Cascade

Thanks to EVERYONE that came out to support me at Cascade. I had at least 15 people in the feed zone screaming at me, urr for me, on Sunday. This has become one of my favorite races of the season. The courses are super tough, competition... well Navs, Health Nuts, & Toyota Divided decided to field their A squads, and the fans are the best. Stage one should have been an easy one. Just sit in and wait for the final 3k climb to the finish. The organizers added many new twists to this year's race, including cross winds. Like a fool I missed the first echelon and lost 3:20 right off the bat. Stage 2: I made the finial selection of 13 guys, but was unable to hold it for the last 5k. Fast forward to stage 6: Crazy circuit race! One of the most difficult races I have done all season. At one point, on the last lap, there was a group of 12, including the top 11 on GC and me. First wherry attacked, o'niell countered, countered by louder, countered by baldwin, countered by moniger, by grajales... what the heck am I doing here??? It was unreal watching these guys crush each other, but no on was willing to give up. It was simply incredible. I just followed wheels and prayed that I didn't get caught out. Eventually, the guys waited for the domestics, and the sprint. Congrats to my man Niel Shirley for winning the race. Well deserved win for Niles. I rolled in with the leaders group and grabbed 22nd on GC. Had I not screwed up the first day I would have been top 15, but that's racing. 22nd is not stellar, but this is definitely one of my hardest earned and best results of the season. The form is coming around and Dr. Testa and I convinced great things are just around the corner.