Ah, Valley of the Sun. I really hate this race. Flat TT that I can't go fast on. Road course that's too easy to make any selection and a super-fast scary crit. I guess it's good for me, or at least that's what I tell myself every year.

Day 1: Showed up friday to rain and 50 degree weather. Not exactly valley of the sun, but not too bad for a TT. I started 30 seconds after Dave Clinger (Rock Racing) and tried to stay with him as long as possible, but he pulled out of sight pretty quick. I managed to pass a couple other guys though, and not get caught myself, which is always good. Ended up just over 31 minutes on the 22k course, about 1:50 down.

Day 2: Good weather for the RR. A little cold for me (~58), but good for racin. After the first KOM (sic) I got in a break with Kyle Gritters (Health Net), a Rock guy, and a few others. A bunch of guys bridged up and we were on our way to the breakaway of the day. Unfortunately, 12 guys was just a few too many for cooperation and with Jittery Joes chasing hard it came back together with just under 10 miles to go. Luckily it was a bunch sprint after that and I was 49th out of 51 guys who got same time.

Day 3: The pan flat crit was fast. I stayed at the back. I tried to move up when the group slowed for like 30 seconds, but thought better of it. Crash with 3 to go took out 2nd place GC (Ben Kneller) and my good friend Jared. Sucks to crash in February.