~Dead Dog Stage Race~
First off, props to Marty my teammate who finished 10th in GC at the Stage Race. Way to go buddy.

Day 1, 86 Mile RR with 7000+ feet of climbing. First off, what the hell was I thinking........No seriously, sane people dont do this for fun. The temps were high 80's to mid 90's the entire race. The race started in Albany Wy, and descended to a little valley before the town of Centennial. Once we hit Centennial the race went vertical. I managed to stick with the lead group for 3/4's of the 1st climb, which is an improvement from the last mountain RR. Once we hit the first feed zone, it was all over though. Off the back, so I settled into a rhythm and the 2nd group began to form. The group hung together through the descent, and back up the climb. A couple of guys attacked the group and no one was motivated to chase. The third feed zone was located back at the top of the major climb in the race, and from there it was a screaming descent back to Centennial, and from there some long painful rollers and a short but brutal climb back up to Albany to the Finish. Our group ended up catching the guys that attacked on the mountain, and promptly spit them out the back. On the final climb up Albany we were down to 6 guys including myself. The pace picked up towards the finish, the members of the group were sitting 22nd through 27 th place in the race. Then 200m from the finish this Kid, attacked. I briefly thought about telling him how much of a wanker I though he was after the race, but hey he's a kid and probably doesn't know any better. It is a race, and he was still racing, that stuff happens all the time. I think what bugged me most is the little dude was just sitting on our wheels, and skipping pulls in the wind on the strech back up to Albany. Attacking the gruppetto in my opinion is just lame. Enough of that. Sorry that bothered me a little and just had to vent.
We had a nice team dinner at a local restaurant after the race, and got some serious rest.
It looks like I'm still about 10-15 mins off the pace of the lead climbers in the 3's. I can see some more climbing repeats in my future.
Next day Crit, and TT..............