Today was the prologue time trial for the Treasure Valley Omnium. This will be my first road race of the year and I am in no way ready for it! I only averaged 3-4 hrs/week this winter whereas most Category 1/2 racers are doing 15-25 hrs/week! So I figure I would use this event to “race into shape” much like Jan Ullrich uses the spring races (although I didn’t pack on the pounds over the winter as Jan does).

The race started by the Swan Falls Dam on the Snake River. I had never been there so I didn’t know what to expect. The course description only talked about a hill next to the dam, so I was picturing something like the Lucky Peak dam on Hwy 21. The road only climbs as high as the dam is. It was a big surprise when we drove there that we made this sharp right-hand turn into a huge canyon formed by the Snake River! It was at least 1,000 feet down to the river bed and the road hugged the cliffs as it steeply descended to where we would be starting.

Since I only brought a 23-tooth cog I realized I was in for some punishment. I suffered through the climb and then by the time I reached the flat section of the course my legs were toast! I decided to just tempo the rest of the TT so I could same something for the next couple of days. My time was so bad that I was second from last. My friend Chris was the only one to go slower than me and that’s because he was stuck with a bigger gear than I was!