The Gila

The Other Evil Twin?
http://www.tourofthegila.com/2007race/photos/day1/TouroftheGilaDay1/totg_07_day1_165.html

Matt alerted me to the possibility of another set of Tripowiczes...separated some thirty five years ago? You decide.
Unfortunately, I don't have any pics yet of the Gila as we forgot our camera, but Tiff and Brian took some that we have yet to see. I wrote up summary for Matt and Robin that I will include below but I apologize for its length.


The Tour was frigging butt hard. There is some serious talent in and around the area and I got my eyes opened wide on Day 1. At about mile 50, we started to climb a series of hills and I fell apart and totally cracked with 13 to go. Day 1 started with a moderate climb that the leaders absolutely flew up and a group of us were chasing through the valley for 25 plus miles at 25-30 miles an hour and by the time we hit the hill, I had spent all my matches and could not keep the chase pace. My legs started to cramp (wicked--I have not hurt on a bike like that in a long time) and I struggled into the finish in 41st place and 15 minutes behind the leader. To say that I was demoralized would be an understatement.
So I hit Day 2 with an attitude of not worrying about the general classification (gc) and decided instead to just see what I could do. Since it was a time trial, it did become a real contest of man against the clock. In the end, my time was not all that great (53th) place but I was a lot more chill about the whole deal.
On Day 3, we had a downtown crit of 15 laps (16 miles) with wicked 90 degree turns that actually kept me up at night because I was freaked out about the crash potential. At that point, there were still 83 riders in the field and I decided that I would not make the mistake of lining up too far back. So Brian and I lined up in the front. Brian was shooting to win, and I was shooting for some redemption, so to say that we were motivated would be an understatement. On top of that, we both were wearing his shop's team kit which is blazing hot pick. Not subtle. So the gun goes off and we settle into a rhythm of sorts and I just kept telling me self to relax. Next thing I know, there is prime which is a one lap race within a crit to keep the pact high. All of a sudden the pace skyrockets and then I hear Brian's name being announced on the finish line as the winner as we cross the finish line. Right on, a few laps in and Grand Rapids Bicycle Company has come to play. A few more laps go by and I am sitting in the top third of the main group (behind us, people are dropping like flies as almost half the field failed to finish with the main group and were pulled from the race course). Next thing I know, the announcer a $65 prime and my dutch butt is thinking, "that sounds nice...but let's see who goes". After the first turn, no one goes so I punch it and notice a shadow behind me. I keep hitting the juice through the second turn and the shadow follows. Halfway through the second straightaway I slow up and the guy pulls through. I glance behind us and there is noone there. Perfect. This guy pedals through the third turn and then the fourth and I hit it hard and don't stop until I cross the line and win the prime. Pretty cool. After that, I stayed with the main group and Brian ended up hitting the final sprint and winning the stage. Not a bad day for a two man team.
Day 4 was the big day with a 72 mile ride that finished with a massive set of climbs. I didn't do much but remain in the main group and hit the climb with what I had left. In the end, I think I finished 35th for the day right behind my two buddies, Alan and Andy. So after four days of racing and a 168 miles, I finished 40 out of 79 finisher and 29 minutes back out of 9 plus hours of racing. Exactly dead in the middle for the Tour. Not what I had hoped, but not terrible either. So, that was the deal.