That was quite the Tour. Plenty of drama to go around with the weather, rampant sickness, start list oustings, and oh yeah - the racing. Most impressive performances from my standpoint: Cancellara's prologue - different planet. Levi's TT - who expected that kind of domination? Nydam's KOM jersey - overcame more than just mountains. Creed's St. 7 performance - anyone else would have quit after being as sick as he was the first 3 days. However, the Bissell team had an impressive ToC as well and I'm psyched on how strong AND cool everyone is. There are some questions that need to be answered but don't show up in the results: 1) just how many times did Zwiza give up his wheel (or bike) for a teammate during the tour? 2) Exactly how many kJs did Teddy burn during St. 4 being in the break all day? 3) How fast was BJM going while descending back to the group after flatting during st. 7? 4) How many times did Steve-O toss cookies during the week? All very intriguing questions that start to tell a richer story than just what was seen on VS. or the results page. Thanks for all the emails, texts, phone calls, and comments on the blog that I've received since the tour. I am in awe of the number of people supporting and cheering on this Bissell team. It's very humbling and I hope we can continue to race to our potential. I decided to post some of the pictures that I've been sent since the tour:
Bissell was a part of the
Best Buddies program for Stage 7 and Aaron and I were introduced to our buddies for the day, Travis Raefield aka "Mr. Electric" and Brianna Barlow. You can check out all the photos for the week
here.
Aaron, Travis, and Brianna signing autographs before the start
Travis making sure my Prince is over the UCI weight minimum before the start.
Travis cheering me on during my doomed solo attempt
Slogging up Sierra Rd during St. 3 - photo by Martin Brandt
off the front in St. 7, still feeling chipper, by the looks of it - photo by Bruce Nolte
Starting to feel it now...ouch! - photo by Bob Kahn
At the start of St. 3, I had just caught sight of Nydam's bro Aaron in the crowd cheering - photo taken by our very own Beth Skau.
Aaron, Travis, and Brianna signing autographs before the start
Travis making sure my Prince is over the UCI weight minimum before the start.
Travis cheering me on during my doomed solo attempt
Slogging up Sierra Rd during St. 3 - photo by Martin Brandt
off the front in St. 7, still feeling chipper, by the looks of it - photo by Bruce Nolte
Starting to feel it now...ouch! - photo by Bob Kahn
At the start of St. 3, I had just caught sight of Nydam's bro Aaron in the crowd cheering - photo taken by our very own Beth Skau.
6 comments:
Kudos on the big race - you probably know that the lists in Iowa were burning up on S.7.
Ya, what an awful ToC for you this year. You couldn't win the time trial and finished a lonely 5th behind HIncapie. Dude, stellar performance. I was freak'in out on Cyclingnews' live feed on the TT and final stage. I was screaming in my apartment on the final stage. Did you hear me? My neighbors did. Here is hoping to even a great year ahead. Be in touch soon. Heading to Tucson tomorrow. Ciao -Ian
Sounds like you've got one heck of a team out there, congrats!
Nice going mate, great to see you finishing up the tour with a great result. Wicked man! See you soon...
Tom, that last picture is awesome. Everyone all serious and you with a big S.E. grin on! We're racing bikes, for Pete's sake... can't take life to seriously doing that.
You failed to mention how well you did on that last stage...in the rain...no less...in Pasadena! You rocked Pasadena! You really did.
I know we will see you soon in TdFrance!
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