Tour De Fran-klin

I really enjoyed watching the Tour this year. 3 guys who started off as mtb'ers in the top 10. Cadel, Tommy D in 9th, and JCP in 10th. Also pretty sweet that Tommy D and I were team mates back in the day on the DEVO. Even cooler than that though is the fact that in 2000 I outsprinted Cadel in a road race in Tucson called Collasal Caves. We both missed the 5 man break and in the end I outsprinted him for a 6th and Evans was 7th. At the time Cadel was winning World Cup mtb races so I was pretty pumped. I just looked for the training diary evidence, but couldn't find it....you'll have to trust me. So using common sense and logic though...if I beat Cadel back in 2000 I probably should have registered for the Tour this year! Oh wait...Tristan beat me yesterday...so he probably would have won the Tour, I would have been 2nd and Cadel would have rounded out the podium???

Back to reality...yesterday was the Alterra Coffee Bean Classic in Franklin. I was a little unsure after having three weekends in a row of major fatigue. It was the first race of the year that I didn't do a bigger ride the day before the race...so I was hoping to feel a little more fresh. I was so so in the warm up, but felt pretty good as we got going. I got the early jump for the KOM prime, but Nathan had a little too much speed for me to accelerate again 3/4 of the way up the hill. I had heard the course changed a bit at the beginning so wanted to sit in a little on the first lap. MP and NG also crashed each other and I was not sure what all the talk was about this new banked wooden bridge so I went into the singletrack 5th wheel.

It was a little too far back. At the first chance I went around DB, but the gap was set. Eppen surged by me on the climb, but I think the others were still putting time into him on the singletrack. Starting lap 2 I went to the front to start the chase. Each lap I put time into the leaders and eventually caught Mike and Nathan. I closed the gap the entire race and ended up 20 seconds behind Tristan at the finish. I was happy after too finish strong, but it would have been nice to be able to battle instead of ride a solo TT. I think the rain the previous day made things nice in the singletrack. A little slippery in some spots, but mostly tacky to rip the corners in most of the singletrack. It was the first time in a long time that I felt I had perfect tire pressure at Alterra. Next up....more intervals to prepare for Ore To Shore!