My VOS Experience

Sorry this is so late. I'm still trying to learn this whole blog thing. VOS was definitely a great time! I learned a lot and the competition was very high. With a lot of out-of-state teams from CA, CO, NM, NV, and even Mexico. They broke the field of 5's into two groups a 5a and 5b. Steve and I were on the 5b squad and at least they keep the teams together. The time trial was fun, and I have to thank Travis for loaning me a trial bike....it definitely helped! I wish I would have had more time on it before I raced it. I just put the hammer down and went as hard as I could. I had a little problem with the arrow bar twisting on me, but overall I finished in 17th with a time of 37:17. On the road race, it was actually quite slow with the team with the leader's jersey setting on the front at a slow pace. The one hill in the 2 1/2 lap course was the only place the pace really got fast. The 2nd time around, a small group of about 12 of us got over the top with about a 30 second gap. I tried to get that group motivated and see if we could check out...did a hard pull and couple others did too, and then the leader's group once again set on the front and let the gap close. I guess that's racing! I finished again in the 17th spot, but did put time on 2 of my competitors when a gap formed at the finish, moving me up to 15th in GC. The crit was extremely fun and scary! The streets were tight, turned sharp, and not a lot of room to move. It really puts you on the edge for the whole race. Stayed well in the pack trying to keep toward the front. On the last lap, even though I didn't realize it, having not heard the bell due to the intense focus of just trying to keep from crashing. As we came around the last corner, I was up toward the front of the pack, when I started to hear the clunking of gears and realizing the sprint was just about to happen, so I grabbed a few gears of my own, jumped out of the saddle, and gave everything I had! I was shouldered by another competitor, but just continued to push through. I was a long sprint with about 400-500 yards to the finish, and ended up finishing 11th. In the overall I kept my spot at 15th in the GC. I definitely learned a lot and it was a great experience!! I think everyone should experience on of these stage races, because they are a lot of fun.