With the ~4 mile ITT up and around timble trail in the George Washington National Forest the 2014 Tour de Burg has begun! I came in with little to no expectations or true understanding of what I had gotten myself into. I'm still unsure of the gnarly riding that awaits but if day one is any indication no matter how hard it get's it'll be a blast.
There is a certain excitement with any race day. I rolled in jamming to one of my Spotify playlists and got the wonderful opportunity to roll up with Taylor Swift's "22" jamming from my speakers. Peeeeerrrffffect. The camp had some excitement as we began our Party Pace (PP) rollout to the start of the Prologue ITT right near Todd Lake. We got our chip timing (what?!?! there is chip timing at this thing, it keeps getting more serious). Got the deets on the stage from Jeff Cheng, an awesome guy from East Coasters back in Roanoke, 2 miles up and a ripping descent back down. Sounded easy enough.
There is a certain excitement with any race day. I rolled in jamming to one of my Spotify playlists and got the wonderful opportunity to roll up with Taylor Swift's "22" jamming from my speakers. Peeeeerrrffffect. The camp had some excitement as we began our Party Pace (PP) rollout to the start of the Prologue ITT right near Todd Lake. We got our chip timing (what?!?! there is chip timing at this thing, it keeps getting more serious). Got the deets on the stage from Jeff Cheng, an awesome guy from East Coasters back in Roanoke, 2 miles up and a ripping descent back down. Sounded easy enough.
Well it was easy enough, if you define easy plopping yourself right on your threshold a quarter mile in, oh boy. Climb was a climb and I thought I did alright, it just hurt like, well a climb does. Now the descent, that was some good stuff. I love a good steady descent, this one had a little bit of everything and was just awesome. Only issue was the couple sharp 90 degree blind turns, made it through a couple fine but finally succumbed to the trail builders whims. Off into the woods I went. Otherwise just a heck of a fun descent.
The results after the Prologue had Nick Waite a good ways up and the leader in the KOM competition, while Ian Beckner took the lone Super D title of the day. KOM, Super D, and Sprint competition will be points based (5, 4, 3, 2 ,1 points) while the General Classification (GC) will be total time based.
The results after the Prologue had Nick Waite a good ways up and the leader in the KOM competition, while Ian Beckner took the lone Super D title of the day. KOM, Super D, and Sprint competition will be points based (5, 4, 3, 2 ,1 points) while the General Classification (GC) will be total time based.
After the TT is when the cool part of le Tour really takes place. We just hung out and waited for everyone to finish. Cheered them on, gave high fives, and just enjoyed a great mountain bike vibe. It was awesome! I'm so glad to be here, absolutely killer. After just 25 minutes of riding I was loving Harrisonburg and the people that were killing it out there with me. After the cool down we PP up the road to take on the lookout mountain loop, another 2.5 mile climb and long descent to the bottom. This time it was straight racing, a quick go and off we went.
The ride played out uneventful enough with a gravel climb to start wittling the lead group down to two. I had the lead into the single track but with a bit more rolling climbing to go Nick Waite took the lead and said bye bye. All good, I just got ready for a crazy descent. Down the rock invested trail I rolled. Definitely tough and tricky, definitely awesome! In the final 100m of trail there is a super technical rock section, maybe 3-4 guys cleared. I swear it looked super tough when I was riding it but not too bad when I went back. I blame the director (Carp) for screaming at me and playing "ole, ole, ole" on his megaphone. I'm sure it wasn't my lack of technical skills, I mean it looked easy enough!
The ride played out uneventful enough with a gravel climb to start wittling the lead group down to two. I had the lead into the single track but with a bit more rolling climbing to go Nick Waite took the lead and said bye bye. All good, I just got ready for a crazy descent. Down the rock invested trail I rolled. Definitely tough and tricky, definitely awesome! In the final 100m of trail there is a super technical rock section, maybe 3-4 guys cleared. I swear it looked super tough when I was riding it but not too bad when I went back. I blame the director (Carp) for screaming at me and playing "ole, ole, ole" on his megaphone. I'm sure it wasn't my lack of technical skills, I mean it looked easy enough!
With the stage done, the brews got brought out and we kicked it in the creek cheering and hollering as everyone finished up. Awesome. This place and this group is incredible! Plus at the end of the night they fed me. I'd call that darn near perfect. So here's to more great days ripping it up! Get it! Also more pictures below (Check out that dinner!)
The Damage:
Took the default KOM after finishing second to Nick Waite up the climb in the ITT
Sitting 2nd in GC to Nick Waite by 3:30 (well that escalated quickly)and 2:51 up on 3rd.
Been placed in a people box labeled Foof (sp?) since I'm from foofville apparently. Learning new things daily.
Men's Leader: Nick Waite
KOM: Me
Super D: Ian Beckner
Sprint: TBD
Women's Leader: Susan Haywood
Fuller picture of entire GC shake-up and pictures from day 1 below.
Keep those pedals spinning,
BSlow
The Damage:
Took the default KOM after finishing second to Nick Waite up the climb in the ITT
Sitting 2nd in GC to Nick Waite by 3:30 (well that escalated quickly)and 2:51 up on 3rd.
Been placed in a people box labeled Foof (sp?) since I'm from foofville apparently. Learning new things daily.
Men's Leader: Nick Waite
KOM: Me
Super D: Ian Beckner
Sprint: TBD
Women's Leader: Susan Haywood
Fuller picture of entire GC shake-up and pictures from day 1 below.
Keep those pedals spinning,
BSlow
Final bonus shoutout to my sister who is letting me crash at her place, but more for the fact that I came home to these bad boys right after the ride. #racefuel