Day 2, Some Good Climbing

Posted by mattcrane | Filed under Uncategorized

Alright, two days of wet cold racing out of the way, by the looks of it one more to go, and then maybe some sunshine, but no hopes or promises…

The conditions here at the AToC have indeed been soggy, but the racing has been anything but. Given the talent present in the field, that being the vast majority of cycling’s elite; I am glad to simply be in the mix and able to look for oportunities against the guys setting off the inferno of pain in my quads each day.

Those opportunities come for me largely in the form of breakaways, but my chances for getting in one were hampered today by a slew of mechanical troubles before the neutral section had even finished. Luckily, they started after we crossed the Golden Gate Bridge, so I was able to at least enjoy that before my woes commenced. After a few bike changes to keep me rolling-however uncomfortably on a bike not setup for
me- I was able to get back on my newly repaired steed following some handy rooftop repairs at the hands of Niel the mechanic.

However, the break had rolled by the time I rejoined the pack at km 30, so I focused on eating a lot, staying out of trouble, and positioning myself properly for the day’s two climbs, a cat 2 at km 75 and a cat 3 right before a 20km descent to the line, making the day a virtual mountaintop finish.

There was the typical scrum for the front coming into the base of the final climb, and I threaded the needle nicely to get myself in the top 20, right behind non other than Mr. Armstrong himself.

Here things get hazy, as it was ballastic throwdown mode from pitch one. I dug deep and reached for progressively higher gears and willed myself as hard as possile to stay in the best contention possible. Teammate Will “The Goose” Routley and I more or less stuck together in our own worlds of suffering, and found ourselves as the final debris of the comet so to speak. We rolled in behind the almost entirely pro tour front selection about 5 minutes down for inconsequential placings in the 40’s, but worth being happy about nontheless.

So the legs are good, and so far as I can control it, so is the luck. Lots of racing left, and plenty of breakaways to look for. Read missingsaddle and find out more about how it goes!

Time for bed!
Crane

Permalink | February 16th, 2009

7 Responses to “Day 2, Some Good Climbing”

  1. Henry D Says:
    February 18th, 2009 at 8:52 am

    ROCK ON MATT!!!!!!!!! :)

  2. Crazy Fan in a Cow Hat Says:
    February 18th, 2009 at 4:27 pm

    Ah! It was so fun watching you trying to make the break stick today (Stage 4), mixing it up with the likes of O’Grady. How awesome is that? Best of all, Mr. Andreu kept referring to you as a strong man. HOT!

  3. Mouhamed Says:
    February 19th, 2009 at 9:39 am

    really proud of you and nick you guys race very well on stage 4

  4. Mouhamed Says:
    February 19th, 2009 at 12:17 pm

    Ok I wish the rabobank man get dropped on the break…. he is a liability

  5. Mouhamed Says:
    February 19th, 2009 at 4:51 pm

    ok the stage is not over yet but if they dont give you the MAR jersey i will be piss great job ….

  6. JGrout Says:
    February 20th, 2009 at 11:18 am

    OGB, you’re making my week. Seriously.

    Good riding & best of luck

  7. Crane Says:
    February 20th, 2009 at 5:30 pm

    Thanks for the love everyone! Two days left, and feeling good, or as good as I can after some really hard days! Check back tomorrow, and there should be a video of my time trial up soon

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