Warmin’ my ass up

Freezin’ my ass off

10,000 Waves

Hwinter! How Hwonferful!

No gloves? At 7,000ft?? IN DECEMBER??!?

Santa Clarita - Pasadena

We raced bikes today. I tried so dang hard to get into the early breakaway, and I was so sure that I would be in the move that went, but ALAS! 'Twas not to be. Alex and a group of about 11 other riders flew past as the little group I was in got absorbed, and that was it! 

Unfortunately, with riders sitting high up on GC having managed to make it into the break, that meant that we were on from the beginning, and this course is deceptively hard! There was waaaaay more climbing than I think we all were mentally prepared for, and on the Cat 3, I was gapped off and in a grupetto immediately. At that point, there was no hope of getting back onto the group, so I just rode it in to the Rose Bowl, where we were told that we wouldn't be able to enter the circuits, and would be given a finishing-time at the line. 

It's disappointing to have things end like that. I know that it will always say that I finished the Tour of California, but I'll know, and I feel like I'll have to put an asterisk next to that one. But that being said, getting to roll into the Rose Bowl and say that I completed a WorldTour-level stage--and a freakin' hard one at that--is something I'm extremely proud of, asterisk or not. 

Some quick stats for ya: in 7 days, I covered (including warm-ups to and from the race and some noodling around here and there) 1307km (810mi) and 19,269m (63,588ft) of climbing in 37 hours and 19 minutes, for a total of 1605TSS. 

4 consecutive days we raced for 208km or more (don't let ProCyclingStats fool you, Stage 2 was 214km not 195km), making this (I'm pretty sure) the longest Tour of California in the race's history, with 1 fewer day of racing than the the previous longest editions. According to TrainingPeaks, I burned 28,482kJ, for an average of 4,068kJ a day for a week. 

As you can imagine, I am very tired, but having experienced a race of this caliber makes me excited to keep pursuing the next level and see where I can go. 

For now, I am looking to rest and recuperate (as indicated by the fact that his recap is a little late), as I have to get on a plane in a little over 36 hours to head to my next race in China! Be on the lookout for race recaps coming from the other side of the world! 

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Sam Boardman

Amgen Tour of California Stage 7

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Warmin’ my ass up

Freezin’ my ass off

10,000 Waves

Hwinter! How Hwonferful!

No gloves? At 7,000ft?? IN DECEMBER??!?

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