We rode down to the covered bridge yesterday. Five of us started but Carl Frederick chased us down in Valley Park. The others he was meeting didn't show up. Then, on the last stretch to Haute Arete, Joe flatted. While he was changing tubes, up rolled Rusty, Andy and older guy Bruce. So, we wound up with a sizable group of nine rolling down Hillsboro-House Springs Rd. I was feeling pretty decent until the last few rolling hills before Glade Chapel. Then it was like somebody flipped a switch and my legs turned off. The ride back on Old Lemay was fair at best. I couldn't put forth an effort and I got slower with each hill. Cramps began to creep in as well. Eventually everyone regrouped on Route de Quatre Arêtes. Everyone started to take at turn at the front and we were moving pretty well when the legs started tightening up again with every little roller. I bailed out of the paceline at that point. I didn't want my legs locking up maybe causing a wreck. I limped back to the Citgo at Haute Arete. Some Powerade helped some I'm sure but there was no riding through the cramps. They stayed the rest of the ride. On top of that, my left knee began hurting. By the end of the ride, it was screaming. Time to stretch the I.T. band again.

The one bright spot was that I rode about as well as Levi Leipheimer in yesterday's TT. Damn it Levi, you are killing my fantasy team! Gonchar put in an Ullrich-like performance to win by almost a minute. He might fight pretty hard in the mountains but he's bound to crack at some point. Landis has set himself up nicely for the overall. Evans is still a definite threat. Karpets is looking good. Discovery has put themselves in a hole with all their TT performances. I'm ready for the mountains to begin.