i'm surviving... barely! stage 1

i'm cracked.. it's 9pm (on wednesday when i began writing this) here and i just took 1.5 ambien.. so if i start talking crazy you'll know why. stage one was a 120km, 16 lap circuit race in shanghai china. hard.. very hard. the vergesport team: - jonny sundt - the next great american domestique (team player) - victor ayala - the socal sprinting superstar (actually he's from mexico) - surgio hernandez - the up and comer - steve tilford - father time... one of the most experienced guys in the peloton.. not to - mention on of the nicest - lex nederlof - dutch.. need i say more. his experience includes 27 years of racing. - me the plan: a stage win and finish as many people in the top 20 as we can.. the morning started with a tour de france style team presentation. when i say presentation, i mean PRESENTATION. complete with confetti cannons, 100's of balloons, a huge 200ft stage, 2 50ft jumbotrons, and thousands of spectators. the am festivities were followed by a 12km neutral "ride" with the local cycling community to the official race start. the actual race course consisted of 16 flat circuits finishing in front of the world's largest skate park (i'll include some pictures later bRet). the team plan was to be attentive and never stray far from the front. the points classification consisted of 3 intermediate sprints and then points 10 deep at the finish. during the pre-race meeting i was told that victor and i should try and test our legs against the other sprinters for the points competition. the race started fast.. and.. well.. ended fast, averaging about 28mph. the first move of the day came on lap one containing 12 guys including steve, surgio, and i. immediately had a pretty descent gap, 40 sec's, and the field didn't seem too enthused to chase. half-way through the second lap the break started loosing focus and the attacks were awn. feeling pretty good at this point i was able to follow most everything just trying to keep the 4th lap sprint in sight. as we started the third lap, the break was whittled down to four riders, including me, but the field was closing fast. 5km before the sprint we were caught and a 7 man counter rode off the front uncontested. with super sundt in tow, the break managed to gain a minute. three laps later, with the gap at 1:14, the mongolian and hong kong national teams decided the separation was a little to big for their liking and began chasing. 20mi's later.. the leaders were in sight and the counter attacks were inevitable. i was the first to go... with dreams of victory, i rode through the break like the hippstar on speed. about 2 seconds later, i started questioning my idiotic dream of success and was caught exactly 4 seconds later ; ) the deck reshuffled. this time seven guys went and lex, always attentive, made the split with four others bridging up a mile later. from that on it was head down, wheels in the gutter riding. with the race up the road a couple teams tried to organize but it was too late. as we started the last lap the break was at 2:30 and the winner was coming from that group. when the smoke cleared, it was a belgian rider rode away solo. second place was decided by a small group sprint with our man, lex, taking third. the rest of the vergesport crew rode in safely tucked in the back of the field. it was a fair day for the team.. i think that everybody rode well but not quite at 100% due to the jet-lag and the air quality. till tomorrow.. nick