So after 3 stages here at Cascade, Bissell has come away with 2 stage victories! In yesterday's 80 mile road race finishing on a 10 mile climb, the team did a great job of covering attacks and chasing down dangerous breakaways (sorry to use the cycling lingo here) for the first 50 miles of the race. Finally, after 1:45 of all-out racing, a break that we were happy with slipped off the front and we were able to set tempo into the base of the climb. Unfortunately, because the race was soooo hard the first 2 hours, Ben and Jeremy had little help from us once the climb started. However, they did an excellent job of zipping up that mountain to remain in the running for the GC win. To give everyone an idea as to how hard the race was, we averaged 27.5 mph for the 80 mile stage that ended on a big climb! Check the average speed of a Tour de France stage if you'd like to compare it to something - I can all but guarantee it will be less than 44 kph! So, Ben may have lost the lead, but he kept himself within striking distance with 4 stages to go.
So for today's time trial, I didn't know what to expect from myself. I really felt crummy during and after yesterday's hard road race. At 7p last night (6 hours after the end of the race), my legs were still throbbing and extremely sore. At that point, I decided to have my super secret, ultra-recovery food: ICE CREAM!! The effects were almost immediate and I went to bed that night feeling a little more confident.
After a good night's sleep, I felt strong this morning and I was able to give the TT a good effort. The actual race felt like all other TTs: it hurt a lot!!! The last 5 minutes of the race, I really felt like I was going to vomit (too much info?) but I successfully held it down and was able to post a time that held up till the end. I'm not sure how Ben and Jeremy went today, but being as Jeremy is the current New Zealand TT Champion and Ben has won a ton of TTs in the last 3 years, my guess is that they're sitting pretty good on GC after today.
My teammate Morgan's dad took this photo of the TT podium earlier today. If you look closely, you can see the 6 pack of Deschuttes Brewery beer (based out of Bend, OR) at my feet. What a great 1st place prize!
Our team goals for the Cascade Cycling Classic now will be to help Ben get on the podium of the final GC and maybe even win another stage...why not? :-)
So for today's time trial, I didn't know what to expect from myself. I really felt crummy during and after yesterday's hard road race. At 7p last night (6 hours after the end of the race), my legs were still throbbing and extremely sore. At that point, I decided to have my super secret, ultra-recovery food: ICE CREAM!! The effects were almost immediate and I went to bed that night feeling a little more confident.
After a good night's sleep, I felt strong this morning and I was able to give the TT a good effort. The actual race felt like all other TTs: it hurt a lot!!! The last 5 minutes of the race, I really felt like I was going to vomit (too much info?) but I successfully held it down and was able to post a time that held up till the end. I'm not sure how Ben and Jeremy went today, but being as Jeremy is the current New Zealand TT Champion and Ben has won a ton of TTs in the last 3 years, my guess is that they're sitting pretty good on GC after today.
My teammate Morgan's dad took this photo of the TT podium earlier today. If you look closely, you can see the 6 pack of Deschuttes Brewery beer (based out of Bend, OR) at my feet. What a great 1st place prize!Our team goals for the Cascade Cycling Classic now will be to help Ben get on the podium of the final GC and maybe even win another stage...why not? :-)
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