Big day today.

I did 83 miles with these guys this morning. It was almost five hours. It was with their 3s, who just got back from a weeklong training camp in Asheville, North Carolina. They were all in pretty good shape, to say the least. We rode far enough north that we rode HILLS. I didn't even know Illinois had hills. I had just finished a pretty long pull on the front when we hit the rollers, so I was caught completely unprepared. It was ugly.

Also present was Rebecca Much, a pro for Webcor. She's a former junior national champion in BOTH road and TT, and she finished second at junior worlds. She's really fast. Really, really fast. She toyed with me all day. Every time I attacked, and even when I countered off one of her attacks, I would look back and there she was, smiling away. She's also the 2005 National U23 crit champion, she she can sprint forever. In short, it was a very, very painful day in the saddle today.