Tucson, AZ — Since I didn’t finish the race yesterday, technically I wasn’t allowed to start today’s stage. But I wanted to see what the circuit race course was like so I snuck in just to ride a few laps. I made sure I stayed at the very back of the pack the whole time so I couldn’t have any affect on the outcome of the race. For the few laps I raced, the pace wasn’t as fast as it was during the road race. It actually felt easy to me. The climb on the back half of the course was more of a big-ring grinder. The only downside was the course was pretty rough. After three laps my scouting was done and I pulled myself.

Heather had already raced before me and won the stage and ended up getting second overall! It would have been first, if she hadn’t lost time during the time trial due to the rental car fiasco. Speaking of which, Heather had already called Budget and complained and they agreed to give us a discount. To throw salt on the wound, when we returned the car, the amount they were going to charge us didn’t match what Heather was promised over the phone. They tried to contact the person Heather talked to but he was supposedly in the “Air Force” and couldn’t be reached. So they said they couldn’t change it. That’s when I blew a fuse! I energetically expressed my dissatisfaction and told them they better change it, and added that that was the last time I’d use Budget. They finally changed it and we were off to the airport. Moral of the story…never use Budget!. We’ll only go with Hertz, Avis or Enterprise from now on.