Race Report: SRAM Tour of the Gila - Stage 1: Silver City - Mogollon Road Race

Just got in from stage 1 of the Tour of the Gila and so far it is beyond epic. Today's stage was a 73 mile point to point race with one major climb. We rolled out of Silver City after a parade lap around town and were instantly faced with a few miles of climbing. After climbing out of the town we rode down towards the Gila River basin. It was mostly downhill with a few rollers at that point and it was around mile 10 where two riders broke off the front. Near the first feed-zone which was around mile 20 we were told by a race official to continue on the road we were on instead of taking a right and climbing up a short hill (which is where we were supposed to go). The two riders off the front had climbed up the hill and done the additional loop and by the time the race officials had made a decision about what to do they were about 5 minutes behind us. We were then forced to ride neutral for about 20 minutes to allow them to catch up. It was pretty frustrating (although certainly not as frustrating as it was the the two in the break) but everything seemed to get a least a little sorted out.

After we crossed the Gila River we starting gradually climbing although it was mostly rolling. The course was pretty flat and, except for a four-man break away getting away, the race was pretty uneventful until the end. The last 7 miles was the Mogollon climb. This is where all the excitement happened for the day. The road began to steadily pitch up and there were a few sections that went u[ to a 13% grade. This section was only about 2 miles long but it really split up the group. The course then flattened out for about 1.5 miles before the start of the final climb. It was there that I found myself with about 10 other riders in the lead group (minus the four that were still in the break-away). The final climb started with 4 miles to go and pitched between 7 and 19%. In the first 2 miles of the climb we caught the break and the group I was with whittled down to 4. It was at the 2-mile-to-go mark where another rider put in an attack, my legs were already screaming at me and I was left behind. I kept the group in my sights for a mile but I was already gasping for air and loosing steam. I lost sight of them with about 0.5 miles to go but finished just behind them and somewhere around 5th place (it was hard to tell who was in our field as we were passing some straggling masters).

It was a pretty awesome day and I felt really good. I'm sitting pretty high up in the GC and am looking to hold onto as much time as I can. Now I'm eating some food and drinking a whole bunch of water to get ready for a huge day of racing and climbing tomorrow. Tomorrow's race is around 80 miles with 6000ft of climbing.

Sorry that this post is void of pictures. I will add some once I get them.