Dan’s Castilla prologue: Good, hard start!

The morning reconnaissance of the course brought a wide variety of colorful phrases, all ending with “freezing.” Basically, it was damn cold! Despite the snow surrounding us, it wasn’t actually that cold come race time.

The circuit was interesting with some technical descending and draggy climbs. My ride hurt. A lot. (me hurting above) Like Jason had warned me, the last kilometer was killer. Slight headwind and steady rise to the line had me crunching the gearbox. But I got there eventually.

Today’s results look pretty impressive for us, I must say. Three guys in the top 11 with such a quality start list is testament to the this team’s hard work. Work and knowledge that can only help a young rider like myself improve on a placing I am quite happy with.

It gets hilly tomorrow, so it will be interesting to test the climbing legs.