Tour of Missouri, Stage 6

this weekend i took a couple days off to watch to ToM. denny had an idea to ride out to the schluersburg and then head back to st. charles for the finish. we met denny, dave, and brian at creve couer park to head out. let me just say after not riding the last two weeks and cashing out my legs playing hockey the day before i was in no shape to do a ride like these guys wanted to do. as we headed out we hit some nice big climbs that woke up the legs. as we got to the base of schluersburg my legs were in full cramp mode and just barely made it up. as i road i saw plenty of familiar faces from the local racing scene.

we waited around for about an hour before the first break of 11 riders came up the hill. you could just see these guys suffering. a few minutes later the main group came across. i made out hincapie and vandevelde in the top 10 just cruising up the climb. a few minutes later one sole tecos rider came through. i was inspired by everyone cheering this guy on and i had hoped he would make it back to the peleton. riding another 50 miles by yourself in these hills is not something i would wish upon anyone. i didn't know if he'd make it to the group or make the time cut, but i believe he was the tecos rider the dropped out of the race.

after they passed it was time to head back. we were down to three now since denny was going home with his wife. believe me, i was so close to heading back with him. i decided since i took the day off i might as well ride back. we took a combination of roads and the katy trail to get back. we timed it perfect and arrived about 15 minutes before the finish. cavendish completed the hat trick and missourian brad huff pulled off a 3rd place. we got in about 77 miles and got to see some real bike racers. excellent day!