ToC- Stage 7 & Home, Feb 27,'06
Stage 7 & Home- Los Angeles, CA – Seattle, WA
February 27, 2006
Sometimes finishing a race without crashing is a little too much to ask- at least this year it is. But look at the bright side; at least I didn’t crash twice… Anyway, here’s how it went down. On the first lap during the fastest section of the course (40mph) a dozen other guys & I hit a deep “gouge” in the road that sent us sprawling across the road. I ended up getting a new spare bike, new shoe and having to motor pace back up to the peloton at an extraordinarily uncomfortable speed considering my situation. But in the grand scheme of things, the crash had little impact on my overall position in the race. With, perhaps, a little loss of confidence I managed to retain the “best young rider” jersey and finish the biggest race I’ve ever done.
Now that I’ve got a while before my next big race, I’ve figured out what my weaknesses are when competing against the euro racing style. The crux of which is my power output. Basically, I was having trouble covering attacks on the hills and closing gaps on the flats. If I can increase my power then I should be able to compete for GC… hopefully.
Aside from finishing the race, it’s great to finally be back home. As bad as the weather may be, I think I’ll have little trouble readjusting.
February 27, 2006
Sometimes finishing a race without crashing is a little too much to ask- at least this year it is. But look at the bright side; at least I didn’t crash twice… Anyway, here’s how it went down. On the first lap during the fastest section of the course (40mph) a dozen other guys & I hit a deep “gouge” in the road that sent us sprawling across the road. I ended up getting a new spare bike, new shoe and having to motor pace back up to the peloton at an extraordinarily uncomfortable speed considering my situation. But in the grand scheme of things, the crash had little impact on my overall position in the race. With, perhaps, a little loss of confidence I managed to retain the “best young rider” jersey and finish the biggest race I’ve ever done.
Now that I’ve got a while before my next big race, I’ve figured out what my weaknesses are when competing against the euro racing style. The crux of which is my power output. Basically, I was having trouble covering attacks on the hills and closing gaps on the flats. If I can increase my power then I should be able to compete for GC… hopefully.
Aside from finishing the race, it’s great to finally be back home. As bad as the weather may be, I think I’ll have little trouble readjusting.
posted by Tom Peterson @ 10:12 PM
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