That was the length of yesterday's stage, into a headwind. I followed a couple moves early, but thankfully none of them stuck and I spent the day sitting in the field and trying not to fall asleep. I was certainly thankful not to be one of those three guys off the front yesterday. CSC, Discovery, Tinkoff, and Toyota all put riders on the front to keep the break in control, and the break was caught just before the circuits. Once the circuits hit, I had a really difficult time fighting for position. I was so preoccupied with trying not to fall off my bike that I really wasn't any help to my teammates going for the stage win. I think that's result of a year full of injuries; I can't fully shut off the fear and fight in the finish. That'll come back slowly, I assume.

I should also point out that I got my first ever quote in Sports Illustrated yesterday, or their online version at least. They asked me what I thought of Tyler Hamilton being back from his doping suspension. I didn't feel I was qualified to answer that question, so I gave them no comment. Perhaps unsurprisingly, they presumed that to mean I represented a faction of the field that was unwelcoming of his return. Why did they think some goofball domestic cyclist from Portland who'd gotten lucky on a single stage would have anything particularly insightful to say on the topic anyway? Oh well.

It's time for another long day. With hills this time. More later.