Tour of the GIla update

I figured I would give a quick update on what has happened over the first three days here in New Mexico. I'm going to keep it as brief as I can.

Day 1: 94.7 miles, basically flat, with a few rollers, wind, heat, and then a brutal climb 6.7 mile climb up the Mogollon to finish everyone off. Bascially, things started off well, right up until I missed my second feed zone. We had about 40 miles to go until the climb started and I was rocking one water bottle. This kept me from eating since that would make me even more thirsty. At the feed right before the climb I sucked down a gel, and drank a whole bottle of water but it was to little, way to late. I stayed with the front group through the first 2 miles of the climb. As soon as we hit the final 4 miles I hit a brick wall, and it basically took everything in me to keep the pedals turning over. My hamstrings cramped, my arms cramped it was miserable! I limped up the climb at about 130 watts lower than I could consistently do in training. Sad sad performance that lost me 7 minutes. Probably the worst I have ever felt, and it was obvious where the mistake was made.

Day 2: 77.9 miles. still just over 5000 feet of climbing but alot more climbs with less gradient. Woke up very sore from running the tank empty the day before. I was pissed and was ready to make something happen. The pace started off very quick, and on the first climb out of town, people were popping off the back right and left. I made the selection over the top and as we came down a very sketchy 3 miles decent, there were only about 7 riders left. Of course noone wanted to work, so a group came back. Long story short, I kept attacking and raising the pace but in the end, it was a sprint of about 20 riders and I pretty much just rolled in with the pack.

Day 3: 16 ish, mile time trial. 30+ mph wind with insane gusts. Its a tricky course because it starts up a rather tough 4 mile climb. You have to really know when to go hard because the final 4 miles you are going so fast you can barely pedal and it really doesn't take much work. I passed a bunch of guys but in the end I was 6th on the day. Finished 1:40 down on the leader which of course pissed me off again because I could've sworn I rode faster than that. Regardless, I went from 32nd over all on the first day to 11th overall today.

We have 2 stages remaining. The crit tomorrow is survival for me, and the last day is a brutal 102 mile road stage with tons of climbing. Should be interesting. This is my last day to take time back so I am hoping for strong legs and a strong mind.

At this point I am not where I wanted to be. The first day mistake broke my spirit a bit and it has been a struggle to recover from that. I felt I had the condition to win this race and after that bummer I just lost a little piece of my drive. Going to be hard to get a good ride with this kind of performance. Trying hard to rebound and make these last days count.

Thanks to all for the support. The crit will air live tomorrow. My race begins at 1:30 Mtn time http://nmaafilms.ezstream.com/play/index.cfm?fuseaction=embstay&id=1F22117FB5