Tour of Ohio Report Two

The second half of Tour of Ohio was slightly better than the first. Stage Four was a up & down, mile+ criterium. It wasn't really a course for me, but I should have been able to finish it out. I faded during laps 17 down to 12 and eventually got popped. I was disappointed in my personal performance, but extremely pleased with Erik's second place. The announced said Erik was "banging his bars in frustration" as he crossed the line. It was impressive to watch Erik ride with such control for the whole race. Stage Five was a ~11 mile course with a challenging hill at the beginning of each lap. The first time up the climb was the most difficult for me just because I needed to open my legs up and the hill came after only a couple miles of racing. After I recovered from the hill each lap I was able to be active and mix it up a bit. It was a fast course and a break would have taken the right mix. Due to stomach problems I wasn't able to eat during the race and my legs went empty during the last lap. Erik and Jamie mixed it up in the sprint for a 7 and 11th. Stage Six was a boring rectangle with a slight rise on one end of the rectangle. At the front the race was easy, but you had to have your wits about you to stay there. I faded in the last quarter of the race and couldn't hold a good position. I just rode it out and wasn't able to contribute to the 10,11,&12 that the team achieved. Again, I was kind of disappointed with my ride, but I suppose it was at the end of six days of racing.

All in all the Tour of Ohio was a good experience. It was good to spend the time with my teammates and work on team building.