Chris Jones’ Diary – Tour of California Stage 1

February 15th, 2009 by Ron Callahan View Comments

Chris Jones is a second-year professional for Team Type 1 who lives in Sacramento, Calif. While he competes in his first Amgen Tour of California, he is sharing his thoughts with Bike World News.

Chris on a sunnier California day

Today was one of those days when everyone was already a little cold and wet at the beginning. So at the start, I think we were all content to ride along. All day, it was cold and wet and everyone knew it was going to be a long ride.

So when Francesco Mancebo (Rock Racing) attacked and Tim Johnson and the other guy went away, everyone was pretty content to let it go – until the gap got out to 11 minutes. Then Liquigas started to ride leading into the second King of the Mountain (KOM) line. That’s when the time gap started coming down and the group split on the second climb.

At the KOM on the second climb, I broke my rear derailleur, so I ended up having to get a bike change right on the KOM line. I was in the front group going over so I had to wait for the very last rider of the front group before (Team Type 1 Director Sportif) Vassili Davidenko got me the change. Once I was on my spare bike, I chased and caught them just as the last climb was about to begin. I was pretty toasted by then, so I tried to make it the best I could.

As for the effect the weather had on our equipment, there were quite a few flats today, but I don’t think anyone went down. Fabio Calabria – one of our riders with Type 1 diabetes - did lay it down by our team motorcoach, though. I also heard Lance Armstrong crashed, but when I saw him by the side of the road I wasn’t sure if he crashed or flatted.

I think early on the conditions were the worse – it was in the high 30, low 40s and it almost would have been better if it would have snowed. I wished I had more body fat on me. Louis Garneau gave us some pretty nice winter clothing – rain jackets and gloves – so we were as well prepared as any team out there.

We have an 8:30 start tomorrow, so it was key that when we get back that we get massaged, eat and get in bed as soon as possible. I imagine everyone will be pretty lethargic, especially if the weather is like it was today. So Monday may be a good day for us to be aggressive and get in some breaks.

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