Tour of Virginia Stages 1-4

So most of you have seen the results are probably thinking what the heck is VMG and what happened to NERAC. VMG (Velocity Made Good) is the name the United States National team races under in non-uci races. I have the privilege of guest riding for them this week since NERAC chose to focus on the South East Crits instead. Anyways, this week has so far been awesome. I haven't laughed this much in a long time. It's soooooo nice to have some good clean humor. The team is very well run and when I showed up they had a ton of clothes and two of these waiting for me:Chann McRae is the DS and is a wealth of knowledge and humor. The guy is full good tactical advice, which is what I have needed for a long time. I can't even begin to explain what a difference it makes in my riding with him guiding me through the race, I guess the results speak for themselves. Yesterday he was explaining to us that the Cat. 3 climb coming up was an easy one because, "there are a lot of trees and trees produce oxygen, so we shouldn't have a hard time breathing."

The team is the next generation of American cyclist and are all good guys. They have been working their butt's off for me and I owe them many thanks. Today two of the guys were chasing back a break for us. Each time we would hit a roller they would shoot backwards. Then as we hit the descent they would come flying back to the front and repeat. Kevin and Scott killed it today, oh and they brought the break back too.

The support staff is top notch too. It reminds me of the TARGETRAINING days, when I didn't have to worry about anything. The bike is clean, they take us to the race and I do my job and mine only (which is race my bike well), and they do theirs. Novel concept and it seems to work!

Thanks to everyone for your words of encouragement. 3 stages left and only about 8 seconds to the podium.