Oregon

The team and I arrived home last night from our first big Stage Race of the year. Some things went well, other not so well. It was the Willamette Race in Eugene Oregon. I've never been to Oregon before, but after this trip I can definitely see myself living there. It is a rainy sort of place, seeing as how the only non-downpour day was an 8minute TT, but other than that the roads are quiet, in great shape, and go for miles on beautiful rolling farmland.

(New team helemts and glasses came in, still waiting on clothing though)

Stage 1 Prologue:

Being an 6km prologue, I couldn't muster up the energy to spend over an hour switching over my bars, so similar to last week I just rolled in with Ksyriums and the cycle as is. After 8 minutes of pain, I rolled in 44th of 76th, which isn't bad, only a minute down from the winner who being a Pro team, has the full meal deal TT set up.

Stage 2: 75km with 2 mountain passes.

This was a busy stage as there were breaks going from the gun, and the pack didn't really seem to know what to do with itself. Again, the weather was bad as it down poured for most of the race. I managed to have a pretty good day when I got into a chase group that broke off from the main pack. At first there were about 10-12 of us(including Chris Sheppard, fresh off his suspension for EPO), but that got wittled down into 4 riders, myself, Dave from the Red Truck Racing team, a Giant rider and some other guy.

We rode hard up the last 30km, and worked pretty well together. It was a mountaintop finish so most of it was big ring climbing which was super fast. The break got up to 50 seconds, but then the Aussies DRILLED it and we got caught in the last km. I was pretty heartbroken to tell you the truth as 50 seconds would have put me super high in the GC. I ended up 18th on that stage after the pack caught us, but only 13 seconds down.

Stage 3: The Crit

This was one of the most technical crits I've ever seen. 1 hour of intensity. 3 manhole covers, lots of paint on the road(makes it super slippery) and a 180degree turn on the 10-12ft wide road. Oh yeah, throw in a downpour during the race as well.

I'll be the first to tell you I'm god awful at crits, and this one was no exception. I held on with the big Yankee Crit riders as long as I could, but couldn't last the full way. I ended up loosing 2 minutes. Which put me 29th in the GC, but still only about 3 minutes down.

(Some of the stages were held at some of Eugene's many Wineries)

Stage 4:

I was very excited for this day. It was my kind of stage, my kind of climbs, and long.

I'm not going to talk about stage 4. It was a mixture of horrible horrible luck and very stupid moves on my part, so stupid it boarders retardation. I DNF'd the day, kicking myself out of the GC. I still rode the 140km of the day, by myself in the rain/hail and over 2 mountain passes, but the whole time I was shaking my head in disbelief.

Our accommodations couldn't be beat. Brett called the race organizer who gave us the number of Paul and Jenny Banister. an older couple from England originally. They both have a Huge passion for cycling and Paul use to race a lot back in the day. Hes a journalist and you'll see his name in mags like Velenews, Maxim UK & Aus, People, and a number of other Euro mags. You couldn't pay for the hospitality they gave us. Every night we were treated to unbelievable meals and we usually stayed up until 9-10 just chatting and drinking too much wine.

Paul also use to race/work with Phil Liggett, they showed me they're wedding photo, and there was Phil, all of about 30 years old.

Along with our stay Paul introduced us to Brazin' Bob from Co-Motion cycles. Which is a handbuilt frame company in Eugene(more on that later). The Willamette trip was worth it just to meet such great people.

(Our cat 1,2 contigent for the weekend)

I'm loving the new team. Its set up a lot like the framilier Dalvay By the Sea Team. I get along great with all the guys, and no-one seems to have a big head on their shoulders. Most of the guys have been around the block in the cycling world, and I find I ask them(especially Scott) about 300 questions a day.

(Mr Scott, who is my landlord, half coach, friend, racing buddy, and also a killer rider. He got a top 15 in the GC this weekend. Also a track World Champ. Scott got his first racing licence in '87, so he knows his stuff)

So that's it for last weekend. The legendary Harris Roubaix race is this Sunday(see April posts of last year) and we'll see how that goes. This roadie life is still very new to me. I find I'm getting a little more comfortable in the pack, and figuring it out little by little day by day. As last weekend goes to show, I still have to get my shit together a little bit more.