For me the season has changed from Mountain Biking to Cyclocross. That would be summer to fall. I am not hanging my mountain bike up though. Fall is the best time to ride a mountain bike in Central Oregon as the trails are firm, no dust and if it hasn’t snowed in the high country all the trails are open. I have friends who ride their cross bike out on the trails this time of year but I prefer the full suspension, the big tyres, the ability to get some air and “shred” the downhills. I have raced the first two Cross Crusade races and have faired well. A week ago was the opener at Alpenrose Dairy in Portland. Our group was huge and my wave started behind over 100 riders. I managed to pass over 80 of them but I needed about 5 more and Ron Strasser pulled of a good win with me second. Yesterday was another story as the groups were smaller and the course more wide open with slick mud and a long climb. I felt my old self and attacked on climb got a good gap and held on for the victory.

Now for some firsts in my life. As most of you know I won the National Mountain Bike XC championship this year. It was a big moment in my life and proved my Dad correct that no matter how old you are one still has dreams and goals, the same as one is younger. I had two goals this year one was to get a medal at a National Championship (I got two the Gold in the XC and the silver at the marathon Mtn Bike race). My other goal is to win a Cross Crusade series. I have been second many a time so I felt it was time to go for the win. Currently I am tied for first with my good friend Ron Strasser, more on that as the season unfolds. After winning the Stars and Stripes jersey I felt I could ask for some sponsorship so I emailed the President of Trek bicycles and asked that Trek send me a new Superfly 100 Pro. A week later it arrived. I have been racing on Trek bicycles since the I raced on the Prototype Trek in the early 80s. I did race on some Bridgestone bikes for a couple of years but and an ORBEA for one year, but most of my time has been on a Trek. When I raced for Bridgestone they helped us with our Bikes but this is the first time I have received a bike based on performance and my relationship with Trek. Thank you John Burke and Toby McElravey. The new bike is over a pound lighter than last years.

Another first is I weight less than 155 pounds. I didn’t mean to loose weight. Kathy told me we were going to stop eating grains, and being a good husband I said yes dear. Now three months later I am weighing less than I have since high school. I don’t want to loose anymore so I am trying to eat more, but the truth is I am not always hungry. I used to tell people that I have been hungry since I was 4. But no more.

Now to the most important first. My friends Andy and Ros are getting married next May in Peebles, Scotland. Kathy and I are going and it will be fun to see all our friends over there and go to a wedding. The surprise was is Andy asked me to be his Best Man. I have not been a Best Man before and this means a lot to me. Andy is 30 I am 60. I guess we hit it off the first day we met and the age thing has never been important to us. Somewhere in my heart I kind of wish I was younger so when we ride together we would be a little more equal but even that has not been important and Andy has always been a gentleman and when we ride together it is together.  I am honored to be asked and am looking forward to being part of the ceremony.

We didn’t make our annual trip to France this Fall. It is great to be home though. I am enjoying the Cross Crusade, the great Fall trail conditions, helping Kathy harvest the garden and really being home. We have been camping in our new Pine Cone Tear drop trailer a few times and that has been great. Thanks for reading and see you on the trails.

Don

I may have been the favorite but I finished 2nd. I raced like the favorite though. I got dropped on the first climb. It was too fast for my liking. When we got to the single track I unloaded it and caught up to the two leaders in just a few minutes. I blasted by the two of them and tried to gap Dwight. but he was like glue. I attacked on the climbs, on the single track everywhere and though I got 100 yards once he kept coming back. He ended up gapping my by a couple minutes at the 30 mile mark. I didn’t give up and gained almost half of that back on the way back. I am proud of racing to win and I am proud of 2nd. I went as hard as I do for a two race and I feel drained. Time for some rest now.

It is close to 5am race day. I don’t think I have ever written a pre race blog before. What is interesting about that is my mind is always much more active before a race than after. I visualize my race, I think of strategy, I wonder how I am going to do. After a race is always quite simple. I raced and I went hard.

So here I am drinking coffee and thinking about todays race. First of all I know I am spoiled when it comes to racing. I have had lots of success in my over thirty years of bike racing. Most of it mountain biking. I am used to starting up front, I am used to doing well. This is not bragging. One my age is the leading age of mountain biking. The inventors of this sport, the Ritcheys, Fischers, are all my age. The original racers who were winning when I started are all younger than me, even Ned Overand. So I have been racing as long as anyone. I have less competition than most age groups. That being said I am good at all aspects of mountain biking. I have good endurance, good handling skills and I can go hard if need be.

What this is leading up to is today I am the favorite to win. I am the reigning mountain bike national champion. I won a 55 + 100 miler by over three hours and I have the home trail advantage. I have never looked at myself and thought I am the favorite. I look at myself and think regular guy. Middle of the pack who can do better. But the reality is I am the favorite. Does that mean I will win? No it only means I have a very good chance.

I do feel the pressure of being the favorite, it is fun to be the favorite but it is a responsibility. I am not over confident but I am ready. I have trained for this event all summer. This was my focus. Mountain bike Nats in Sun Valley was a last minute decision that I am very glad I made, but this is the race I have had in mind since it was announced last year. The deal is I never expected to start as the favorite. I thought I would start as a local and then surprise the other racers. Nationals changed that.

Those are my thoughts this morning. Pre race jitters, turning pressure into positive energy. Remembering to have fun, go fast and be safe.

One more thing. Cross has started big time. Most of teammates are off to Hood River for Double Cross, some have already done two races. Though I love cross mountain biking is my first love. It is where I learned real skills on a bike, and it is where  I have the most fun. I wouldn’t be a good cross racer without my mountain biking skills. So while I wish all those crossers good luck I am very happy to be at home racing in a national championship event that I will ride to from home. For that I have to thank the vision of Doug LaPlaca and Visit Bend.

Now off to get ready. I will give an update after the race.

Don

This weekend David, Scott, Jodi, Mark and I raced in the High Cascades 24. I have done a few 24 hour races and have always had a blast. I will say as I started my second leg at 2:30 in the morning what was I thinking. The thing about a relay race is team work really does come into play. A relay is not about the fastest it is about everyone doing their best. When team is picked everyone already knows how fast each person is, so the question is can everyone perform to their best.

A word about the term “team player”. When I read in a job description that the hiring firm is looking for team players, what I think is they want someone who follows orders very well. They are not looking for independent minded people who are innovative and self motivated. I am wary of that term.

In sports a team player can be something else. It is someone who is there when the team needs them. In cycling being on a team is not the same as basketball. It comes down in the end to the person and his bike. However if you follow pro cycling and know a  bit about drafting team work becomes more real. This type of teamwork is more like the job description. The team player follows orders and sacrifices him/herself for the team leader. This is an important part of racing and it is amazing to watch a George Hincapie or Jens Voigt ride themselves into the ground for the leader. However there is another type of teamwork that is more fun for us amateurs. In road riding that would be a team time trial and in mountain biking it would be a 24 hour relay.

In 24 hours lots can happen, mechanicals, injuries, being tired etc. The three big problems in a 24 race are light failures, mechanicals (usually caused by a crash, and failing to show up for the exchange. Light failures are the hardest to prevent and we had only one. It didn’t cost us too much as Mark pushed on and lost maybe 20 minutes is all. We had no bad crashes or mechanicals and we didn’t miss an exchange. The exchanges are because of team work. One team told me they lost over half an hour because of botched exchanges. It is very frustrating to finish a hard lap and not find your teammate to give the baton to. We never had that happen. Every time we were there, most of the time with a teammate making sure all was ok.

We were not a team of superstars. Yes I am a very good 60 year old racers, but that puts me in the middle of the pack in terms of time. The other members are also good for their category but none of us are pros. What we were is consistent. I did four laps, two daytime and two night. My night laps were 1:26 and 1:29 and my day were 1:17 and 1:18.The others were as consistent. As a result we won our category, we had the most laps by any five person (including all male) team, and we were 7th overall out of 61 teams.

More importantly we are better friends and better teammates. My advice to you is if you are a competitive cyclist try a team time trial for road or a relay race for mountain. It will show you true teamwork and you will appreciate being on a team.

I am always amazed when my friends tell me they haven’t been to Crater Lake for years. They drive to Portland, Eugene for a bike races (both further than Crater Lake) but can’t seem to make the trip to see and enjoy the jewel of Oregon. It is less than a two hour drive to the North Rim of Crater Lake. The 32 mile rim drive is one of the best bike rides I have ever done, the numerous hikes in the Park are some of the most scenic, the boat ride on the lake is an experience of a life time and if you want a good meal in one of the best National Park Lodges lunch at the Crater Lake Lodge is just the ticket.

Kathy and I go at least once a year, sometimes to hike sometimes to ride and even then I feel I don’t get there quite often enough. Crater Lake is considered the most pure large body of water in the world. It is also one of the bluest. Whenever I take a photo of the lake on a day like last Friday it amazes me how blue the Lake is. It is like I used photo shop to enhance the blue. I didn’t have to though. It is blue, very blue.

The other fun thing about Crater Lake is people watching and listening. People come from all over the world to enjoy and visit Crater Lake. Most never leave the road, they just stop at one of the many view points and because of the sheer beauty of they have to explain it in words. It is fun to hear what they have to say. “The lake fills up in winter”, “is it really that blue?” “does it erupt often?”, you get the idea.

When one gets off the road and on to a trail it becomes more normal. There can be a parking lot full of cars, the gift shop full of tourists and the trail with a half dozen people on it. The Park Service has really gone overboard with signage and warnings. On the way up to the rim there is a sign that says you will (not may) get seriously hurt or killed if you get too close to the edge. On our hike up to Garfield Peak there was  some construction on a water tank that was close to the trail. They had built a temporary walkway that had a sign that said pedestrian passage way. Since the only way to get there was to walk, and I think that means we were all pedestrians one wonders why the sign. Later there was a small snow patch with a sign saying danger stay back, trail closed etc. The entry to our back door at Sunnyside during a snow storm was more dangerous. I guess The Park Service feels that the people visiting the Park have never seen snow before.

These things actually enhance the experience for me. It makes it different than a normal hike in the forest. I call it the Park ambiance.

We have been traveling to Crater Lake since 1969. That was the year I first came to Central Oregon. I had a summer job in the Ochoco National Forest and Kathy was working in the Bay Area. We met on the 4th of July weekend at Crater Lake. I guess that visit cemented our love and since then Crater Lake is a must visit every year.

If you haven’t been lately get down there. Ride around, go for a hike or just be amazed at how blue that lake is, and yes it really is that blue.

Thanks for reading

Don

Here is a photo of Silver Falls, Oregon I took last week. Though this is the first time I have seen the Falls it was very familiar to me. The reason is we had a photo of Silver Falls hanging in Kathy’s Cabin. The photo came from a gas station promotion. Buy gas get a photo. This one ended up on the wall. I saw this photo years before I moved to Oregon. After we moved here I thought we should go over there and check this out. For one reason or another we never made the detour. This year on the Oregon Bike Ride we camped there for two nights, but I still almost missed seeing them as I had to go home for a few days to work at the store. I did make it back to OBR just in time to take this photo and see this beautiful spot with my own eyes. Like most places it is more better in real life than in a photo.  I was surprised to learn that there are more than one Falls, there are ten Falls. There is a 7 to 9 mile hike one can take to see all of the Falls. Now we need to go back and do the hike, check out each Falls and since the Oregon Garden is so close we need to go there also. More things that need to be done.

The same day I made it to Silver Falls Kathy and I made a return trip to Three Fingered Jack. Last year was our first hike there and now we have it on our list as an annual visit. The flowers were at their height, and there was still snow on the highest part of the trail. If you haven’t been up there I would recommend it. It is very popular so go on a weekday if possible.

Like I said I was returning to OBR. This was the 25th OBR. That is quite a milestone for a non profit ride without any sponsors like ours. One year longer than Cycle Oregon. I started being involved with this ride as a young man and now at 61 I am still involved. Sandy Green, our leader for all of these years has turned over the baton to Sanna Phinney. I feel this will keep us going for many years to come.

This year we started and finished in Albany. We had stops in Brownsville, Sweet Home, Silver Falls and Champoeg Park near Newberg. Once again the we found out that road riding in “Valley” is some of the best riding in Oregon. Mostly quiet roads, lots of farms, forests and hills. It was a worthy 25th year.

Right after OBR I headed over to another place I had heard of forever, Alsea Falls. 15 miles west of Monroe on a quiet road in the coast range. This was the location of State Mountain Bike Championships. The BLM has been trying to increase the recreation possibilities over there so they have made some very nice mountain bike trails. It was a perfect summer day, warm but not hot. I good turn out for a summer race. For many reasons Oregon bike racers prefer to race in the winter than in the summer. I do not know why this is the case but it is true. The biggest races are in March and April. The smallest in June and August. When I started to race we had most summer weekend full with wonderful road races on the the roads of the Willamette Valley (some of the same roads we used on OBR). Now it seems the summer is for crits, time trials and very few Mountain Bike races. Alsea Falls was the exception. After the race we hung out eating some burgers from the grill, talking to friends, bathing in the Falls and gathering for the awards. There seemed no hurry to leave as we were in paradise. Great time and great course.

I was thrilled to see my friend Ron Strasser racing again. He took some time off this year but now he is back. Big smile as always and very encouraging to everyone. This was also my first time to see many of my Oregon friends since I won the National Championship race. Everyone was very excited about me being the National Champion. I got numerous high fives and congratulations from everyone. Oregon is a great place to race as it seems like everyone is a friend.

Thanks for reading.

Don

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This blog is a test. New technology has arrived in my hands. A smart phone that is smart. My old phone was supposed to be smart but it had a learning disability. It was supposed to be a touch screen but it was more of a hit screen. Anyway, I went down to the phone store, changed my plan, got a new phone and I pay less. This is a test of how smart my phone is.
One, it seems I can load photos to the blog from the phone. Old phone couldn't do that. Two the photos it takes are good, old phone, not really.
Two, this phone can Skype with video. That will be great. The only problem is it will only let me use the back side phone. So I get to see Kathy's smiling face and she gets to see my feet. I would think that will be fixed.
On to the photo. We went for one of my favorite hikes the other day. Up Bridge Creek and down North Fork (Tumalo Creek). This has special memories for me because I was one of the first responders to the 1979 Bridge Creek Fire. We hiked up Bridge Creek in 1979 under a canopy of Douglas Fir trees and hiked out 24 hours later on a hot ash covered trail with no live trees left. The difference was beyond my comprehension. We saved many trees that day that are still standing. I have never really figured out if my 10 years of fire fighting for the Forest Service was a good thing or not. What I do know is the trees around the Parking lot at Tumalo Falls are there because I left my truck with the key in it ready for another crew to to use the pump to keep all those trees alive while the fire went burned everything else. The trees we saved are the visible from the Bridge Creek Trail as you head up stream. On can see a line of trees going up the ridge. After the fire passed by us (we were in Bridge Creek staying cool and putting out spot fires), we dug a fire line up the hill so when the wind change in the morning it  would stop and not keep going to the south. Our trees are still there.

I digress back to the photo. Those deer are in our yard. I think there are more deer in our neighborhood than in Shevlin Park. At least I see more. Kathy isn't too pleased with having deer in our yard as they are there for one purpose, to eat. That means her garden. I,on the other had kind of like the deer. They remind me we live close to a real forest, the kind of forest I associate with vacation and good times. I guess that is why I live in Bend. It is like a vacation and good times all the time.

Thanks for reading.

Don

I just returned from the 2011 Washington Bike Ride. We started our ride just north of the Dalles in Dallesport, Wa, and spent 6 marvelous days traveling near Mt Adams, Mt St Helens, Mt Hood and the Columbia Gorge. This is a road cycling event that is very mellow, and relaxing for me. Our Sunnyside Crew (Chuck, Muffy and I) are in charge of keeping the 300 bikes on the trip in running order. We fix lots of flats, lots of shifting issues, a few creaks and some more serious problems like new wheels and shifters. There is no pressure or hurry to do the repairs, and everyone is very appreciative. We get to ride some of the ride everyday on some of the most beautiful roads in the Northwest. This is cycling mellow and relaxed.

In the photo of me racing the HC 100 we have another experience. The HC 100 is a 100 mile (actually 108 miles this year) Mtn Bike race. I did this race a couple of years ago and felt I could do better this year. I usually have long term plans for my racing and this year it was to be the Marathon National Championships to be held in Bend this September. My plans got somewhat changed when I went to Sun Valley to Mtn Bike Nats and then won my category. That will be the race of the year, maybe the race of my life. I am still doing the Marathon Nats and the HC 100 was my prep. It uses some of the same trails and I wanted to do one long race this year to get ready for the Marathon. I was hoping for a little over 10 hours this year, last time it was closer to 12 hours. I was on track for 10 miles an hour for the first half. I then hit some longer climbs and the hottest weather of the year. I had to stop a couple of times at the aid stations to cool down. There were also 8 extra miles. Now this may not seem like much in a 100 mile race but it equals to about one hour of racing. My time ended up at 11:48 (11:18 riding time). Subtract that extra hour and I did what I was hoping. We did close to 12ooo feet of climbing. This race took me 11 hours longer than my National Race in Sun Valley. Another  experience. Not relaxing, not mellow and no Stars and Stripes jersey at the end. At the finish it was just the relief and the satisfaction of having finished. Three days late I found out I ended up third in the 50+ category, only a few seconds out of second.  I was very proud of this because the last time I raced the HC 100 was not close to a podium finish in this category. Again a different experience than nats where I knew I had won the minute I crossed the finish line.

I am not sure I will do a 100 miler again. I read in Serena’s blog that she would like to do more than one in a year. I don’t have that desire though I respect her wanting to. The HC 100 left me worn out for the week, and I was really close to heat exhaustion after the race. Loosing a week of feeling good is to much for me to pay. That being said I am glad I was able to have a really strong 100 mile race. It was my third 100 miler and by far the strongest and best.

Next week I am off to help with the Oregon Bike Ride. I won’t be there the whole time, but I will be there at the start and the finish. I will do the OBRA state championship Mtn Bike race, and then have some relaxing time in August.

I like that cycling for me is not just racing and that even the racing I do is diverse. Though I am serious about my racing I am more serious about enjoying my time on the bike. Long mtn bike rides in the summer, in the spring fun road riding in Mallorca, a few mtn bike races and of course cross season in the fall. None is more important than the other for me.

Thanks for reading and see you on the trail or road.

It was a while ago but I think my very first Mountain Bike Nationals was in Sun Valley in 1988. I had been to some big races in Mammoth Lakes, Ca. but those were stage races and not the same.
So back to 1988. It was the year of the big Yellowstone Fires. The west was full of smoke. One could not see that Sun Valley was nestled between mountains and not just brown hills. It was hard to breath and the venues, well it was before single track really existed. I did manage to finish 6th in the cross country, a result I was not happy with at the time. With time I came to realize how good a result that really was. After that race I was ready to call it quits. I felt I needed to have done better to really continue on. The World Championships were coming up, at Mammoth Lakes, and just didn’t think I had it to do well. Kathy and my friend, Grant Boswell ( Ian and Austin’s dad) talked me into going. I ended up doing quite well, a silver and a bronze medal. I guess you could say that is a highlite of my racing.
I did change my attitude though. I no longer felt I had to prove anything to myself when I raced. I became much more content with doing well and knowing what well is. I quite racing for a time, though I did do one more Nationals. That was in Traverse City, Michigan 1994. I went out with a friend. It was fun and I had a good, though not spectacular race. Racing was pretty much over for me.
Then came cycle cross in my life. That is one fun way to spend an hour on a bike. The deal with cyclo cross is I can’t run. I really can’t. So I use my cycling skills to over come that weakness. I know if there are more than two dismounts per lap I will not do well. But I love it non the less. Last year at nats I was 6th. One place from a medal but for me that was as good as I could go.
When I started to cyclo cross race I realized I needed to do some other racing in the year. Racing is easier than training hard so I went back and did some mountain bike racing. The venues got better since I had quit racing a few years back. More single track, longer races, and not so many at ski areas. The ones at ski areas were using trails built for mountain biking as opposed to service roads built for machinery. It was fun and there isn’t much running in a good mountain bike race. Starts have gotten better, so we don’t usually have 100 amped up guys in a start. In other words I am a much better mountain biker than a cyclo crosser.
This year started off slow for me. Lots of skiing and the a late winter which made outdoor cycling almost impossible. I felt strong but I just wasn’t that fast. I started to come around in April, but I seemed to be fading late in my races. I had a talk with Brig Brandt and realized I just wasn’t eating enough in a race. He said I should eat about a third of the calories I consume every hour.  We figured I was using about 1100 calories per hour so I need to eat 300 to400 calories per hour. That could be six gel packs in a race. I tried that and was amazed at how much better I went. I used to do that but in cross the races are short and I seemed to have forgot.
The other thing that happened this year is Kathy changed our diet. She has been dabbling in this for awhile. More protein and less carbos, especially from grains. I don’t really want to get into details, but we get our carbos from vegetables and fruit. Protein from the usual sources. I started to feel stronger, no longer hungry all the time and I lost 5 pounds without even trying.
Yesterday it all came together. I wasn’t real happy with course. It seemed like the single track started to early in the race, and the long switchback descent too hard to pass. There was a 10 minute steep climb on double track just before the descent. This was key to the race.
I was aggressive on the start, rode the rock garden to perfection, and went into the single track first in my group. Immediately we were behind the group in front of us. I passed when I could and Dan Norton, who was just behind me did the same. He ended up passing me on a switch back by running a tighter line while I rode. He used energy to do that, I was relaxed. Dan Norton is the best 60+ mountain bike and cyclo cross racer in the USA. I have never even been close to him in a race.
As we continued up the climb I could tell Dan was working hard. We both choose the hike a bike section. It was faster and I just wanted to stay on Dan’s wheel. It was hard but we mounted on our bike together on the double track climb. He was breathing hard and settled in to his pace behind another rider from the group ahead. I thought it was too slow, I shifted up a gear and retook the lead. At that point it wasn’t about dropping Dan, it was about pushing the limits of my body and my mind. All I had to do was link my whole interval workout in one long push. Don’t shift down, just a little harder. A guy from George’s passed me. He looked younger, but I wasn’t sure. I stayed on his wheel. I would have been very upset to finish ahead of Dan and have some unknown beat me. We started the descent he was slow. The descent started with a mile long gravel road. Fast but dangerous. I slipped by him just before the long single track to the bottom. My mind knew I had it, but I wasn’t done. Go fast, safe and no flats. I passed about 8 guys on the downhill. They were all great and let me go by. Each on was like an insurance policy. Blocking Dan  from catching me. I had my rock shox reverb drop seat post on, and had my seat down about 2 inches. I felt like this was the funnest downhill I had ever done. One more switchback and the the rock water fall. I thought for a second I would bypass the waterfall but I couldn’t do that. The crowd, and I needed the winner of the all the older guys to show that we can still ride, have fun and be safe. Sweet, the finish line. I was the first finisher of the day, the first National Champion of the day, my first top podium spot in a big race and my first medal ever in a National Championship race. I won against the best 60+ racer in the USA, and I did it on a steep non technical climb, not my strength.
There are too many people to thank who helped me. I live in a town where all the cyclists are friends, I work at Sunnyside Sports where we support each other more like a family than a work place, I am on a team that really cares about the other members, and I am friends with many pro cyclists who also care about what the others do. I have to thank Serena who was there at the finish line to share my joy, and then get have to get ready for her own race ( she got a silver medal ), but most of all there is my sweetheart for the last 42 years. She may not understand why I race, but she is always there for me. She used to come to most of my races, but we came to a mutual agreement where she doesn’t come to races any more. She is always there anyway.
This blog may be too long, but I really didn’t write it for anyone but me. This was my day, and I just want to savor it.
Don

After yesterday’s stage and all the crashes I have been thinking of past Tours and I can’t help but think that the Tour is different now then in the past. I know crashes and mishaps have been part of the Tour since the beginning what I don’t remember is this magnitude. For example, when when I first started following the Tour and the great Eddy Merckx was at his prime, I never really worried whether he would finish. I knew crashes could happen but it was unusual back then for a favorite to crash out early in the stage. Fast forward to the Greg Lemond years. I didn’t open the paper and hope he had finished the early stages, we just looked to see how he was doing. The Lance years. There were a few big crashes that took out some favorites (Levi and Tyler one year), but again it wasn’t every stage with crashes.

The last few years seems different. Every day there seems to be a crash that removes a favorite, riders who are good and attentive, riders who are up front, riders who have other riders “protecting” them. It seems the peloton is more nervous and the riders maybe more stressed. I am not sure but I think the “style” of the race has changed. There is no team in control like there used to be. When Lance was winning his team was there for one reason – winning the yellow. The were not worried about stage wins or green jerseys or mountain points. No they wanted one thing. Today’s strong teams want more. If you look at which teams are in the front and setting the pace it is teams which want every stage to be a win. Look at Garmin/Cervelo. They are doing two things, keeping Thor in yellow and trying to set up Tyler for the win. We know what HTS is looking for Stage wins with there star sprinter and on stages when Cavendish didn’t have a chance HTC was going for the win with another of their sprinters.

I am not blaming these teams but I do think they have a strain on the race which has changed the nature of the Tour. They are going hard all the time and hence we have this mayhem. I don’t have an answer for less crashes, I just wish there were not so many of them. These racers are giving there all to be in shape and race the big race of the year. A crash in the Tour is a waste of the whole year not just the day. Maybe the teams shouldn’t be so greedy and want to win every day every point. Instead of bike racing we have more of a reality show, Survival on Bikes.

Maybe I am wrong and things are not different, and the crashes we have seen are just bad luck. I don’t think so. the UCI, the riders and the race promoters need to quit arguing about saddle configuration and start thinking about the future of our sport. We can’t afford any more deaths and serious injuries, we can’t afford to have half of the contenders removed from contention because of crashes in the early stages. This sport is not about survival it is about strategy, attacking, and perseverance. I hope the winner of this years Tour is the strongest and not the one who had the best luck.

Don