Life On Two Wheels

Along the river and toward the mountains a morning shadow shimmers across the road. The rays of the first light jet through the trees and across a figure gliding upon the road. His breath trails in short spurts, petrified as it hits the icy air. All is quiet except the slight sound of the athlete as he summons himself for yet another days work. Soon the rest of the world will bustle with life as well and the brief simplicity of cyclist and nature will disappear into the everyday struggle of life in full motion; the errands and intervals, the appointments and intersections, and the deadlines and finish lines OutPaceTheRace

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Preview: Stage 1

ToC- Stage 1: Sausalito, CA to Santa Rosa, CA
Sunday, December 10, 2006

The bad weather that was apparently due to arrive over the next couple of weeks came last night. I heard it pounding on the roof, but that was it. In the morning the ground was wet and the sky was a bit grey, but after messing around in the morning for a while the bad weather past and the rest of the day was pretty much fair sailing. The course from Sausalito to Santa Rosa changed a little with a slight addition to the length of the first climb and an entirely new climb near the end of the stage. The new one’s quite a kicker in the beginning. It’s somewhat unique due to the beginning of the climb; it’s a sudden turn off of a rather small road to begin with onto a superbly small road. So I think it’s kind of a given that positioning is gonna be absolutely key coming into the climb. If you’re not in the top 20-30 guys you’re not going to make it over in the first group.
It was nice to recon the course and get some serious time and miles in on the bike.

posted by Tom Peterson @ 7:17 PM