Exergy Tour

Alisha says: Wow, the Exergy Tour was the absolute coolest race I've ever participated in. Everything was so professional and we were treated amazing. Now, if only my racing would have been on form, but I've been battling an injury since Gila and this was one hard race. The start list was full of the who's who among women's professional racing all racing for $100,000.

The Prologue was a quick 2 miles in downtown Boise with the Capitol building in the background. It was beautiful weather and the atmosphere was so cool as there were people lining the entire course cheering for each rider.

Stage 1 was a flatter race through farm lands outside of Boise. It was cold and rainy for most of the race.

Stage 2 was a 10.8 mile time trial in the pouring rain. We wrapped ourselves in blankets while waiting for our start. It was a little tricky navigating the slick start ramp and twisty turns out to the main part of the course.

Stage 3 was the Queen Stage with two climbs through the mountains. Once again, it was cold but luckily the rain held off until the last part of the race. I got dropped at one point in the race and rode for a while with 2x World Champion Georgia Bronzini until a small group joined us.

Stage 4 was over before it had really even begun. Moments before the race started four jets flew right over the start line, it was so cool. About 50 meters into the race there was a big crash that I was behind and had to slow for, in the meantime the race started so fast that if you weren't connected to the train you were out of luck and your day was over. The coolest part about this day was the crowds and atmosphere, there were people all around the circuit and many were even dressed up. It was awesome.

Stage 5 was a closing party rodeo, complete with bucking broncos, a mechanical bull and one of the most tender stakes I've ever had. Okay, so it really wasn't a stage but it was also awesome. It was fun to mingle with everyone while not fighting for position in the peloton. They closed the Tour by presenting each rider with a huge special edition Exergy Tour belt buckle.

 Team Presentation - Emily, Kristin, Bec, Alisha, Jen, Anna

Prologue in downtown Boise

Rainy Stage 1: We passed a school and all the kids were lining the street with flags

Dave was our team mechanic for the week. It was so fun having him along.

Signing in for Stage 4

The flyover before Stage 4 mayhem



 The team showing off our belt buckles at the rodeo

Summer

Dave says: I finished up a busy semester of classes and research at the beginning of May. Now summer is here and things are a little more laid back which is nice. We just returned from a two week road trip to Utah and Idaho. We stopped in Cedar City and visited with Alisha's family.  My parents finally sold their Cedar City house and I helped my dad move out the last of the furniture and miscellaneous items. We also went on the coldest bike ride that I have been on since moving to Tucson with morning temperatures of 37 degrees in Cedar City plus a blowing wind. Alisha bought me some cheap gloves at a gas station because I couldn't feel my hands.

We also happened to be in Cedar City (apparently the best place in the US in terms of viewing) right during an eclipse where the moon moved in front of the sun blocking it out and making it look like the burning eye of Sauron from the Lord of the Rings. Doug and Roberta were traveling up to SLC that same day and stopped to see it with us. Debbie also got us some "Eclipse Glasses" to look through so that we could stare directly at the sun.

The next part of the trip took us up to Boise for the Exergy Tour. On the way, we spent the night with Alisha's coach Kelly in Ogden. We also stopped to see Shoshone Falls. During peak runoff I imagine it would be close to Niagra Falls however this time of year it was impressive but not running with as much water.

Alisha raced with the Primal/Map My Ride team and I was the team mechanic. This is the biggest women's race in the US this year with a mostly international field of national (and world) champions and Olympic gold medalists and it was cool to be a part of. Everything was very professionally done and I was impressed with Boise. Up in the mountains outside of the city there are jagged cliffs, thick forests, and whitewater rivers that make you think you are somewhere in Colorado. I enjoyed working with everyone on the team and was glad that things turned out well. Many of the other big teams brought a full trailer of gear and two professional mechanics so I was definitely a bit outclassed at times. Additionally, most races involved a bit of rain at either the start or the end meaning that a lot of time was spent washing bikes.

On the way home, we stopped again in Cedar City. We planned to travel to Lake Powell for a day with Alisha's family, however their truck broke down halfway to the lake and the trip was cancelled. Instead, we spent a day in Phoenix hanging out with Christine and her girls which was fun as well. Finally, we returned to Tucson to face the triple digit summer temperatures. Utah and Idaho are great places to be this time of year but I still prefer Tucson summers over SLC winters. We rode up Mt. Lemmon yesterday with Alex and escaped the heat. I'm already starting to think about our next summer trip.