You Can't Teach a Penguin to Fly

I think "sprinter's stage" wasn't exactly accurate. We did roughly 10,000 ft of climbing on roads that needed to be plowed of snow to be rideable. There were two KOMs per 52mi lap. They were freeway grade climbs so they never got that steep, but man oh man were they relentless. I rode well, but when things finally got hectic on the last climb I couldn't match the pace and a group of ~25 riders rolled away. Switters and Evan made the grade (pun, anyone?) and crushed it into the front group where Adam launched in the final 300 meters and nabbed a 5th or 6th place. Rock solid.

I'm pretty crushed I didn't make that group. To be fair I flatted right after a rolling nature break on the 40+mph descent into the last climb. Some joker rode me right into a crater of a pothole while I pretty much still had my dick in my hand. Scary, to say the least. Luckily Phil was right behind me and he selflessly gave me his wheel. I chased like a bat out of hell eventually caught back on after a narrowly escaping with my life after a run in with the caravan during a gravel section. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention there were gnarly gravel sections to go with the snowbanks, potholes and never-ending climbs.

I was already hurting when Baldwin and Demaar lit it up from the bottom of the last climb and I never really had a chance. I can grind it out pretty well, but those hard accelerations on a climb hit me hard, especially after 90 miles of racing. I dug pretty deep and managed to make the second group of roughly 25 riders, and they really made me earn it. We could still see the front group over the KOM, but guys were pretty wrecked and not motivated to chase and we let them slip away.

Notable events from the race:
-Jesse Moore (Cal Giant) smashing it up the climbs and taking the KOM jersey.
-Phil continuing his streak of bad luck: flatting on the first climb and doing a 40k ITT to get back into the race. He finished again, defying all odds and exploring the limits of human suffering.
-Tyler surviving a a mid-turn blowout during a high speed descent.
-Random racer saying he'd never use Google again after getting a lift on the Mooney Express.

The team has some photos up from the Mt. Tabor Crit, and cooler still, Phil Mooney and his Ruby Slippers are featured on the front page of Velonews. Here's the story: Pain and Glory at Portland's Mt. Tabor Crit. They've got a full write up here, including a video of the sprint where I can't quite find the speed for last 100 meters. I miss out on the podium in a bike throw. Rats! There's also some coverage on cyclingnews. Its always nice to get a shoutout, even if they mention me "dying" with 150m to go. Oh well.

I'm pretty hurt up after today's stage. I'm quite positive the hilly TT tomorrow is going to be excruciating, and if it weren't the most beautiful course ever I might not be so stoked. As it is I'm pumped.