Although
my
recollections
of
last
night’s
post
stage
race
antics
are
a
bit
on
the
fuzzy
side
(but
my
team
mates
told
me
I
had
a
good
time),
I
will
try
and
remember
how
the
last
week
panned
out…..
As
the
’02
cycling
season
is
moving
along
my
"to
do"
list
of
races
as
a
pro
is
progressively
getting
shorter.
I
have
just
finished
the
infamous
Sea
Otter
Classic
and
am
happy
to
say
that
I
survived
(35th
GC),
which
is
more
than
over
half
the
field
can
say.
At
first
glance
the
race
does
not
seem
that
hard;
it
is
only
3
day’s
long
for
god
sake,
how
hard
could
it
be?
The
answer……..
very!
In
cycling
you
always
hear
tales
of
what
certain
races
are
like
such
as
how
big
a
climb
might
be
or
how
fast
and
dangerous
a
crit
is
but
oftentimes
words
don’t
do
a
race
justice.
This
is
certainly
the
case
with
the
Sea
Otter.
I
was
told
how
gnarly
the
corkscrew
on
the
Laguna
Seca
is
and
how
insanely
fast
the
crit
would
be.
But
you
never
can
put
into
words
what
so
much
pain
feels
like.
My
teammate
Doug
Z.
described
how
hard
the
crit
was
when
after
the
race
he
said,
"Hey,
Chuck,
it’s
a
pretty
easy
life
racing
as
a
pro
don’t
‘ya
think?"
The
race
started
on
Thurs
with
an
18
mile
ITT
in
the
morning
(with
2000’
of
climbing)
and
a
2-hour
crit
in
the
afternoon.
This
is
regarded
by
many
as
one
of
the
hardest
days
of
racing
for
the
year.
I
knew
that
in
order
to
be
helpful
to
our
GC
guys
for
the
entire
stage
race
it
would
be
important
not
to
go
too
hard
in
the
ITT.
I
rode
a
nice
solid
tempo
and
gave
it
a
little
stick
on
the
final
long
climb
before
descending
back
onto
the
Laguna
Seca
racetrack.
I
felt
great
and
would
loved
to
have
been
able
to
go
110%
I
know
I
could
have
been
at
least
2-3
minutes
faster.
I
tried
to
maintain
a
heart
rate
in
the
low
170’s
when
I
normally
time
trial
with
it
in
the
mid
180’s.
I
still
somehow
finished
in
the
middle
of
the
pack;
I
think
a
lot
of
guy’s
must
have
soft-pedaled
the
course
(going
just
hard
enough
not
to
get
time
cut).
With
only
a
couple
hours
in-between
events
you
barely
have
enough
time
to
grab
a
bite
to
eat
and
a
quick
shower
before
it
is
time
to
chamois-up
again
and
hit
the
road.
The
crit
course
that
afternoon
was
on
beautiful
Canary
Row;
it
is
a
rectangle
course
with
a
short
steep
bump
going
up
to
the
backside
and
a
fast
hard
last
corner
before
a
windy
250-meter
dash
for
the
line.
Everyone
was
telling
me
that
positioning
is
everything;
if
you
get
a
bad
start
it
is
impossible
to
move
up.
This
could
not
have
been
truer.
Our
entire
team
had
a
solid
start
and
on
the
second
lap
we
had
3
guys
in
a
break
of
5
that
included
race
leader
and
eventual
overall
winner,
Chris
Horner
(Prime
Alliance).
The
move
looked
like
it
was
going
to
stick
but
the
Postal
&
Saturn
boy’s
teamed
up
and
managed
to
bring
the
break
back.
When
the
break
was
finally
absorbed
the
field
already
been
widdled
down
to
less
than
50,
it
was
one
of
the
fastest
races
I
have
ever
done.
Friday
was
a
100+
mile
road
race
that
had
2200’
of
climbing
per
lap
and
it
was
raining
sideways.
My
job
was
to
stay
at
the
front
and
cover
any
moves
that
we
considered
to
be
a
threat.
The
main
descent
after
the
feed
zone
was
quite
the
hair-raising
experience.
I
clocked
a
max
speed
of
over
60mph
on
roads
that
were
slick
as
snot
and
strewn
with
those
little
annoying
reflective
‘road
turtles’.
On
the
first
trip
down
the
descent
I
heard
someone
crash
in
one
of
the
corners,
I
wouldn’t
even
wish
that
on
my
worst
enemies.
I
somehow
managed
to
stay
in
the
top
10
for
the
first
3
of
5
laps
and
½
way
through
the
third
lap
I
flatted.
Since
I
was
a
domestique
this
weekend
when
I
flat
the
whole
team
doesn’t
drop
back
to
bridge
me
back
to
the
main
field,
I
am
on
my
own.
So
I
buried
myself
on
the
hills
and
tucked
the
descents,
I
finally
made
contact
with
the
caravan
and
had
a
couple
minutes
to
sit
in
before
we
had
to
face
the
climb
for
the
fourth
time,
which
somehow
managed
to
grow
longer
and
steeper
every
lap.
The
field
was
already
down
to
less
than
70
and
it
shattered
this
time
up.
For
the
last
lap
I
rotated
through
with
Svein
Tuft
(Prime
Alliance)
and
Vassili
Davidenko
(Navigators)
just
to
finish
the
race.
The
final
day
was
sparse
to
say
the
least,
only
85
riders
made
it
to
the
start
line.
This
was
a
cool
race;
we
had
to
do
20
laps
of
the
famous
Laguna
Seca
racecourse.
Let
me
tell
you
that
when
you
see
Superbikes
on
the
TV
going
over
the
top
of
the
hill
at
140
mph
it
only
looks
like
a
bump
in
the
road,
when
actually
it
is
a
veritable
wall!
Henk
Vogels
(Mercury)
slammed
the
climb
from
the
gun
and
I
was
redlined
just
trying
to
hang
on
to
his
wheel.
The
descent
after
the
climb
was
also
insane;
the
"corkscrew"
was
single
file
and
all
out
every
time.
If
you
gapped
a
wheel
going
over
the
top
you
had
to
put
in
a
big
effort
just
to
try
and
get
back
in
touch
with
the
group.
That
is
what
makes
Kirk
O’bees
(Navigators)
solo
effort
off
the
front
even
more
Herculean.
He
managed
to
build
up
a
1’30"
lead.
We
knew
the
move
would
never
succeed
but
it
was
still
an
impressive
display
of
power.
With
3
laps
to
go
the
group
was
down
to
40ish
and
I
was
dangling
on
the
back.
A
gapped
opened
in
front
of
me
and
I
could
only
just
watch
it
get
exponentially
bigger.
I
decided
to
stick
it
out
and
rode
in
the
last
two
laps
solo.
All
in
all
it
was
a
good
weekend,
we
got
2nd
in
the
crit,
a
guy
in
the
top
10
and
3rd
in
team
GC.
Thurs:
75
miles
3000kj
Fri:
120
miles
5000kj
Sat:
55
miles
2500kj
Ride
it
like
you
stole
it!
Chuck
Chuck
Coyle
http://www.team7up.com/
(Coming
soon:
Photos
of
Chuck
and
lots
of
Sea
Otter
action
on
our
US
News
page.)
| 
