Stage 1- Stage one was a 129km circuit race around Xi’an, and it was pouring rain.  We started at 10am.  The race was full gas the whole time it never slowed down once.  It took something like 2.5 hours to finish.  About half way through there was a massive pileup of 70 or so riders.  I went down but luckily I landed on someone.  I checked my bike and got ready to chase.  Teammate Tanner Putt and I chased for a whole lap before catching the group ahead of us.  We eventually made it to the front and settled back in. I made a few moves just to stay warm.  It came down to a field sprint; my goal was to finish without loosing skin.  Hard day with much more to come

Stage 2- Stage two was 181km from Xi’an-Baoji.  Pouring rain again, and about 60 degrees, very cold for someone like me.  I wore a rain jacket and hoped for the best.  The rain didn’t let up the whole time, pretty miserable day.  I sat in, went with some moves, and rode at the front, back, getting really bored.  Somehow two guys got away and pulled out 4 or 5 minutes on the race.   I sat in and let the big pro teams do their thing, but the never managed to pull the two guys back.  A field sprint for 3^rd was in order.  The stage took around 4:15 to finish, I just sat in and got the time of the pack.

Stage 3- Stage three was going to be a challenge as I had gotten very sick the night after stage 2.  Bad food poisoning along with what comes with that.  I was sick all night, couldn’t hold down any food, just bad.  I got up the next day at about 6:45 and went to breakfast, eating only rice.  Stage 3 was 112km from Baoji-Feng County with a cat 1 climb 30k in.  The climb was about 16k long.  I was looking forward to this stage before I had gotten sick, but now my goal was to survive.  On the way to the climb I knew I was going to be in for a long day.  We hit the climb and I had nothing in the tank, so I struggled up the climb in the Groupetto.  At the top of the climb there was still 80km to go, I sat in as the pace got harder and harder.  I just clung on and finished 4 minutes down on the winner.  Teammate Tanner Putt pulled out a 4^th place finish, congrats to him. 

Rest Day/transfer day- the rest day wasn’t really a rest day, as we had an 8-hour (500km) transfer from Feng County-Mianyang.  Driving through China was beautiful and interesting, we drove through huge mountains and very cool roads.  It was raining again today, so not racing was ok! We arrived in our hotel tired of the car and ready for a good nights sleep.  I am still sick at this point, trying to fight it off and hold down some food, but still struggling. 

Stage 4- Going into stage 4, a 204km stage from Xianhai, Mianyang-Suining, I was still feeling sick.  We started at 10am again after a 20km drive to the start.  There were 2 laps of a very hard circuit, I sat in and didn’t crash.  I started to feel sick about halfway through the first lap… it was going to be another very long day as quitting is not an option.  After the circuits we headed out to the highway for a throw-down.  I sat in and felt worse and worse, until I started heaving, not able to hold down any food except a gel every once in a while.  We hit the feed zone at 108km in, and grabbed a bag taking what I could use out of it.  I started to feel worse and worse as the day went on.  The last 20km were hell, I struggled to hold down anything, even water.  I finished in the field cramping up everywhere you can cramp, literally.  The stage took 4:40 to complete.  I have never felt as bad as today after a race, I pushed myself farther than I though possible to finish. I felt like I was going to pass out/had the chills/threw up/dizzy/migraine/ etc. After riding back to the hotel in the car, a doctor came to see me.  Sure enough I have a fever of 101, with chances of starting tomorrow looking slim.  I’m going to get good nights rest and try to eat.  Ill take it hour by hour and hope for the best for tomorrow.