Back To It Soldier.

The mid season break is over and it's back to training and all things cycle related for the last half of the season.  Taking some time out after Nature Valley was perfect.  It was a long time mentally and physically preparing for that race and that takes it's toll on the body.  So my week consisted pretty much of getting back into the swing of things with work after 3 weeks on the road and also spending some time in the social scene.  Kat and I headed up to Boulder to check out the opening of 'Chasing Legends" at the Boulder Theater.  For those of you who haven''t heard of this flick before, check out the trailer below.  It was filmed by the same guys who did "Off Road to Athens" which is simply one of the most awesom-est mountain bike movie / documentary off all time.  Plus the soundtrack is rad too.  So anyway, Chasing Legends got two thumbs up in my book.  Two thumbs down went to the lack of air conditioning in the Boulder Theater which I should rename the sweat box.  Luckily ice cream followed soon after....ahhh the joys of a mid season break!

Next stop was a wedding for our friends Bobby and Kate.  Held downtown in City Park the weather was a little rough but it didn't dampen the occasion at all.  The post ceremony festivities were equally as rocking.

So it's back to it this week and the weather has turned it on big time.  Finally!  Next stop on this adventure will be Cascade Classic starting July 20th and a new one for me.

Success!

It's been a whirlwind but finally I'm back home in Colorado.  Thank you to those who have been patient in checking this blog for more recent updates, but to be honest since the last stage at Stillwater we were straight into the van for a day and a half haul back to Denver.  Nice to be back home and take a deep breath!

Where do I start?  Best probably where I left off from last post and go from there huh!  Okay so the Minneapolis Criterium was a bunch of fun on such a cool downtown course.  This year, the race gave call ups to each GC leader from the teams, which translated to me being able to start second row on pretty much every stage. For the fast and furious crits this was a huge advantage, and actually, the Minneapolis crit I needed it the most after struggling to get my foot clipped in off the line!  Call it nerves or call it whatever I had a pretty good laugh at myself about it wondering just how long I have been doing this bike racing thing!  The race was fast and safe, riding in the top 20 the whole time just staying out of trouble and most importantly not wanting to lose any time from gaps at the finish. Mission accomplished and the legs felt great it was off to bed for the two big decisive stages to come.  Menomonie and Stillwater loomed ahead! (click link for the running joke of the week when talking about this stage)

Menomonie.  I checked out this course the week prior and knew it was going to be a good one for me and the green jersey campaign.  After about 30miles it gets really lumpy with short but steep climbs followed by roller after rollers.  After the last KOM it descends pretty much back into town again to start four, 3 mile finishing circuits each with like 16 corners. Unfortunately the stage wasn't as descisive as I was hoping for coming together in a bunch finish.  Over the last KOM there were some solid attacks coming from Bissell and UHC but nonetheless nothing stuck.  Hats off to Kelly Benefits who rode awesome all day, reeling in the main break during the finish circuits and keeping it together for a clean finish.  I stayed safe for 22nd and watched Type One light it up for the sprint win.  With no time lost or gained it would come down to the last stage in Stillwater for me to take the Best Amateur green jersey.  Hold onto your seats people!

Stillwater is a fantastic stage and a great way to end the week.  The crowds were even bigger than last year and the atmosphere was electric the whole way around the lap.  The circuit is quite simply unreal.  It begins straight up the famous Chilkoot Hill (average 18% climb with pitches over 20%), only to level out slightly then climb some more before rocketing down the back side to do it all again.  To put it in perspective we have only 20 laps of this monster to complete, and last year people lost over 7 minutes in that time.  At this point I was still 19sec back in the Best Amateur Competition sitting in third place and not an impossible feat to do on such a brutal stage.  To be honest there was no real super strategy for this race, simply just to stay up the front and ride as hard as possible as in the end, the hill sorts everyone out regardless.  In the bigger picture, Rory had just a handful of seconds to make up for the yellow jersey, so I figured the longer I could stay with him the better as he will need to launch an attack to take the win.

Once again I was able to get a second row start and was able to avoid some of the initial crashes right off the line.  The rest of the race was a blur really.  I can honestly say I was so focused on just staying in the first 10 wheels the whole race that I hardly thought about how much I was hurting.  With 7 laps to go Rory put it a testing attack (yeah that one hurt now that I think of it!) in which I was able to react to, but it was soon reeled back by the Kelly guys protecting Zwizanski lead.  Coming into the last three laps I had no idea if the green jersey was still in my group, but I was at the front of the bike race which I figured was the best place to be. At this point we were pretty strung out there was really no time to glance back.  Flying into the last lap Rory attacked super hard towards the top of Chillkoot Hill and forced a split, and from this point it was full gas to the finish.  Only Amaran (Jamis) was able to follow him (I was seeing Elvis at this point) and I was left chasing them both with Veilleux (Kelly) and Borrajo (Jamis) sitting on my wheel.  Riding past Kat at the very top of the course for the final time I knew things were looking good in the hopes for taking that green jersey.  She was absolutely going ballistic alongside Brad who was also similarly going off trolley shouting and screaming! 

Turning into the bottom of Chilkoot Hill for the final climb to the line both Veilluex and Borrajo came around me and it was every man for himself.  I clawed my way back to them just before the line to take 4th place, my highest every finish at an NRC!  Next stop was a rapid collapse into a shady patch of  sidewalk grass and feelings of seeing my gels and gatorade again.  Soon enough Kat came running down and the word was I had taken the Best Amateur Jersey! The rest of the boys trickled in and it was an amazing moment to share it with them, and to have achieved a goal I had set for myself essential 12 months ago that day.  The icing on the cake was having such a strong stage result, alongside rocketing up the final GC to finish 12th overall.  To make it even better Rio Grande finished 6th on the Team GC and were the top amatuer sqaud.  Awesome!  Here is a link to some stage footage taken by Velonews.

We did it Josh!  Thanks for all your help mate.

Our host family for the week came out in full support for Team Rio Grande.  Thanks Janet and Mark for opening up your home and supporting the traveling circus that it bike racing! See you next year!

The lads rode awesome all week and kept me hydrated and out of trouble.....fantastic work fellas.

It is an amazing feeling to set a goal, work hard and the to have it pan out just exactly as you'd hoped for.  Winning the best amateur jersey was something I had set for myself ever since doing this race last year.  Without a doubt there is so many great people that I have in my corner that I just can't thank enough for their love, friendship and support for this whole bicycle racing caper that I got into.  Family, friends, team mates, sponsors.....I could write a list a page long of names I have no doubt! Thank you all so much!

Next stop for me now is to take some down time with a mid season break.  The Rio race schedule will see us head back to Oregon mid July for Cascade and then Tour of Utah in August which I can't wait for.  But for now, burritos, ice cream and some slow, scenic mountain biking! And time to perhaps think about some new goals......cheers, cw

In The Eye Of The Storm.

 Photo Credit - Lyne Lamourex

Nature Valley has been rolling for two days now and things have gotten off to a great start.  The first stage time trial went very well for me compared to last year and already I am in a much better position to get my hands onto a green jersey.  This year without being able to use time trial bikes I don't think it made too much of a difference with still the fast guys going fast and doing their thing. Zwizanski of Kelly Benefits currently holds the yellow perhaps after a smart move of putting a standard front end on a time trial frame.

The stage two criterium in downtown St Paul was solid, thanks to a number of crashes and United Healthcare showing us how's it's done in the last 10 laps with an unstoppable lead out train.  We had Phil Mann (guest riding for us from Bahati Foundation) for 18th but I don't think anything was getting around UHC that night..  Luckily I was able to stay safe and out of trouble, but most importantly not lose any time.  In fact I was able to gain some time and now I currently site 3rd in the amateur competition. The rest of the guys had a mixed night with a few crashes and broken parts but everyone will live to fight another day.

Last night was an incredible reminder of how mother nature rules above all else.  So only 18 miles into the Cannon Falls road race the moto ref patrols the peloton with the news that the stage will be stopped due to tornado warnings.  At this point we had Brad and Phil in a break that had rolled off the front and was looking dangerous!  At first it was a little crazy to digest, especially when you have been hanging all day (stage started at 5:00pm) for the race and the mind is fully in race mode.  But sure enough we were stopped and up until that point no doubt the conditions were challenging.  It was very windy, no rain, but certainly the skies were threatening hard and lightening was soon seen in the distance.  So with the bunch stopped there were a few murmurs about that we would race back into town, or perhaps just do the finishing circuits but in the end it was all called off for good.  Most of the guys all rolled back as one big bunch back into Cannon Falls until slowly but surely a few of the lucky ones were able to get picked up in their team cars (me included) to save the legs for another day.  Check out this link.  With around 33 tornadoes touching down across the state and two people killed I'm sure glad they made a smart decision.  I mean, if something did touch down close to us, where would 150 skinny guys in lycra hide on remote roads with nothing around them? After a quick Chipotle stop on the way home luckily our host town of Woodbury wasn't affected and we could sit on the back porch watching the lightening in the distance.  A crazy day for sure!

Friday morning here now and much calmer skies.  The racing will continue tonight at 7.45pm with the Minneapolis Crit then onto the two decisive stages - Menomonie and Stillwater on Sunday.  Should be a ripper!

Ride The Lightning.

Wicked storm last night here in Minneapolis that provided quite the light and sound show.  To bad it came on stage at around 3am this morning!  Things have been great this week to settle in here and get rested before racing next week, alongside catching up with some mates.  The cycling community is such an awesome thing.

Nice Way To Start The Day

Free internet at Portland Airport.  Nice one Oregon, thumbs up in my book.  So Mt Hood finished yesterday in a wet and slippery crit.  Gray put the Rio on the podium for a very fine second place out of a break away that stuck.  Awesome way to finish a pretty good week for us, with another icing on the cake finishing 2nd on Team GC.  As for me I played it pretty cautious and keep all my skin with a bunch finish.  In the wash up it was a 20th GC finish for me which I was pretty happy about, considering I had no GC ambitions for this race, only aggression and stages were the plan, with my 8th place at the Mt Adams stage being the closest I got.

So the circus rolls on and I'm now at the start of a fairly long travel day.  From Portland to Minneapolis (via Denver) to hang for a week before Nature Valley starting on the 16th.  Time to get serious folks..this is it.

In The Hood.

Mt Hood Cycling Classic that is....all the way in Oregon.  Quite the haul out here for this 6 day stage race affair but we made it safe and in one piece.  The 18hr haul out included ticking off a  few new US state visits for being Idaho,Washington and of course Oregon itself!  Forgive me if this post is a little jumbled and/or all over the place.  Currently we are four stages in and I am sitting on my bed after this mornings 18mile TT.  Okay, lets back track a little huh...

First stage was a short 4 mile prologue at the Portland raceway.  Did bring back memories for me from racing good old Tuesday night Sandown back in Oz.  In the pouring rain and cold, my start time was 8.41pm and almost on dark.  Very weird to try and make the body fire up at that time of night and needless to say I didn't smash it up and finished 30 odd seconds down.  Props to the gentle giant of the peloton Parnsey who drilled for a 4th place....great job man.

Stage one was a real ripper.  Short little circuit in a park on roads that were greasy as all hell, covered in moss and other dampness that was ready to steal your wheels at every turn.  Essentially it was a 90min mountain bike race with the first half of the lap steep climbing and a tight 180 turn and the second half mainly descending.  To be honest the legs were well crappy.  I suffered early but was able to hang in there and avoid the carnage.  And I mean carnage.  Guys were all over the road dropping themselves like a sack of spuds and it was very nerve wracking that's for sure.  I mean I saw guys take themselves out just from accelerating hard it was that slippery.  With 10 laps to go I attacked and drew a little move away with a couple of other guys.  We spent the next 8 laps off the front with a solid gap until the United Healthcare boys caught us back with 2 laps to go.  Bummer.  Pretty much I was toasted after that and just hung in the front group for a finish and very happy to have all my teeth at the end of the day.  Krug-dog got up for 6th and the Captain got 10th so it was a much more respective day for the Rio clan for sure.

Giving it the stick...

We faced 170km and around 10,000ft of climbing for Stage Two and it was one I was looking forward to indeed.  Essentially we had two large laps that featured two solid climbs, mostly highway grade stuff so nothing too steep but not that it matters sometimes, you can suffer up anything if you want to!  First loop I felt horrible, literally like my legs were pedaling in squares.  I rode mostly in the front and tried my best to get in the early break which never eventuated with Bissell and UHC being very attentive.  It wasn't until the the backside of the second climb a small trio rolled off and to be honest I wasn't too worries not featuring any big hitters.  So the roads themsleves were awesome.  So picturesque and at times we were on narrower forest service roads that made us really feel as if we were 'back there'...kinda like mtbing really.  Second lap UHC rode tempo and my legs started to wake up feeling a little more in tune.  I needed it too, as on the final climb they drilled it causing a split of 25 guys.  Both Gray and myself made it and were able to have a crack at the flat finish sprint.  8th was the result for me and was pretty stoked to crack a top 10 on a big stage of this race.

And here we are.  TT this morning was solid.  18miles and two major climbs.  Luckily the weather cleared up and it was dry roads.  My ride went okay I think, had a mid race dual with Parnsey who I caught on the climbs but he would crush me on the descents and flats!  Still awaiting results but hopefully I can sneak into the top twenty on GC (currently 24th) we will see.