With the Gila Tour in New Mexico at the end of April, it is becoming increasingly important for me to have good legs as my big goal of the year approaches. One of the worst things that can happen to an athlete nearing a fitness peak is getting sick. So of course as I've been riding really well lately, along comes a cold
I woke up on Tuesday morning with a tingle in my throat that went away by the time I ate breakfast. Later that afternoon I had a 7 mile local time trial down in Reno. Nate and I drove down from Truckee and by the time we started warming up in Reno, it was snowing. Half way through the TT it felt like my whole body shutdown, I went from 100% effort to 50% effort for the last few miles. When I finished I couldn't stop shaking and felt like I was going to pass out. Nate thought it might have been the can of Red Bull I drank beforehand – I was hoping he was right. I woke up the next morning with a full blown nasty cold, dripping snot, swollen throat and extremely achy body. I now had exactly 72 hours to get well in order to perform at Madera.
Fast forward to Saturday morning at Madera. Our first stage was a 10 mile pancake flat Time Trial at 11am, and at 7am that morning I was still really sick. We arrived 3 hours early at the course, and I laid down on a thermarest in the middle of an almond field hoping to somehow meditate the cold out of my body. 2 hours of positive thoughts, deep breathing and napping later – I arose in a somewhat less-sick state and started my warm-up. The warm-up went ok, but I still felt off. As I started my TT I had no idea what to expect, but I managed to pull off a decent time of 24:24 for 25th place.
Later that afternoon was our 60 minute crit featuring a simple 4 turn course and 93 degree heat. By this time I was feeling even better and was able to ride at the front the entire race including a suicide solo break for a few laps while Nate blocked the field. I haven't had the legs to ride and control a race yet this entire season, so it felt great to be back up there. The crit came down to a bunch sprint at the end, poor positioning led me to 10th place.
The next day we had the final stage of a 68 mile road race in 95 degree weather. Once again I woke up super sick, blowing out yellow snot and hacking up dark phlegm. The TT from the previous day basically decided the final overall GC and Nate or I didn't have any hope of breaking beyond the top 20. So the goal now became to win the final stage and make my legs hurt. Once again I rode at the front of the race the entire day, sometimes taking several mile long pulls through the tough sections to try and dislodge stragglers from the pack. I reeled in several attacks but never made any of my own. I knew the race would come down to a bunch sprint. Everything was looking great, I felt OK and was up front nearing the finish line when all-of-a-sudden my rear shifter lever slipped down my handlebars. This locked up my rear brake and subsequently my rear wheel. I basically came to a complete stop and shot straight out of the back of the pack in the last half-mile before the finish. BAM, race over. It took 10 seconds to fix, but by then the pack was riding at 30+ mph towards the finish and there was no way I could close that gap in time. Not only did I miss the sprint, but I finished about a minute down on the clock, which probably moved me to almost last place on the final GC.
The next morning Nate and I went out and rode 70 miles with 10,000 feet of climbing in Foresthill to put the final touches on our stage race training. We were wrecked at the end of it, but now all I have to do is sit back and watch my legs grow. Next stop is Sea Otter circuit and road race and then we are off to rape a bunch of Coloradoans and at the Gila.
Article was last edited on Wednesday, August 6th, 2008 @ 3:19 PM
