Land of Enchantment

I promised I would post so here I am. I wish I knew how to place the pictures better but so be it. Another lesson I need get from 16 yr old Avery Wilson......

So today was stage 1 at the Tour of the Gila, for the pro race it is 94 miles from Silver City to Mogollon. The pic above of the terrain says how many houses we saw in 94 miles (that is correct people from MD and NVA there are no houses in the pic). We are in the wild west. The cat 2 race, which Russ Brown and Kevin Gottlieb are racing, also did the 94 miles. I will get some pics of them tomorrow but when they made the turn into the last climb Kevin was in the 2nd group, the front group was only 5 riders - so I am thinking Kevin finished top 10 today, and coulda been 6th. Maybe higher if someone got popped from the front group. Russ was tucked safely in the field, which for today was good coz it got windy as all hell.

Blair and Nate experienced the infamous gutter action of a pro peloton. My NRC racing days are long over, but man the memories of strong cross winds while racing Hewlett Packard years ago are crystal clear. Just single file and it all depends on where you are in the field, how many people blow up single file in front of you and each time someone does blow it is HELL to close the gap. There was a 9' gap which came down to 7'20" the 2nd time through the feedzone (@ 42 miles in) but there was still 52 miles left to race..... I was thinking to myself the chase is going to start and all havoc is going to ensue. Perfect timing for the wind to pick up, which it did. At this point, when the boys decide to chase, you better be sitting pretty. Else it is almost a superhuman effort one must possess not to get knocked out of the front echelon. Blair made it to the front group but cost him some precious fuel, and then he settled into a group behind the front group. Nate was bit far back when the hammer went down - and I am sure Nate learned alot today. This is PRO racing. You rarely get a 2nd chance to correct one single error in your racing. Any time the pace eases up, you get forward. Never stop moving forward. Not to be on the front all day, but just trying to stay in the top 30.

This is why riders should get outta mabra and stick their teeth in this racing - it is way different. To stay in the top 30 when EVERYone wants to be top 30 in the entire field, is hard. Each level gets harder than the last one and you never stop improving. Good day, everyone finished within the time cut, are chilling and Pierre is going to start massages soon.

Tomorrow the race goes from Bayard to Bayard - 80 mile RR with about 5800' of climbing. Some beautiful terrain but some very narrow roads, very tough descents, and lotta UP. Likely be windy again but some of it will be shaded from the winds.

Levi won, Lance was in the race but I didn't see him. Well done KBS