Stage 1 was a 75 mile road race with 6500 feet of climbing. The first 40miles were mostly flat — I stayed near the front and just made sure I was in a safe position. I drifted to the back at some point and a break of 10 got off the front and I didn’t even notice it.
The pace became unbearably slow (~16mph on flat ground) and when I heard about the break I began trying to move up. I was completely closed in with 50 riders in front of me so I moved up the right side on the dirt/gravel. No one wanted to work at all so I started doing some yelling and with the help of a Kovarus rider, the chase began. 10-15 riders were pulling through and I was feeling great until we started to hit the climb and I realized I’d done way too much work. I exploded.
I flew off the back never saw the peloton again. I worked with a few people to get home — ended up rolling through 82nd and 23 minutes and 36 seconds back. Ouch. It was definitely a learning experience.
We’ll see how the Time Trial and Crit go today.
