Labor Pains - Stage 4, Bird to Gird TT

Today was a 11.8 mile TT with some decent climbing on and out and back course. Again, the weather was wet and cold so there was really no time to do any kind of warm up, which is not good for any kind of peak performance in a Time Trial.

Plus, I've found out that the older you get, the more warm up you need. My overall performance was fair. I didn't lose any of my standing in the "GC" (general classification) but I tried to ride the first half of the course's climb in my big chain ring which was probably a mistake.As soon as the race was over we had just under one hour to get back to the hotel, change out of wet clothes, check out and get in the car to be able to make it through a huge tunnel by 1:30pm so we could arrive at the Ferry Terminal in Whittier, AK.

Once we went through security, got the tickets for both the cars and all the passengers taken care of, then we waited to board the ferry at 4:00pm. The ferry ride from Whittier to Cordova was about four hours long. Prince William Sound has truly breath-taking scenery, but with the rain and the clouds a lot of it was obscured. Because of a late arrival, we just had time to unpack, have a light meal and then to bed for Thursday's ride which was dubbed the "Tour de Cordova." The locals treated us with wonderful hospitality. Oh, by the wqay, as we were waiting to get in our bikes and trying to stay out of the rain, we heard over the race walkie-talkies that there was a bear sighting on the course! One of the female riders actually saw it about 50 yards away from her, but fortunately he wasn't all that interested in her. We've actually had bear sightings each of the last three days. As I was leaving, after finishing the race, I saw the bear going down an embankment just as we turned on the highway. I've done lots of training rides in Tucson but none where we've had to be on the lookout for bears!