard on sat. was not the best for it either, just the cold weather finally caught up with me.  i was able to mellow it out on the lower bits of mt. Palomar, but about halfway through the 16 mile climb Schleck took over the front and put us all in the box.  the normal rhythm of rolling up and off, even on the climb, was giving me enough respite from the pain, but with the pace lifted and relentless it was all too much and i had to let go without really letting my legs do much. i tried to get it rolling again, tried to stick with a few groups that came by, but i was already convincing myself that it was a bad idea to keep going hard, that i was going to really hurt myself.  when the car came around towards the top of the climb i took my pulse and at a HR of 130 i knew my day was over.  a fan tried to get me to keep going, and then in the next breath offered me a beer; how the tables turn suddenly.  i was bummed to pull out of the race as it’s really not in my nature to give up, but i didn’t want to really screw up my leg just so i could pat myself on the back about finishing.