Tour of Arkansas

The Tour of Arkansas was our first big Pro 1/2 Stage race. We got to race the likes of Jelly Belly, Health Net and Type Time 1 among others. It was a really hard race too, with 4 stages combining to 350 miles and 23,000 feet of climbing. The second stage finished on Mount Nebo, a brutal 3 mile climb with an average gradient of 18%; the third stage finished with a 10 mile climb up Mount Magazine, so we got to do some serious climbing for a change.

The first stage on Thursday was a 100 mile stage with a lot of “little” climbs; didn’t sound too bad but there were no real flat sections at all. The pro teams set a real hard tempo over the first 40 miles to get the pack as small as possible and it turned out that only about 25 guys made it in with the first group. The second group (about 60) came in about 10 minutes later… I managed to make it over with the first group, even though I had to dig really deep to stay in. It was probably one of hardest races to date but I still managed to come in top 10 in the sprint. I was really happy with the race but the others from the team just made the time cut, so that was close.

Friday’s stage ended on Mount Nebo after 97 miles, with two smaller climbs along the way. The plan was to sit in until the end and then just survive. Unfortunately, I got a flat only about 20 miles in just 5 miles before the first climb. Peter gave me his wheel and with the help of Corey, Peter and Will I made it back into the pack safely before we hit the foot of the climb. We all made it over the first climb but Peter got more mechanical problems and had to stop to fix it, which cost him dearly. He couldn’t catch on to the group after that and had to ride the rest of the stage pretty much by himself. The other two guys made it safely thought the stage with me and led me into the final climb. It was a hard fight for position and I didn’t get in as far to the front as I would have liked but still within the top 15 to 20. It was a little too far back to hang with the lead guys but I settled into a good rhythm and thanks to Philips awesome costume and support managed to drag myself over the line in seventh. So, suddenly, I was sitting in seventh overall…

On Saturday we started and finished on top of Mount Magazine. Again, the plan was to sit and be conservative. It was a rather boring stage until, guess what, I got another flat… So, poor Peter had to sacrifice his wheel again and drag me back into the pack. The team did an outstanding job at pulling me back in. After that we just sat and waited for the final climb. Towards the end of the stage we started to fight for position a bit too early and wasted some energy doing so. I tried to get the guys to take it easy but my radio decided to quit on me. I didn’t notice it at first and just sat there and wondered why no one was reacting to what I said… In the end, I could still hear them and Nathan but they couldn’t hear me. Anyways, all this fighting for position prevented us from riding to the foot of Magazine in the position we wanted. This wasn’t too big of a problem, though, as the pack didn’t go too hard in the first part of the climb. The tempo picked up a little later though and a couple of attacks got our lead group down to about 10 guys. Nathan was constantly giving me updates on gaps but I couldn’t answer him though the radio so we had to rely on hand signals; that must have looked pretty funny for the guys around me, me starting to wave my hand for apparently no reason…

Anyways, the attacks started flying within the last km and when Pipp went, I knew I had to follow but I was boxed in. So I had to wait a little and followed the next best wheel. He didn’t get away far but managed to stay off by a few seconds. I still managed to come in third of the day in the sprint. It was really nice to be on the podium after a stage like this, especially beating guys like Lang and Chadwick. Also, it was a great birthday present!

Needless to say, moral in the team was great after stage three, with a podium and seventh in GC. So for Sunday we only had to sit in and finish with the pack in the crit. At least that was the plan. Unfortunately, this didn’t work out too well. It was pretty fast from the gun after a break went off the front. The four guys nearly lapped the pack and that would have cost us out GC position. We fought hard just to make it to the front of the pack but lost Corey in the process. Will had to abandon a little later due to mechanicals and Peter got taken out and went down hard. I managed to fight my way to the front only to get told by the Team Type 1 guys that they didn’t want any help and wouldn’t let me work with them. So all the work for nothing?! Well, Team Type 1 managed to keep the break in check and they didn’t lap the field. After expanding so much energy to make my way to the front, Nathan told me just to sit and recover. That was hard enough because we were more or less single file and people tried to move up regardless so I had to fight a lot for wheels. I was really looking forward for the race to end but as I should find out the hard way the day wasn’t over yet. The pit closed with seven laps to go (i.e. no more free laps) and things weren’t looking too bad with four to go: The break was only 20 seconds off the front, they were riding an acceptable tempo and I was sitting safely in the middle of the pack. And then it happened: FLAT! Can you believe that? Third flat in as many days and of cause it had to happen when the pit was already closed! Well, I stopped regardless and got a new wheel (but no free lap) and got back out there to chase like mad to not completely loose my position in GC. The fact that the officials tried to pull me didn’t help at all but Nathan got to them before they could pull me off the bike. I ended up chasing like mad for the reminder of the race and pulling myself inside out to not let all the hard work from the last couple of days go to waste. It wasn’t enough to keep my spot in GC but I somehow managed to salvage tenth.

All in all, it was a great experience even though the weekend ended on a somewhat bitter note. Regardless, it was interesting racing with all those pros and getting to do some real climbs for a change. Also, Corey, Will and Peter did an awesome job throughout the week to look after me. Nathan and Lee made sure we didn’t have to worry about anything except; big thanks to all of them at this point.

Now, hopefully, we will come out of those two weeks of racing with good legs for Memorial Weekend; but everyone is very motivated and ready to go. So it should fun finally racing back in Texas!