Gila was a bit of a learning experience and one race where the results would never show the progress I have made. As I have written earlier on.
Heading East and losing altitude with 2 days of 11hr drives we set up in Arkansas for Joe Martin Stage Race. A leafy green Uni town. The polar opposite of anything I have been around for 2months(desert). Arkansas was alot like New Zealand and during our first ride it seemed everyone was in a great happy mood from the lush surroundings and itching to race another tour.
This was also my first race away from any sorts of altitude in a long time so it was going to be interesting to see how I managed. Seems I managed alright and felt as if the legs were coming back. I wasn't "creeping" as much as previously alluded to in the report on Gila.
Joe Martin was a great tour and exactly what I needed. It had two long days, 170km and 180km stages. Its not often I race that distance let alone 2days in a row.
Luckily after Joe Martin we stayed in town for several days getting to have a bit of a look around and recover. There was no real reason to shoot of to St Louis in a hurry as the riding in down town wasn't perfect.
The shorter trip of our drives, 6hrs, we rocked up to Race accommodation. The Race organisers had put us in one flash wee hotel which seemed like a great way to round out 3weeks on the road. Although I drew the short straw and had to sleep on the couch.
St Louis Tour De Grove was made up of 3 evening crits. One of which was raced at 945pm! It was one late night. Another of the crits was a NRC (national race calendar) race, and they are pretty much a big deal over here. An aggressive start to the race from the Pureblack racing boys ended up putting Mike and Louie up the road in the winning break. The skinny guy Mike sprinted to the Win in the cold and rain. This is one of the teams biggest wins!!
Back home in Boulder and all it seems to do is rain and feel very cold. It isnt the greatest training weather and today I froze. Luckily its a bit of a recovery week as I build up to the Mt Hood Classic. The first race I did last year when I got here. Should be fun as most of the tour has been changed with new stages.
Over and Out.
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