Stage 2

We made it through stage 2 pretty ok. The nuetral roll out was pretty hard and separation occured within the first 8 minutes. We managed to hang on and hit the first singletrack in good position. About halfway through the first descent we saw the first place team on the side of the trail with a flat! So we kept on it and managed to hold them off for almost 2 hours. They caught us on a fast downhill right after Jerry drilled a fence and later he found he bent his derailluer. He figured it out when we hit the next hill and blew threw the last aid station while 1st place stopped. He only had 5th to 9th gear and we had some steep climbing to do. They caught us again and we weren't able to respond and they ended up 1:30 or so ahead of us. So we're now 9:01 in arrears overall. We almost cracked the top 20 overall. The trails were amazing, the climbs lengthy and the weather was perfect. If only the creeks were a little warmer. So tomorrow is going to be tough. 43 miles and one climb over 12,000 feet and another close to that. We even get to ride through snow.
Well, it seems as though we're always the Bridesmaid and never the Bride. Hopefully we can pull off at least one stage win while we're here.