First off I have to thank Steve Bent (Bent's Cycling & Fitness) for assisting me with my travel.
Clayton Goldsmith (Hayes Bicycle Group) for parts, mechanical assistance and shade via the Hayes team trailer. Jim (Kenda Tires) for tires. All of these people assisted me in one way or the other to make this weekend a success.
Okay here is how it went down:
Friday April 4th Wakened at 3:15 A.M. by my Dad, out of the house at 3:35. Arrived at Steve Bent's house at 4:05. Amazingly he is at the door ready to go. Head to Orlando airport on the plane by 7:00, in the air at 7:20. Arrived in Phoenix at 9:00 A.M. their time, 4 hour flight took net 2 hours, cool. My coach Drew Edsall met us at the airport just as we got all the luggage and bikes in to the Escalade(really a Ford Escape) Steve told my Dad we got upgraded to an Escalade on the phone when he picked up the car.......NOT. We were able to get an early check-in at the hotel, so we dropped off the luggage and built our bikes, grabbed some lunch and headed for the course. I have never been to the desert before so it was cool to see all the cacti everywhere, cacti to the Arizonians are like trees to us, no big trees like around here, therefore no shade. Once at the course we headed up to the start of the Super D/Time Trial. On the way up the hill I notice my rear brake is dragging pretty badly, fortunately the SD course is mostly downhill. Now if you haven't riden in the desert it's a little different than anything in Florida. The closest thing turf wise, or lack of turf, is Oleta with no roots. The difference is everywhere there are things just waiting for you to touch them so they can stick in, scratch or scrape you. But, the course is fast and fun and the weather is perfect. When I get to the pit area I take my bike to the Hayes trailer to have my brakes looked at. Clayton had it fixed in about ten minutes and it worked better than ever. Then it was back up the hill for the race. My Dad arrived at the start about ten minutes before his start luckely I was still there so he could see me off. When they started staging the Expert men James Knight was called out so I went to stage, there I found out I had somehow missed my start. I went to the starter and explained I had been there for 15-20 minutes and never heard my name called. The starter was kind enough to allow me to use an empty time slot for my run. They didn't have to do that and I am very thankful to them for it.
I got scolded by the officials at the finish, but they let my corrected time stand. 4th place. Lesson learned! Be early to the start line. After that it was off to dinner and back to the hotel. A few minutes in the hot tub, to bed by 10 Arizona time, 1 our time. Holy smokes a 22 hour day.
Clayton Goldsmith (Hayes Bicycle Group) for parts, mechanical assistance and shade via the Hayes team trailer. Jim (Kenda Tires) for tires. All of these people assisted me in one way or the other to make this weekend a success.
Okay here is how it went down:
Friday April 4th Wakened at 3:15 A.M. by my Dad, out of the house at 3:35. Arrived at Steve Bent's house at 4:05. Amazingly he is at the door ready to go. Head to Orlando airport on the plane by 7:00, in the air at 7:20. Arrived in Phoenix at 9:00 A.M. their time, 4 hour flight took net 2 hours, cool. My coach Drew Edsall met us at the airport just as we got all the luggage and bikes in to the Escalade(really a Ford Escape) Steve told my Dad we got upgraded to an Escalade on the phone when he picked up the car.......NOT. We were able to get an early check-in at the hotel, so we dropped off the luggage and built our bikes, grabbed some lunch and headed for the course. I have never been to the desert before so it was cool to see all the cacti everywhere, cacti to the Arizonians are like trees to us, no big trees like around here, therefore no shade. Once at the course we headed up to the start of the Super D/Time Trial. On the way up the hill I notice my rear brake is dragging pretty badly, fortunately the SD course is mostly downhill. Now if you haven't riden in the desert it's a little different than anything in Florida. The closest thing turf wise, or lack of turf, is Oleta with no roots. The difference is everywhere there are things just waiting for you to touch them so they can stick in, scratch or scrape you. But, the course is fast and fun and the weather is perfect. When I get to the pit area I take my bike to the Hayes trailer to have my brakes looked at. Clayton had it fixed in about ten minutes and it worked better than ever. Then it was back up the hill for the race. My Dad arrived at the start about ten minutes before his start luckely I was still there so he could see me off. When they started staging the Expert men James Knight was called out so I went to stage, there I found out I had somehow missed my start. I went to the starter and explained I had been there for 15-20 minutes and never heard my name called. The starter was kind enough to allow me to use an empty time slot for my run. They didn't have to do that and I am very thankful to them for it.
I got scolded by the officials at the finish, but they let my corrected time stand. 4th place. Lesson learned! Be early to the start line. After that it was off to dinner and back to the hotel. A few minutes in the hot tub, to bed by 10 Arizona time, 1 our time. Holy smokes a 22 hour day.
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