Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Sorry Mr. Guptill

Hey Everybody - I'm alive and well!! (relatively)
Man, I'd say we had an awesome Tour of the Gila! 2 stage wins, 2nd on GC, 2nd in the team's classification and we controlled the front of nearly every stage. Vega from Tecos is an amazing climber so Burke should be proud of his 2nd on gc.
I was looking forward to seeing how I would fair on the brutal last day but didn't give myself the opportunity when i overcooked a turn on the steep gila monster descent and slammed into Andy Guptill of Colavita who was just lifting himself up from crashing. Well, me and about 8 others crashed on the same turn. I guess we got a little carried away. I hobbled away w/ a strained shoulder (no broken collarbone), broken bone in L hand, and cracked back R rib. I'm a little sore of course but am actually doing fine. I have teammate Jeremy Vennell here to give me his special kiwi TLC when I need it, and my new friend Percoset has really come through for me too.
Thanks for all the emails, texts, phone calls, and blog comments first for getting the leader's jersey, then for the crash. :) Much appreciated. Here is a good pic of the week taken by Gleein.
we had to get a pic w this local after the crit (read his shirt)

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Tom,
Love watching you and the Bissell team ride. That was a heck of a time trial! I'm 6'5", 197lbs. It's always inspiring watching the big guy take it to the little guys on the bike.

When I saw the picture of your Prince broken in half, my heart sunk. It's like someone spray painting a Picasso. What a work of art that bike is. Oh well, I guess the upside is that you'll get a brand new one!

Hope you feel better soon and that we see more of Bissell in Europe this coming year. Keep attacking!

k2 said...

glad to hear it wasn't a broken collarbone... Gila didn't fair well in the crash dept. for boulder racers, i broke my pelvis at Gila. Can i borrow some percoset? This vicodine sucks.

Andrew Talansky said...

Hey Tom,

glad to hear you're doing okay. Congrats to you and your team for riding a great race. Heal up quick and I'm looking forward to seeing you on the road again soon.

k2 said...

Hi Tom

thanks for the laughs... yeah, I've just started my "coffee IV" of the day. since I can't really do that much for myself (live solo) and can't do my side job that helps pay the bills, pilates instructor and belly dancer (j/k, but might take it up when i'm healed since I would give anything to shake my hips right now ;-) I will have to head back home to SC for a bit but will be back to CO once I'm able to walk and drive. Rain check on the coffee and when I'm back on the bike I'd love to ride sometime too. I read some of your old posts about your blood clot and it looks like I'll be the zone 2 queen in 6 weeks. my email is kristinkeim@gmail.com drop me a line sometime. fast healing, k2

Unknown said...

Tom,

Awesome Ride at the Tour of the Gila! Two stages... and the time trial finish was amazing! Sounds like you and the team had opened several cans of whoop ass, especially on the Toyota United boys.

I hope to hear of more European races that the team gets to compete in.

BTW the Bissell uniforms IMHO look much better than the PH ones. They look great with the bikes.

Later,
The Average Joe

Keith said...

Hey Tom, good to hear you're back up. Reports made it sound worse than it was I guess.

Incredible results at Gila, maybe next year you'll get to defend that jersey up the Monster ...

Speaking of, our boy Logan's gonna be a 1 soon I think!

Ian Stanford said...

Hmmm, I pretty sure the Prince is gone but what the hell, throw some duct tape on there (red though, silver is tacky), and see how she handles. It may feel a little unresponsive at first but it will defintely be King Ghetto.
Good news on the collarbone. Freak'in Cyclingnews. They report like Fox News. Heal up man! Ciao -Ian

Anonymous said...

Zirbel
What the heck? I am so sorry to hear about your crash, but very glad to hear that you are ok. I think I am crashed out for the year, you cycling guys are going to give me a nervous breakdown....
Kim

Unknown said...

Tom,

Was Espanza Munoz in the break in front of you?

I hope you are back in 100% form for the Tour of Missouri. That race looks real exciting

Anonymous said...

Tom.. I'm drunk and in NYC, but I hope you're doing well.. Morgan told me about the crash.. I said that you're the shit and you'll be fine in a few days. That's the truth, right? Steve

Zoo said...

ouch. At least the brake cable held the bike together :P Sorry to hear about the crash