The last day of Cascade was another tough one. 84 miles, 5 laps, with a couple little climbs that dished out the hurt.

In summary, it was one of the most painful days of racing I've ever had. The first two laps were super fast and I was giving it a 110% just to stay on. I regulated myself to water boy after that.

The second to last time up the climb I did everything to just stay on. I knew that if I got over the top I could get some bottles for the team and help out that way. That's what I did and then just hovered at the back exhausted.

The last time up I was cooked and rode the last 5k with Floyd Landis who was part of the Ouch train driving it into the climb.

He was a nice guy and offered me some water, but it must have been a trick since he's been sick all week. "I'm not sick anymore, I just can't get better," he said. Okay, whatever Floyd.

Thanks to a lead out from James Mattis I pumped him on the line. That turned a bad day into a possible once in a lifetime result.

I thought it was over, but I was wrong. We needed to keep the pressure on to make our flight home so I suffered some more on Ben's wheel as he raced home. Not to worry, we made it with plenty of time.

Overall Cascade went pretty well for Team Bissell. All that suffering ended in 2 stage wins, a day in yellow and another day in green. Good times.