I turned into a Tuna Melt at Altoona today

Well my good result in the Tour de Toona just turned into a chunk light tuna melt today. I had a good ride on stage 3 he other day that my teammate Frank Pipp won. I was in it to win it all the way to the end and even attacked with a little inside 1k to the finish with one of the Navigators guys. The group brought us back and Frank attacked for the win. It was his biggest win yet and he deserves it. I ended up moving into 11th.

The past couple days have been really hard as well and with Frank sitting in second place we have been making sure we keep him up front out of trouble at all times. On Stage 4 I got caught in a crash that happened at the front of the group. I landed on my feet and slid on my shoes and cleats then took a tumble. I was fine and thought all was good on my bike, but I actually tore the bottle cage bolts out of the downtube. Luckily our mechanic Jelly, had another bike all built up for me the next day. Yea, it is pretty sweet being on a team that has extra bikes.

Stage 5 was hard as well and we had to get on the front and rotate with Health Net for the last 10 miles of the race. Those guys are so strong and trying to pull through after their pulls is so hard. We brought the gap down before the finish from 2 minutes to 22 second. The last 1k was so turny and it was raining. The same Quebexican that crashed himself in stage two crashed himself again in the last 5oo meters. I hung on to my 11th only 39 seconds down from the leader.

Stage 6 was today and it was intense all day. Lots of little climbs that I could feel digging into the reserves. I made it to the first climb and was at the front. I started cracking with 5k to the top. Way to early to crack. I hung close and came over the top at about 15 seconds behind the chase group. Some Toyota guys had gotten away on the climb including Chris Wherry. The chase was on. I regrouped with some guys on the descent and we got back on with the big chase group. As soon as I got on Frank called us up to the front to help pull back the leaders. I was already on the rivet. I went up there with my teammates Chris and Dustin to take pulls. Again we were pulling with the Health Net guys. It was so hard to pull around them. Nathan O'neil is such a monster on a bike and trying to take a pull was like trying to pass a big semi. I hung on until shortly before the last climb at about 15 K to the finish. Then I just tried to ride in with some guys and limit the damage.

I don't know where I am in the GC now, I am sure that I have slipped back maybe out of the top 15 but hopefully in the top 20 still. Anyway, it was a brutal day. Tomorrow is the final day and I want it to be over. It has been fun but 7 days is ruining me. I wish I could have hung on a bit longer and finished with Franks group then I would probably still be in 11th. Whatever, I gave it my all.