Jelly Belly rider Phil Gaimon talks about nerves, the crowds, his ride and parking next to the Astana bus in his first big pro race.

By Phil Gaimon

Two miles down, something like 700 to go for the rest of the race: much ado about nothing in the long run.

Our Jelly Belly team rolled up to the start just when they finished setting up the course, pre-rode it, and then sat in the RV, trying to relax. Unfortunately, relaxation is difficult when the Astana bus parks right next to you. They effectively made our entire block a zoo, but it seems that none of the heavy hitters wanted to show their faces. Spectators would wait outside their bus, realize there wasn’t much to see, and then come talk to the friendly Jelly Belly guys, maybe scoring some candy.

We all had fun signing autographs and giving out Jelly Belly samples while we warmed up. My parents flew in from Atlanta to watch the first couple days, so I also got to chat with them to help break up my trainer time. After being at the race for three hours and warming up for one, I went to the start house, waited in line, got my bike checked, waited in a chair, then finally got my name called to wait on the starting blocks.

All that buildup, and here’s how the next four minutes and forty-eight seconds went: sprint, shift down, sprint again, coast into the one-eighty degree turn (while shifting back into an easy gear), sprint out of the turn, go through the quick right-left turns, click it into the hardest gear, put the head down, try to hold that speed, blow as I approach the line, coast, brake, cramp.

I think I did it about right. I was racing tubular tires for the first time in years. You can corner a little harder on those, but I wasn’t quite used to them yet, so I probably lost a second or two in the turns, preferring to wait until tomorrow to risk my skin. I definitely went hard enough. If you suffer properly, you finish with some confusion and disorientation (in addition to a lot of pain). I was disoriented enough to make the wrong turn on the way back to the bus, and get almost lost in downtown Sacramento during my cooldown.

As far as my result, I’d half expected to be pretty close to last place, but 87th place at 16 seconds off the win in an event that’s not my strength at all is pretty satisfying (as is twelve seconds off some guy that won a few tours or something). I hope to top it and surprise myself again when the climbs come, but I remain safely pessimistic. I prefer to aim low and then beat my expectations, since there’s less chance of disappointment that way.

Oh yeah, I suppose I should mention Lance. I was sitting in the RV when he left his warmup area and headed past us to the start line. He was surrounded by security, and followed by a STAMPEDE of fans. One of them hit his head on our RV’s mirror on the way to catch the finish. Ivan Basso rode by a minute later. Alone. I have to admit, though, Lance went pretty fast for his first TT back. He’s not playing around.

Still looks like snow tomorrow…Here’s to keeping the rubber-side down and the name in the finish results. Blogs will get shorter as the race gets longer, but I’ll keep writing, so keep checking them out.