Yesterday kicked off the 08 season with the uphill time trial as the first stage of the San Dimas stage race.  It was a tough climb, 3.8 miles of uphill. I felt about average and was a bit disappointed as I have been feeling pretty descent in my training.  Training isn’t racing though and  you can never tell how you are going to go despite good preparation until you are out there slugging it out. Both Neil Shirley and Trent Wilson are within 10 seconds or so of the lead. Not bad at all and that gives us some good cards to play today. 

The race is still up for grabs as the top 20 guys are all within 20 seconds.  What will happen today? Who knows, I will be trying to get into a move that will stick up the road, most likely it will come down to the last couple laps of the 12 on the last climb where the race is won.  All you can do is look for opportunities to get up the road, stay out of trouble and help the teammates out throughout the day.  The field is stacked and there are allot of guys on good form.

 I will try to throw up a quick update later with how the day went, catch ya!

I disappeared off the radar for a few weeks. Allot of things have happened and I will try to sum it up in a quick post.

I left off with heading to Yuma for a local Arizona race. It went great for me and pretty good for the teammates. In the crit we set up Cody for the win and I have to say, it always feels good to have a plan going into it and do exactly what you planned and win! I led Cody out for the last 3/4 of a lap and hit out through the last corner as hard as I could, swung off and he finished it off perfectly. It was a great race to practice the leadout and it is nice to give back to your teammates.

I returned to Durango for a week to wrap up some loose ends and catch up with people. It was nice to be home, but for the first time ever I was not stoked to be back in Durango because it was freezing out. When you go from summer to winter in a day it it a bit of a shocker and motivation zap.

The Jittery Joe’s team camp wrapped up on Wednesday in Georgia. It was an awesome camp and the team looks really strong. We have some serious talent this year in the new young guys. Jarred goes uphill almost as fast as Danielson. Cantwell is a sprinter that can make it up the climbs pretty good as well and be there on a tough stage for a sprint finish. I am very impressed with everyones motivation and I think we will thrive off of each other.

The training in Georgia was really good as well. Riding the flats gets old pretty quick because every road looks the same in all directions. However, the mountains are tough and the roads are so smooth. We checked out the Brasstown Bald stage which is stage 6 and also Stage 5. Brasstown is going to be survival again! Hopefully it will be a bit easier sitting in the group, but the climbing before you even arrive at Brasstown Bald is very difficult.

I am back in Durango now for about a week before the season kicks off. San Dimas and Redlands stage races are the first big goals for the team. I feel like I am more prepared than ever at this time of the year than I have been in the past. We will see how it goes. Until then, I am enjoying the nice weather in Durango for some rest before heading out to California. I am very excited to kick off the season.