The sun was shining and the temps were perfect for this really nice stage. The course was good with complete road closure for the 10 mile lap. With Rite Aid, Empire, CCB and Met Life rolling deep this race looked like it was going to be hard and interesting. Empire has the Jersey and I thought it was going to be a big battle between them and the other teams with numbers. The course rolled along some nice roads with a 1 mile climb near the end. We rolled out and the race officials held us back for 4 miles as they took some pics from the lead car, it was pretty nerve racking because you could tell people wanted to race. The race went off in usual fashion with a lot of attacks, nothing to hard but enough to get the legs burning. We hit the climb and I was unsure of what to expect, it was not that hard and I just rode to the front and keep myself near the front incase it was a really hard climb or things split. A break did get away and stayed away all race. Steve hit a big pot hole near the finish which destroyed his ZIPP404, a botched wheel change and unfortunatly steve was not going to see the peloton again, he hung in there and rode it out so he could start stage 3. It would have been awesome to have some teammates racing, it really is a sweet race. The race pretty much went the same for the rest of the laps ( 77 miles in total, 7 laps), nice tempo, go hard for a little, kill it up the climb, descend fast and go hard thru the finish, easy up and recover. The last time up the climb we caught the remainder of the breakaway and it was on, so hard attacks… I made it to the front and went with the attacks but it was a little to much. I did make it to the finish and sprinted. Not sure where I ended up but I was happy with the race.

The ITT was a 15k out and back TT with some rolling terrain, 1 screaming downhill and a nice little leg burner of a climb in the middle on the way back. I did not have the ride I was hoping for, coming up short. My effort was less than stellar and I definitely had a lot left in the tank. Oh well, some days it is easy and “enjoyable” to suffer and others it just sucks and it is easier to just settle in and have a nice easy ride, well today was that day. I raced about 8K out of the 15K. I managed a 22nd placing, the times were pretty close with the exception of the winner who smoked the field. Steve Blackman is the only other HZ rider racing this weekend and he put down a great effort and good time rocking a road bike with some clip-ons that he hated.

This race did not go exactly how we had wished.  It was fast and as a team we rode strong,  but it felt very unorganized today and almost like we were our own worst enemy.  We were in almost every move but nothing was sticking.  The course was fast and pretty fun,  definitely a power course.  We finally had the making of a good lead out but I think I made some last minute decisions that really effected the outcome of the lead out and finish.  I hesitated when I should have drilled it and puked in pain!  I had the gas,  just not the brains today. I guess learning from mistakes is part of the process.