tri-peaks stage three
third stage of the tri-peaks stage race. dubbed "cardiac arrest" it featured a brutal 2.5 mile climb up mt nebo, a looming hunk of a hill overlooking russellville and dardanelle.
since the mt magazine climb was closed this year they had to rerun us over most of the roads we ran yesterday. we did the petit jean climb again (where a few pros managed to fall on the loose gravel) as well as the third climb that cracked me yesterday. once over that it was a 15 or so mile run into mt nebo.
things were pretty chill, for the most part. the leading team kept the race together and the attacks were rather sparse so the race didn't really heat up until the last 10 miles, which is as i expected. i managed to ride into the ditch just before the second climb. rode down to the bottom and rode back up just as the pack went by. the risk i took to move up the edge didn't quite pay off. anyway, i was fine but at the back end of the pack as we hit the slopes. i just charged up as well as i could and put it own in the flattish parts. i actually rode strong all the way up. quite the contrast to the day before.
we all made it over the top and set to protecting andy. chad and i were doing a killer job, for the most part. initially we were a bit bungling, but we figured it out. the pace was pretty high and every team wanted a spot at the front. priority health took charge and healthnet and toyota-united were right behind. we were up beside them and it seemed that we had it set up nicely. somehow he lost like 30 wheels in a turn about a mile or two from the base of the climb. i dropped back and pulled him about halfway up before he lost my wheel again and i popped. chad and i pulled the plug and rode up the climb in the company of solomon who'd been on the back the whole time and got split off shortly before the climb.
andy ended up 20-25th place and was 30th overall for the weekend. not a bad finish, in all. i wasn't last.
before the race, quite a number of riders (pros even) were asking how i'd come out of my fall. i was suprised. i figured i had been pegged as a sketchy amateur. i think it helps that it was plain to all that i was blatently taken out by some dumbass (and the gravel in the corner, which the promoter should have removed).
