downer

Well that was terrible. I basically got kicked in the face. The worst is that the race started how I predicted it would. There were about 120 or something riders and it started off really fast. I didnt get a warmup and right off the gun I was fighting for position as we went though this small town. Its bizzare to have to dodge traffic furniture with 120 other guys fighting it out.

The packs here are pretty aggressive and the wind played a huge factor today. With stroms all accross Europe we had about 80km/h gusts, and when the pack rolled around a corner to start the first climb out of town I was blasted by the wind. It was horrible posioning on my part. I tried to hide as best I could but I bascially went back-words. The climb then started with me directly in the wind and that was it really. With no warm-up, a ton of attacks, and bad positioning I was popped out the back. I was kind of in shock to tell you the truth..everything happened so fast.

It was a really shitty way to start the year and was a lot like getting thrown into the cauldron on full boil. I am far from getting my racing legs, but the poor positioning is what killed me. Racing in France is not like racing in the US or Canada. You simply cant make mistakes like that, especially with the wind playing such a factor.