NVGP Round 1: Time Trial

The quick and dirty:

12.4 km
17:46
100th place Stage / 99th place GC (don't ask me how or why)


The night before the Time Trial, Bart Bowen issued all of us Nature Valley Pro Chase riders our bib numbers and did up our team's start order.  I would be one of the later riders to start, 4th out of six.  What a whirlwind experience this morning was.  I haven't been that anxious for a bicycle event in....I can't quite remember.  The realization of the magnitude of the Nature Valley Pro Chase experience was completely sunken in and FULLY etched on my mind.  I was thinking about how lucky I was, how cool it felt to be 'one of the pros', and how many people back home I was representing, that I never really fully focused on my ride, which is probably a good thing.

I was on a good day.  The week of no-riding before I flew up here to Minnesota put me right where I need to be for a 5 day stage race.  Coming off the start ramp, I was flushed with adrenaline (which has been absent in my body for some time), and within minutes I was seeing heart rate numbers pinned in the 190's.

With my mind [on my money and my money on my mind] on what lay ahead through the next five races, my in-race thoughts consisted of 'ease back.  ease back.  ease back.'

Not much interesting to report.  I rode well, stayed within my limits, and finished well.  My placing was towards the rear, but in the middle of the amateurs, but in all honesty, I'm in over my head.  Making time cuts and being ready for the next ride is what is important!