Tour of the GILA

(Waiting for the race to restart... not a bad backdrop!)

Last weekend I added a new state to my list of places travelled --- New Mexico!!  The NOW team travelled to Silver City for the Tour of the GILA.  I was cross eyed and gasping for air during most of my time there, but I did get a few chances to look around and appreciate the beautiful scenery full of grand mountains and clear skies.  We also found some pretty good Mexican food and a delicious restaurant that serves locally foraged treats (unfortunately i didn't get to try the local gelato... my team doesn't really appreciate fine food...  i'll have to go back!).  And we had great host houses with super hospitable hosts.

Besides this being my first time in New Mexico, I also had a lot of firsts in the races.  These included:

• getting stopped mid race because the break-away was directed the wrong way
• jumping off my bike to avoid a crash (bike crashed, I landed on my feet!)
• turning white in a crit (how'm I s'posed to breathe with no air...air)
• running out of water way before the finish (luckily there are a lot of nice people in the peloton)

Overall, our team set the tone on the first day when we started racing hard from the gun... and we continued to race strong all week.  In the end, we had 3 riders in the top 10 of GC, including AP on the podium in 3rd.  

Next up Exergy Tour!  But first, I get to ride in the Twin Cities Bike MS ride!