Stage 6 – Altoona Criterium – 30 laps – 50km I had a restless night from the pain in my back, woke up feeling tired all over and was looking forward to my mid season break next week.  With the humid temperature hovering around 95F (30C) it was going to be a tough hour of racing.  We rode 20km from […]

Stage 5 – Altoona – Blue Knob Road Race – 94 miles – 150km In yesterday’s fall, I must have hit the ground awkwardly because although our soigneur massaged the area well, I woke up feeling stiff and sore in my lower back and gluteal area.  For me, today’s race comprised of two parts – the 80km undulating section before […]

Stage 4 – Martinsburg Circuit Race – 70 miles – 123km With everyone thinking about tomorrow’s most difficult mountain stage, most riders were happy to conserve today with the stage being largely uneventful.  We were content to let a Verizon Wireless rider dangle a few minutes up the road but she was caught with 5km to go when Genesis decided […]

Stage 3 – Hollidaysburg Circuit Race – 60 miles – 93km After yesterday’s 100 mile stage, many riders were looking a little weary but I tend to feel stronger as the tour develops and woke up feeling ready to race hard.  Today’s stage was 3 loops of a 31km undulating course with one KOM only 2km from the start/finish.  There […]

Stage 2 – Johnstown to Altoona – 98 miles (158km) Finally we had a day without rain.  Today’s long 100 mile stage had a number of climbs and also started with a 10% 5km climb within 1km of the start.  My legs felt nasty and I suffered like a dog all day.  Thankfully I had requested a 12×27 cassette and […]

Stage 1 – Johnstown Road Race – 73 miles (120km) The Johnstown road race consisted of 3 x 40km loops with many tight and technical corners through the Johnstown area.  Again it was pouring with rain and with 4 sets of railway crossings each lap I stayed up the front where it was safe.  There were dozens of crashes with […]

The Tour d’Altoona is a 7 day multi stage race held in Pennsylvania.  It is one of the few North American tours where the women receive more prize money than our male counterparts but as part of the deal to feature the women more prominently, we raced the same distances each day as the men.  Here is how it unfolded […]