Tour of PA Stage 1

Hi Folks,
I lacked time, energy, and internet last week. I wrote the updates each day, but never had a chance to post them, so I'll put one up here each day in the hopes that people will read them. Looking back, I can see how I started the race with low expectations coming off a week of sickness with no training, and started to figure things out and come around to some results.

I'm pretty ripped up and tired now, so I'm taking my first real break of the year. Three days off the bike after 6 months in the racing trenches.

Here's the day 1 update:

Stage 1a: This stage was not a prologue, as the race organizers made very clear. It sure felt like one, though. Just over 3k long, a few turns, and no TT bikes. The course was pretty cool, but it didn’t inspire me not to ride like shit. The course didn’t suit me at all, but my placing was pretty bad even given that.

Stage 1b was a crit pretty much on the TT course. There were a couple scary sharp turns, and some Euros that didn’t have much crit experience. One guy with an accent asked my teammate “Is this kamikaze racing what you always have in America?” Yeah, pretty much...

With 10 laps to go, I attacked with one other rider. We got a decent gap but came back for laps later. Free laps ended with three to go, which was a relief, because I got a front flat with 5. I didn’t know I had a flat until I almost ate it hard two turns in a row, but I got back in safely and finished with the group. Neutral support even gave me a free tube after the race. Oh yeah, Eric Schildge got 7^th.