Stage 1
Having arrived at the race a few days early, Kyle and I had
good sleep before the race. Marcus and Kyle were still waiting on their bikes
the morning of the TT but nobody was too stressed. Once we heard the bikes were
on their way, we set out with our driver, Sean, to see the course. It was gradually
rolling, slightly downhill, and had a little bit of a tailwind. After some
lunch and saving a plate for dinner we rode out to the course and rode back and
forth a few times. I was first off for Specialized so I was in a little bit of
a rush to get ready but our director, Craig Roemer, stayed calm and that rubbed
off on me so I wasn’t too nervous. I rode hard, maybe a little too hard at the
start, and finished top twenty. Not great but a flat TT isn’t really my forte.
Jackson Long had the best time for Specailized in 10th while the
Irish version of Tom Boonen aka Ryan Muellen, smashed all comers to take the
win. After a quick ride back to the lodge, it was time to shower, eat, and get
ready for the stage 2.
Stage 2
The start of the race was chilly so I started with too many
clothes, my first mistake of the trip. I quickly warmed up and shed my jacket
but still had too much on. The racing was aggressive but not too crazy leading
into the first KOH. A break of four got up the road but we didn’t get too
concerned about it. The first KOH was full gas and we were caught on the back
foot a little bit but we adapted and I went into the next KOH at the front and
didn’t have any problems. The third and final KOH was where the fireworks
really started and my teammate Marcus attacked over the top and scored some
points. We made it through almost the whole descent before two riders collided
and caused a crash. The yellow jersey went down and I crashed into him. I got
up quickly and surveyed the damage: a chunk of skin was missing from my hand (I
had started with long-fingered gloves which were too hot for the climbs), some
road rash on my hip, and the force of the crash had rolled my tubular tire
partially off. I got a quick wheel change and started riding hard until my team
car came up and paced me back into the race. About the time I got back to the
pack, Marcus, Colin Joyce (Hot Tubes), and a British MaxGear rider had gotten
off the front and were holding about a minute gap. The pack decided they were
gone and waited for the sprint. I finished near the front of the pack and
Marcus was second out of the three-up sprint. This put him in third in GC. I went
over to medical to get patched up then we drove back to the lodge. Upon
returning, we found out two things: 1. The yellow jersey had been fined 5
minutes for jersey pulling and drafting a car. The difference between what he
did and what I did is that he sat down and waited for his team car then made up
four minutes in fifteen minutes. To reach the kind of speed it would take to
get up to the pack that fast meant he would have to be not just motorpacing but
holding onto the car. The five-minute penalty basically put him out of GC for
good but it seems like the right car because riding like that was really
dangerous. 2. My wheel had gone missing. Somehow in the commotion surrounding
the crash it had disappeared. I still don’t have it.
Stage 3
The plan going into stage 3 was for me to get into the early
break to get some KOH points and represent us to take some pressure off of
Marcus. After some furiously fast coastal riding the real attacks started in
the crosswinds. I spent a long time chasing down several attacking riders and
just when I was drifting back I saw Colin and Muellen go up the road with
another guy so I bridged across. I didn’t do too much work because Marcus was
close to Colin on GC and I wasn’t going to drag him up the road. We quickly rode
up to the first break and rolled along. We were holding about a 1:30 to 2:00
advantage over the pack until the last 30k or so when everyone started
attacking each other. I scored some KOM points but I was really suffering from
the efforts I put in to get into the break. I called for a feed and got a
bottle from Craig and told him I was feeling a little crampy. One of the
MaxGear kids attacked a long way out and held it to the line. Close to the
finish, the yellow jersey came out of nowhere, closely followed by the entire
pack. Normally I would have loved the steep uphill finish but I was going
backwards up it and was happy not to lose any serious time. Marcus was up there
in the sprint to defend his GC.
Stage 4
The start of stage 4 was held up about 30 minutes because
the green jersey forgot his shoes. All of the English kids made fun of him for
it though so maybe he learned a lesson. I didn’t feel very good at the start and
by the time we got to the big climb there were a lot of guys up the road.
Specialized teammate Kyle Torres and I jacked it up the climb and I went really
fast on the descent. I overcooked a corner right at the bottom but was able to
slow way down and rolled into a ditch. Kyle saw me and it was pretty
embarrassing but I was fine, just one little scratch on my shin. I got back in
the yellow jersey group quickly and Kyle and I sat back and let the yellow
jersey slay himself to get us back up to the lead group. We caught them and I
was attentive and made the break out of that group with three Hot Tubes rider
and some Irish kids. I thought I won the stage but it turns out I wasn’t
attentive enough as Muellen and Curtis White (Hot Tubes) had slipped up the
road and gained twenty seconds. This was bad news for me because Curtis took
the white jersey, one of my goals for the week. Colin Joyce took the yellow
jersey. I was still happy to get a result and move up on GC though. I got on
podium and got some flowers then gave them away to a girl after much ridicule
and cajoling from Sean and Marcus.
Stage 5
Hot Tubes basically neutralized stage 5 with their seven
guys. Marcus had a problem with his tire at the start but got back in quickly
then avoided a kid crashing himself. A few guys attempted attacks but nothing
was going to go. Due to the slow speed the sprint was extremely sketchy because
all the guys who normally would be dropped or strung out were fighting for
position and generally going crazy. I got pushed over a reflector in the road
and my tire came off. The wheel neutral support had given me before stage 3 was
not properly glued on and considering all the riding I did on it I am really
lucky I didn’t die. Anyways, the tire was hanging onto the edge of the rim so
it was catching in the break and then when it rolled under it would drop my
front wheel an inch. I slowed down and literally jumped off the bucking bike
and almost lost it. I got a wheel change and my director came up to pace me
back and told me not to worry because of the rule that a mechanical in the last
3k means you get the same time as the lead group. But when I got to the finish
at first the officials said the rule only applied within 1k and that I got my
real time. I talked to the neutral mechanics and explained the situation and
they said they would speak to the officials. Back at the lodge I was feeling
frustrated with the situation until my director told me that the officials
considered the circumstances and gave me the same time which I thought was fair
as I wouldn’t want to see anybody else lose time that way.
Stage 6
Going into stage 6 I was 31 seconds out of the white jersey
and 1:04 out of yellow. My teammate Marcus was six seconds ahead of me and
would be trying to get the overall win. The race was pretty relaxed for a while
despite Muellen holding 50-55k solo off the front for about 40 minutes then
blowing up. I don’t know what strategy the Irish team was going for but that
didn’t seem like the best move to waste such a strong guy so early in the race.
Over the top of the first time up Windy Gap, Marcus got away with an Ireland
rider and got about 45 seconds but was gradually reeled in by Hot Tubes in the
crosswind section. Once they were caught Hot Tubes again controlled the race
until the final time up Windy Gap. Coming into the climb I told Marcus I knew I
could climb faster than everyone. I attacked around 1k to go but looked back
and everyone including the white jersey were right there so I sat up a little
and then kicked again to get the stage win. The best part was seeing the looks
on Craig’s and Sean’s faces when they found out I won. I took 13 seconds out of
Curtis so not enough to get the white jersey. In hindsight I should have went
all in at the bottom of the climb to try to take the time but in the race I
made the call I thought was best. I was disappointed to not take white but
Curtis is a quality bike rider and rode a great race and I was very happy to
take the stage win. I didn’t raise my hands at the finish line though because I
still remembered stage 4 and didn’t want to embarrass myself saluting for
anything but a 100% sure win. We stopped over the top of the climb and enjoyed
a slow downhill ride back into Castlebar for the final time and actually got to
look at some of the beautiful scenery.
Back at the lodge the mood was jovial as everyone enjoyed lunch and a
presentation of awards. I was lucky that thanks to my awesome Specailized
teammates I got to go up to podium again to receive the team GC prize!
Following the ceremony, we packed up our bikes, said goodbye to Sean, and
loaded into a van with Hot Tubes to go back to Shannon to fly home. We went to
a pub that night and celebrated a great trip.
Thank you Texas Roadhouse for all of your support and making
this trip possible! Also thanks to Team Specialized for letting me guest ride
and to all of my Knoxville friends who have helped me so much over the years!