8th Annual Mount Holly

I made it to the East last Thursday afternoon and was greeted by 3 hours off jam packed traffic. A drive to Westport from NYC that usually only takes an hour took us 3 and a half. Gotta love the all the people driving their $50,000 BMW's and Mercedes.

Yesterday was the Mount Holly-Smithville Grand Prix in New Jersey and it went well for me. The course is pretty much dead flat with a few small rollers and I would say a total of 200 feet of climbing over 147Kilometers. The weather was insane and it poured on us for most of the race. At one point the entire road was covered with water and we were riding through a river. Epic! On the second lap there was a massive pile up and about 60 guys went down. Both ditches were filled with riders and the entire road was covered with bikes and bodies. I saw the crash happening right in front of me and maneuvered to the right. Some dude overlapped my wheel and I think that was what caused the crash. It wasn't my fault though. One of the Sakkonet dudes freaked out and it caused a chain reaction of fast movements in the peleton and that is all it took. The crash was endless with the usual noises of brakes screetching, tires exploding, bodies crumbling, and bikes bending and breaking. I hate that noise.

Shortly after the crash I attacked and got away with a few riders. We almost got caught by the mainfield when Navigators Bernard Van Ulden attacked and I went with him. We stayed away for 10 miles before being joined by two more Navigators guys. Coming into the final circuit I was outnumbered and ready for the attacks to come. Van Ulden attacked with 12K to go and I covered it only to be attacked by race winner Glen Chadwick. I tried to follow but was cooked and the other Navigator was right on my wheel and he later attacked me. I was left out to dry for the last 7k and rode solo to the finish taking 3rd place. I also ended up 3rd in the sprinters competition and had no idea that there was a sprinters jersey. Dang! I think I could have taken that for sure. I only threw down the Shriver Surge a couple of times during the race.

How about Floyd Landis! What an amazing Tour this year. I think it was so exciting. Eleven yellow jersey changes, awesome. I think Floyd will win a couple more if his hip surgery goes well. Floyd seems like kind of a weird dude! It is good to see an American win, but I think it would have been good to have a Euro win it instead of the USA taking and 8th straight win. My prediction is that Floyd will get his hip replaced with some Carbon Fiber-Titanium hip, win 8 Tours, inspiring millions of people with prosthetics and start a HIP-STRONG Foundation. There will be a HIP-STRONG bracelet made out of Muskrat fur and Billions of them will be sold making Muskrat an endangered species.
That's it for me, I am resting for Tour de Toona that starts tomorrow. Hopefully I can keep the momentum rolling. I am feeling strong on the bike. Yesterday was a good sign with no races in me for weeks. The leg speed wasn't there. Stay tuned!