Prologue, Tour of Willamette
Oregon

April 11, 2000

The first day of this stage race is an evening 1Kilometer uphill prologue. After a tiny debate with myself I decided on the TT bike because 1) it's the greatest 2) it's light 3) it's fast 4) the small ring was a good size to be in the entire climb. it's nice to ride the bike on occasion, particularly since I just did some position work on it. While, my time wasn't in any way spectacular, I believe the TT bike was the way to go. I even ended up in the bars a few times.

The course was gradual in the begining, steepens a bit, then kicks a big punch in the last 200 meters. The key to these races is to know how to pace yourself from start to end - too hard in the start means blowing at the end and too a slow time. Too slow in the start means energy left over and too a slow time. Laura chose the former, I chose the later. She's a sprinter and I a TTer, if that means anything.

Only rumor tells me that Lyne Bissette (Saturn) won, Anna Wilson (Saturn) 2nd, Tracey Gaudrey (Timex) 3rd. Nope, later we learn it was
1. Tracy Gaudry 2:23
2. Lyne Bessette @1sec
3. Mari Holden @2sec
4. Sandy Espeseth @4sec
5. Tina Mayola
6. Anna Wilson

My guess is the race is going to be wicked hard. Again, all the teams are here and all with mega squads. Saturn has eight. Autotrader, the same, 800.com the same. We have five. Timex and Elita their full teams.

Eugene is great. It's a nice little town with a great natural food store I remember from last time I was here in 96. Unfortunately, I am far out from downtown. Catherine and Sandra, in another host house, picked me up this morning to take me to the store. We went to Trader Joe's becasue it was much closer. There are tons of bike paths and running trails. It's really cool. All over the city are designated bike lanes. Much of the time the lanes are totally separate from the road. Downtown Eugene has coffee shops, restaurants, and little shops, and office buildings. I believe it has gone through some sort of revitalization since I was last here.

Finally, the sun has been out since we arrived. You can't beat that.

EE, from sunny New Mexico, not snowy NYC

Stage 1, Tour of Willamette
Eugene, Oregon

April 12, 2000

Today's stage was over hill and dale for 66 miles ending on a 2 K climb. The biggest event of the day was Petra Rosner's attack early on. She had a gap of four-minutes at one point. It was, in fact, at that point, Timex started to concern themselves. They were the ones defending the leader's jersey. Saturn was in second overall and in the driver's seat. Timex was in third place also. To bring the time down they went to the front and did a team chase, which worked. On the QOM climb, we all saw Petra, then caught her. She had been away many, many miles.

On that same climb, a group of 20 or so, including Catherine, got a gap. I was right behind them with a group of five others. Behind us was a large group, including Laura, Marie, and Sandra. They caught us and we all caught the lead group. Attacks went off some more, with nothing getting away. In the final two kilometers, the race was made. I have no rumors to tell you about results.

I can tell you, I felt terrible terrible. Even as we were chasing the lead group after the climb, on the descent and flats, I felt stinky - lead legs, no zip. In the words of the great Craig Cook, "Legs, no power". I lost a good set of seconds in just two kilometers.

Now, there are wonderful moments for the day. Charles Schwab rode well as a unit. Catherine Cardwell climbed like a demon into the first group and a top 15 finish. Laura VanGuilder, our sprinter, climbed super and really showed that her great riding continues past the Spring California races. Marie did some great covering and came back after a flat at an extremely unfortunate time. Sandra rode just spectacularly and did major strong work in the chase group back to the front.

At my host family, I've been watching many of their any videos. I recommend Mulan. Go girl!