Tour of the Gila, Stages 1 & 2

It is windy here and it sucks. Otherwise we're having fun.

Stage one yesterday was a 65 mile road race, with 2 Cat 3 climbs, and about 4200' of climbing. The first occurs right at the start, from mile 5 to mile 10. It really is the crux, because if you can get over that with the pack, you can cruise for the next 40 miles. Needless to say, we all got dropped at various points along the way. Still, there are enough other riders that you usually can form groups and make headway.

Doug was the first Ciclista to get dropped, but managed to power through after the descent and catch and work with a few others. The last 15 miles include another 5 mile long Cat 3 climb and 10 miles of rollers into a nasty headwind - gusts to 45 mph!! So if you're not with a group, it really sucks.

I was the next to pop off the back, but was doing much better than last year. After the descent I started reeling in other riders, until we had a nice group of 10 to form a fast pace line. With a cross/tail wind, we were making 30 mph. 4 of us dropped the others on the climb and started passing others on the rollers. A group of six of us worked that last few rollers togther and finished about 20 mins down. That was about 15 mins better than last year for me.

Lance and EB (from Durango Wheel Club) were the last to get dropped on the first climb. Unfortunataely there weren't many others between them and the pack, and while they were able to work with a few, it was just the two of them for much of the rest of the race. They finished about 17 mins down.

As far as placing, out of 85 riders, this is about right:
EB - 43
Lance - 45
Michael - 53
Doug - 65

Todays Stage: 16.2 mile Time Trial with about 1300' of climbing. This was tough, and mostly because of the wind. It was hard for me to get any kind of rhythm going. Doug and I each passed one rider in front of us, but were in turn passed by 4 others. Lance and EB both fared much better, despite each dropping a chain! Results haven't been posted yet, so we'll have to wait and see.

Time for an ice bath, my legs are sore!