Tour of the Gila Wrap up

Almost a week as gone by since the Tour of the Gila and I figure it is time to give my rundown of the final couple days, and where I go from here.

I left off my last blog with the time trial on day three. After a ride that brought back a small amount of my confidence, I was ready to do everything I could to take back time on the final two days. Unfortunately, day 4 was the criterium which isn't exactly my specialty. Generally I do best if I can get in the break. If that doesn't work, then I just sit as close to the front as possible and try to survive without crashing. I made two attempts to cross the gap to the break of the day, and both were shut down. One move had potential, but my breakaway companion just didn't have the juice to help, and with the headwinds on the uphill, I couldn't quite make it happen alone. In the end, I narrowly avoided a crash on the final lap, and finished safely in the pack.

At the end of the day, I sat in 11th place overall with about 45 seconds between myself and the top 10! Day 5 is considered the most difficult day. It is called the Gila Monster road race and it really does live up to its name. Roughly 103 miles with about 9000 ft of climbing. This was what I had trained for and I knew if I didn't screw up my nutrition, I could be there in the end, and I was ready to leave it all on the road.
I started off by drinking two full bottles and eating a powerbar before the first feed which is only about 26 miles in. At the feed, I had my right hand man give me two bottles and I took another from neutral feed to ensure I was well stocked. Carrying 3 full bottles up Emory pass may have made me worka little harder but it was worth it. Emory pass is a long climb the takes us to the highest point of the race, it is rated as a category 2 climb and on paper, it looked quite difficult.

Race leader, Fortunato set the pace high right from the start and I just sat in at 3rd wheel. It catered perfectly to my strengths as the pace just stayed high and consistent. No brutal accelerations to make my legs cry, it was just a quick tempo which is where I do best. I felt amazing and before I knew it, I was seeing 2 miles to the summit. I looked back and there was only about 10 riders left. I knew from this point that I was going to have a good ride. We hit the summit and immediately rocketed back down toward the valley. As usual, the lack of cooperation between riders in the front group, led to a large group of riders catching back on. We began the long ride up and over the continental divide with at group of probably 25 riders. The pace was slow and nobody seemed to want to work. One time we got a good rotation going, and then one riders sits in and all of a sudden everyone is lined up behind the guy on the front and noone will pull through. It got to the point where I just decided to save myself for the final climb.

As we got within 10 miles of the final climb up to wild horse mesa, fellow colorado riders Russell harding, and Adam Weissman spoke to me and we attempted a 3 pronged attack on racer leader Fortunato. Each of us took a turn attacking and forcing him to chase. While ultimately none of the moves were successful, we did make the race leader work and it may have contributed to his demise on the climb to come.

As we hit the final climb, I made sure to stay within the first 5 riders. The pace was of course high from the bottom and within half a mile, there were only about 8 riders left in the front group. An attack came from Stephen O' Mara which I watched and then tried to bridge up to a few second later, it was more of a test attack to see who would follow and who would pop. There was little response but the pace was still very high in the group behind and I wasn't sure it was the time to go. I sat back into the group and waited till an attack came from Russel Harding. I gave him a few seconds to get a gap, and when I saw race leader, Fortunato could not mark the move, I quickly bolted from the group and crossed the gap. We were quickly joined by Rio rider, Adam Weissman who was second overall in GC. The three of us rolled turns at full speed and quickly got a gap. Within 3 miles we had caught Stephen and we now had a strong group of four riders. The finish into Pinos Altos is diffcult, much more difficult than it looked on paper. Constant up and down, and really no time to rest. Rarely did I look down at my powermeter and see less than 380 on the screen, it was a serious effort and in the end, a very successful move. As we approached the finish, Stephen attacked and I tried to follow. I lack the quick finish and ultimately ended up second on the stage.

It may have been second, but it was a huge victory for me after the mishap on the first stage. It leapfrogged me up into 8th overall which I had to be content with.

Post Gila
Took a few days off and then did a few shorter rides this week. Along with catching up on work, I also applied from my Cat 1 upgrade and it was approved! My season was basically on track besides the slightly lower GC placing than I had hoped for.

From here, I had planned to head to washington state to race in one of the final Nature Valley Grand Prix Pro ride qualifiers but funding is not going to allow that so it looks like I will have to revise some plans.

I am looking towards the biggers multi-day stage races, such as Mt Hood, and cascade. Most of the larger races require you to be on a registered team so it looks like I may have to wait a year.

After a week of rest, I'm ready to build on the fitness I have and hopefully take it up a level. Still chasing that first since my return! More to come soon!

Thanks so much to my right hand man Merril Anderson, my ever so supportive girlfriend Lindsay, and my food sponsor Chaun Sims! :)