I'll leave the Stage 2 blogging for somebody else

Wow, you just can't beat the quality of people (community members, race organizers, racers) here in Silver City. The race is yet to end, and I don't want to jinx my expectations, but the Tour of the Gila is, simply put,...outstanding.

Today, stage 3, was the individual time trial, an out-and-back, in Tyrone, New Mexico, just a stones throw from downtown Silver City. The course commenced with a gradual 5 mile uphill followed by a steep downhill, which led into a few rollers before the turn-around. Returning to the finish included a steep 2 mile climb and a ripping-fast 5 mile descent. Today's weather was comfortably warm and the wind was at our backs on the way to the turn-around and directly at our heads on the way home...better than a crosswind, but still not easy.

The fastest on the day for Ciclismo Racing was our daily dose of "Sunshine" and GC leader, Mr. Benjamin Kneller, covering the course in 35:22, which equated to a 12th place finish. In a field of over 140, and with 3 riders preparing for the Giro d'italia, one of which was slower than Ben, trust me 12th place is a truly special and spectacular result. Oh yeah, I almost forgot, and this result came after a malfunction of his front derailleur, which Ben overcame by ramping his speed up to 45 miles per hour, putting his hand down to grab his chain, and returning his chain to the big chainring to finish the race...talk about staying cool-headed in a could-be disastrous situation. As a teammate, when another teammate rides so hard that they can barely finish the short spin back to the house, a performance like Ben's encourages us to ride even that much harder for our GC leader and glues us that much tighter as a team.

Thanks for reading,
Phil Mann

On a side note, and to give all you readers some perspective, I rode 20 seconds faster today than last year on the same course, but I was 52 places higher, 39th last year versus 91st this year (don't judge my placings, I wasn't hired as a time trial specialist :)). Hopefully this incite sheds light on the depth of talent in the field of racers.