Romsee- Stavelot- Romsee

Hot. Mountains. Not extraordinarily long but mountains nonetheless. Suffering raised to the second power.

I came ready to race and was focused on doing everything I could do for the team. In the first 5km I found myself in an escape of about 22 guys. The early break had formed. It was destined to be a long hard day. I was there and gave the CC team representation. The break worked fairly well together and continued to increase the gap. 2 minutes and 30 seconds was the highest. I was suffering in the heat and on the climbs but the thought of being the only CC representation in the lead group kept me digging ultra-deep to stay in the mix. Here was a good feeling: I was the first wheel into Stavelot! If the race was merely Romsee-Stavelot, I would have won... but alas, I had yet another 2 hours to race. Not long after that, a bridge group with Steven Galle made contact on a very diffucult climb. Lungs and legs burned while riders were dropped from the group. I had lost contact with the front group. One last dig to stay there... but I didn't have it. I was upset, but somewhat comforted with the fact that Steven was there ahead me. I dropped back to what was left of the peloton. Peter, Dave, and Steven Van Vooren were there and I pedaled over more tough climbs... coming back from the dead over the crest of many climbs. Eventually my efforts from the first couple hours caught up with me and on yet another tough climb I fell behind. I rode to the finish but was not scored. In the end, we had 3 finishers but unfortunately no good result, although we were the 7th or 8th in the Team Classification. I can't be too upset with my race. Yes I was dropped, but I was where I needed to be and gave everything I had. I contributed to the team and I suffered.

It was hot and I suffered. There were mountains and I suffered. Suffering to the second power and I'm better for it.