Tour d'Altoona - 2004

At 7pm and in the pouring rain, we set off at 1min intervals to ride the point to point individual time trial. It was a gradual uphill course and after travelling from Vancouver yesterday my legs felt heavy and I had trouble opened it up. I know I have the ability to time trial well and in time I know I will get my head around the art of time trialing. Both Gen and Willy (Rona) rode well, finishing 4th and 5th, only 15sec or so behind the race leader, Lynn Bessette (Quark). Rona is leading the team competition over Quark by 2 seconds, determined by accumulating the times of the fastest 3 riders from each team for each stage.

Stage-1

Johnstown Road Race

73 miles (120km)

The Johnstown road race consisted of 3 x 40km loops with many tight and technical corners through the Johnstown area. Again it was pouring with rain and with 4 sets of railway crossings each lap I stayed up the front where it was safe. There were dozens of crashes with team mate Katheryn going down hard. She broke off her left STI lever which left her stuck in the big ring. Luckily it was a flattish day and she didn't bother with a bike change. My job was to help Andrea out in her quest for the sprint jersey and she finished the day, one point behind Tina Pic (Genesis). With bonus seconds available to the top three finishers, I helped bring Gen to the front for the bunch kick but she finished 4th, missing out on a few vital seconds. Bessette (Quark) finished 3rd, extending her lead to 25 seconds while Rona continued to lead the team competition which is excludes bonus seconds from its calculation.

Stage-2

Johnstown to Altoona

98 miles (158km)

Finally we had a day without rain. Today's long 100 mile stage had a number of climbs and also started with a 10% 5km climb within 1km of the start. My legs felt nasty and I suffered like a dog all day. Thankfully I had requested a 12x27 cassette and spent a great part of the day spinning my way up the climbs in my little gears and hoping that my legs would 'come good'. There was a steady 7km climb at the 100km mark where Andrea and I both lost contact with the mountain goat climbers. However, once over the top, we worked hard for 15km and caught the front group with 15km to go. We caught them just before the final KOM which was on a 1km slippery gravel road. The peloton accelerated up this climb and with shattered legs and poor gravel skills I was soon in the caravan and then out the back. Andrea chased back on to finish 6th while I rolled in 1min 30sec down. Andrea retains her 2nd place in the sprint jersey, whilst Willy and Gen remained in 4th and 5th, respectively in GC and also in 2nd and 3rd in the KOM competition. Rona continues to lead the team competition over Quark by 2 seconds.

Stage-3

Hollidaysburg Circuit Race

60 miles (93km)

After yesterday's 100 mile stage, many riders were looking a little weary but I tend to feel stronger as the tour develops and woke up feeling ready to race hard. Today's stage was 3 loops of a 31km undulating course with one KOM only 2km from the start/finish. There were also sprint points available on all three laps at the start/finish. This made it really tough to bring Andrea to the front and lead her out for the sprints after the KOM. Gen and Willy picked up vital KOM points today, after Katherine, Katrina and I worked hard to lead them out. On lap 1, I also led Andrea out where she took 2nd to Pic (Genesis) in the intermediate sprint. On lap 2, I did the first part of the KOM lead out and then drifted back to find Andrea. The peloton shattered over the KOM, and Andrea and I were chasing through the caravan as we crossed the start/finish line, with no sprint points earned on this lap. It was really humid today so I did a few trips back to our team car for water bottles, shoving 6 or so bottles down the back of my jersey and bringing them back to my team mates. Towards the end of the final lap, I worked hard to drive the pace and keep Gen and Willy out of trouble. Near the top of the climb, Bessette (Quark) attacked and was quickly joined by Lyn Gaggioli (Tmobile) and Gen (Rona). They held on to a 10 second lead with Gen winning the stage in a strong uphill sprint. There was no change to the top overall GC contenders or the team's competition.

Stage-4

Martinsburg Circuit Race

70 miles (123km)

With everyone thinking about tomorrow's most difficult mountain stage, most riders were happy to conserve today with the stage being largely uneventful. We were content to let a Verizon Wireless rider dangle a few minutes up the road but she was caught with 5km to go when Genesis decided they wanted the bonus seconds and stage win. About half way through today's race, a media motorbike bumped me hard as he rode up the side of the peloton. I held it up but was angry that he had nearly caused a crash and radioed back to Andre to make sure the officials reprimanded him. Only moments later we were neutralised and I took the opportunity to stop for a natural break. As I rejoined the peloton, a New Zealand rider with blood all over her from an earlier crash, swerved suddenly and without time to react, I ended up on the ground. Admitting to some profanity in her general direction, I put my chain back on, checked my wheels and brakes and then rejoined the peloton, feeling sore down my left side. The final 5km were technical and dangerous. I ended up getting bumped off the road into the gravel, held it up, but lost my position. I think the combination of today's incidents unnerved me and I didn't ride as aggressively as I should have. Our objective was to help Gen earn herself some bonus seconds but she finished 4th and missing out but retained her 5th position in GC. After the race, our director Andre, nicknamed me - Killer, although I am not sure of the exact reason. The team has since adopted this new name for me and it was used for the remainder of the stage race.

Stage-5

Altoona - Blue Knob Road Race

94 miles (150km)

In yesterday's fall, I must have hit the ground awkwardly because although our soigneur massaged the area well, I woke up feeling stiff and sore in my lower back and gluteal area. For me, today's race comprised of two parts - the 80km undulating section before the Blue Knob climb and then the remaining 70km which included 3 KOM's. Today, I rode my Colnago with deep rimmed carbon wheels which felt amazingly stiff but also super light. Both Andrea and I had instructions to ride aggressively and get into a break that excluded any GC contenders. Our attacks started early but Team Quark were attentive in shutting everything down and only allowed a solo non-threatening Victory rider to dangle off the front. Whilst our aggressive riding was designed to soften up the Quark workers, it also completely softened up Andrea and I. At the base of Blue Knob, our job was done and we joined 20 riders for the remaining 70km. At the top of Blue Knob, the Canadians were showing their strength with Lyn Bessette and Manon Jutras (Quark), Sue Palmer-Komar (Genesis) and Willy (Rona) cresting the ski resort summit with a 1 minute lead. Behind this front group, there were about 12 riders with Rona, Genesis and Quark represented. Rona's attempts to bridge Gen across to the Canadians was unsuccessful and the 4 riders stayed away to the finish. Willy finished 3rd in the stage, which moved her into 3rd in GC. Gen and Katrina will start tomorrow's stage in 6th and 10th, respectively. Unfortunately in the team competition as we only had one rider in the break, we slipped to second place, behind Quark. I found it amusing that Andrea and I both improved our own GC position, although this was obviously not a team objective of ours. My lower back was really aggravated from my fall and a day of attacking and climbing. I had trouble getting off my bike after the stage and hoped a massage and anti-inflammatories would ease the pain and get me through the final stage.

Stage-6

Altoona Criterium

30 Laps (50km)

I had a restless night from the pain in my back, woke up feeling tired all over and was looking forward to my mid season break next week. With the humid temperature hovering around 95F (30C) it was going to be a tough hour of racing. We rode 20km from our host family to the race as our warm up. Tina Pic (Genesis) was only 10 seconds behind Gen in the overall and with intermediate bonus seconds totally more than 1 minute, we had a tough job trying to prevent Pic from earning these bonus seconds. In one of the bonus time laps, Katrina crashed hard into the hay bales, with Pic somersaulting over the top of her in spectacular fashion. I wasn't sure if this was Katrina's plan to prevent Pic from earning the bonus seconds, but it worked, as I dodged past the strewn bodies and took the points. Unfortunately for us, Pic and her Genesis team rode strongly and did enough to move Pic ahead of Gen in the overall. Willy retained her spot on the podium with her overall 3rd place whilst in the team competition, Team Rona were runners up to Team Quark. And now I am rest and training at the Falks in Madison, Wisconsin which has become my base for the remainder of the season. Madison is a wonderful training area that boasts dozens of quiet country roads and a perfect variety of terrain to suit my training requirements. After racing 800km in Pennsylvania I enjoying a week off, celebrated my birthday and am now refocused for my final stage race of the season which starts in Colorado next week.