After 12 years of racing I finally managed to check off my first race over in Europe, the centre of the cycling universe. It was a humdinger as 500 + riders set out to tackle a 69 km, 2900 M vertical course in the Austrian Alps. The x-factor today was the weather which served up snow, sleet and rain. All the makings for a memorable day on the bike. The neutral start was a gongshow as sport riders from the back of the field swarmed the front, riding up sidewalks, through fields and anywhere rideable to try and gain a few spots. I dropped from the last call up in the elite field (#74) to around 200th position when the road all of a sudden narrowed and the start gun went off. *Note to self, treat the next start like a playoff hockey game and bring the elbows out to play. 
From here I questioned my existence as a bike rider as I was still passing sport riders and girls 20 minutes into the race and no where near the front of the race. Chugging along I started picking riders off and did this for the next 3 hours. Hitting the top of the first climb in sub zero temps and snowflakes fluttering about helped kickstart the adrenaline. The descent was icy cold and made stopping in the 2nd feed zone with my teammate Sneddon a necessity to have our buddy/mechanic Dave help put on our winter gloves and feed us some snacks as our hands were pretty useless. From here the day got super rad as we hit some serious snow on top of the 2nd climb as giant snowflakes filled the air. My North Face gloves and Verto Jacket kept me warm as I took in the foggy Austrian alpine and continued towards the finish line picking off riders right left and centre. With 5 km to go it looked as though we had a nice decent into the finish when the course suddenly veered right straight back up the mountain. What the hell I thought, then I looked back and saw a group of 5 riders closing in. A little alarm went off in my head to quit slacking and pick up the pace! I told myself to not look back again and used what diesel was left to pick off 5 blown riders ahead of me instead before dropping down a slick muddy decent to the finish line. I have no idea where I finished but this day could turn out to be the turning point of the race year as something awoke inside me when we hit the chilly conditions up high in the mountains. Tommorow is a 15 km uphill time trial. Not really sure what to expect here but it will be something. 
Time to keep snacking and get some shut eye.
Full Results, pictures and race information can be found at Alpen-tour.at