Wow.

What an exciting end to the Nature Valley Grand Prix! That's what bike racing is all about: 5 days of racing comes down to the last 2 laps at Stillwater. There were 1000s of people lining that incredible venue screaming their lungs out for their favorites. It's taken me 2 days to put a positive spin on it being as we were on the short end of the stick, but I think I'll take a lot of good things away from that race. I am so proud of the way the team rode that Stillwater course. I've replayed the last 2 laps in my head somewhere in the vicinity of 100 times (which isn't healthy) but I know the things I did wrong and I just have to make sure I ride differently if ever in a similar situation. One cool thing about this sport is the strongest person doesn't always win. There are a lot of a tactics and technical aspects to this sport that I need to improve on and this race may be the impetus for me to take the next step in my progression.
Plus, being as NVGP is fairly close to my old stomping grounds of Clear Lake, IA - I had a pretty kick ass fan club: Mom, dad, brother, 4 aunts/uncles, 3 cousins, 8 family friends, 3 HS friends (w/ personalized Bissell/Zirbel Tees on of course) and the biggest surprise was that my sister flew out from New Hampshire to see the race! I was loving it. What a cool experience for me. As much as it sucks to lose a leader's jersey on the last day of a stage race by 3 seconds, sometimes you have to just take a step back and say "Wow" and remember to enjoy the ride.
Thanks for all the support!!! Oh, and I lost my phone Wed. night June 10, so if you called or texted since then I didn't get it. I'm not ignoring you. :) Hopefully I'll have it replaced sometime today.