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This year looks like being a crucial one for talented American rider Tom Danielson as he moves from the now-defunct Saturn team to Fassa Bortolo. After a 2003 season that saw him win the Tour de Langkawi and defend his Mt Washington hill-climb title, the latter part of his season was marred by injury. After spending the off-season fixing those injuries he has high hopes for a 2004 with the top team in the world. He also hopes to master the Italian keyboard!
Setmana Sufferfest
Setmana-Catalana, Spain, March 22-26, 2004
Hello everyone!
Ok, back online and just finished my first race in Europe. Ok, I did a training race in February, but that was nothing compared to Setmana Catalana...
Let me just update you on what has happened between my last update and now. Well, first off, the rules changed in Europe and I had to drop all my plans and make an unexpected trip to the USA for a new visa, so I missed the first four races I was supposed to do! That was a bummer, but it was nice to see my friends for a bit and have some chicken burritos.
Then I shot back to Italy, but had to wait two weeks before I could race again because more paperwork had to be accomplished. However, I used my time the best I could as I checked some of the courses out in this year's Giro d'Italia, including Corno alle Scale. In fact, I saw Stefano Garzelli doing the same - how cool!
Then boom, off to my first race. I had no idea what to expect, but in those five days I saw just about everything Europe has to throw at you! Ahh, wow, that race was hard! Everyone has no idea. You are no longer a bike, but a motorcycle. All the tour guys were there and it was nuts. To look back, I feel quite satisfied as I rode well, but made some mistakes. The first day I made the front group and the last climb. Just amazing to be there!
It had been raining all day, however, and cresting the top of the climb it was below freezing. Sleet, rain, and even some snow greeted my highly anaerobic body like a hammer. At this point I should have put a jacket on, but the pace on the decent was fast and I figured I would be ok without it. Wrong! In 15 minutes I went from overheated to hypothermic!! So, all I had to do was ride the wheel of the 30 guys or so in the group to finish, but my body shut down and I couldn't pedal. So, I rode by myself for 30k so cold I had to stop three times. The team car stayed with me the whole time. I would stop and put more clothes on, but it just didn't help! I was hoping I would be caught by the next group, but they never came! So, although the day was quite miserable, I was very satisfied with my performance on the two climbs, realizing that I can ride with the top guys on the climbs.
The second day was lesson #2 in the European peloton. That day I saw crosswinds like you have never seen, seriously. It was like a tornado! I got blown into a field and almost never rejoined the second group. Luckily a Gerolsteiner guy helped me, Michael Rich I think. So I made second group, but then everyone gave up and boom, gruppetto! So, I lost like 30 minutes that day, but I was just happy I lived! Rule of thumb, it is better to crash fighting for position then to take your 130lb body with carbon wheels trying to chase! I was just happy to be alive. Again, more learning, more trial by fire!
From this day out, things just started to click a bit better for me. The third day I made front group! 50 or so guys, but I'll tell you, I used more effort to do that then I did to bridge that three minute gap and win Altoona! Again, very aggressive racing, but I felt much better in the peloton. I actually enjoyed myself the whole stage, although it was very hard!
The fourth day was beautiful: made the front group on the final climb, the mountain-top finish climb, and then, yes, attacked five times! Sweet eh! And, to props to my wonde rful helmet sponsor, Giro, for making a helmet so light that I forgot about it and didn't even take it off. I guess I may have needed it as one of my attacks I shot through two television motorcycles in a switchback in an effort to rid my companions. But each attack was brought back, but now by my idols. All the big names I had watched on TV were now gritting their teeth with me. A truly special feeling! I'll never forget looking back and seeing Mayo and Garzelli chasing me down. I guess it felt unreal.
But, I made a few mistakes, of course. For one, attacking all over the place and not executing smart attacks. You know what I am talking about, the ones from behind, or using patience to time them correctly. But I didn't care, after what I had gone through prior to this climb, I was here with the best in the world. I was going to try and go down trying, and not just sit behind and wait for the race to happen. But hey, it was fun and now I have again learned a ton. From then on, with 2k to go, Valverde attacked, but then he blew right in front of me. The road was small and I couldn't get around him. The last two k's were flat and I was chasing all by myself! I caught a few guys who came out of the group ahead and finished 18th. I was happy with that after all I had done, and also I was very happy that Levi won the stage!
But, with a bit more experience and a little smarter racing on my part, I believe I could have finished higher. But, you can't hide over here. The group is so hard to ride in - the last day was so hard and when I got to 5k to go there was a big crash. I missed it, but Cioni went down hard. So I wasn't concerned with my GC because of the mistakes I made in the first stages, so I waited for him to make sure he was ok. He is fine now, but was rattled. He had done a great race all week and also helped me along the way. I wanted to show a little appreciation and show him that I would be there for him, or let alone any of my new teammates if they needed me.
Overall I was very happy with my first experience as I showed to myself that I can climb right there with the best and with a little more experience, soon I will be able to contend for the overall. Now I am getting ready (I guess you could say resting) for Vuelta Pais Vasco. There will be a similarly incredible field, more crazy hard courses, and many more things for me to learn! But hey, the best way to learn is to dive right in and mix it up.
On a final note, I would just like to mention that my beautiful bride to be finished a fantastic 23rd riding for Team Basis in her first Redlands this past week. She is going through the same troubles as me with these new fields and tough courses and coming out on top! I am very proud of her and a little more experience will land her a podium in the near future. Mark my word! I miss her very much and I am counting down the days in this last month until I see her again.
Ciao for now,
Tom