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Tyler Tunes: A little down time

By Tyler Hamilton, CSC professional cycling team
Published: Aug. 26, 2003
Photo: Cor Vos

Girona—With a little extra time on my hands these days I thought I would take the opportunity to fill you in on what’s going on here.

First off, I was off the bike for a few days after my crash at the Tour of Holland. I went down hard last Wednesday during the finishing circuits of stage 2. Ironically, we were on the straightest part of the course when the accident happened. A couple guys went down directly in front of me. And being that we were in a crowded field of riders going at a pretty good clip, there was nowhere to go but straight into them.

I have no idea what happened really, and my injuries don’t offer any insights. The worst of which is a gash to my finger that took 15 stitches to close. It’s pretty ugly. The stitches are spaced pretty far apart to allow for draining and they run the length of the middle finger on my left hand. I don’t know for the life of me what caused the cut. But it was pretty deep. I could see the bone and tendons. I didn’t have any grease on my hand or any other abrasions; Just the gash. It’s really strange.

We think I’ve also partially torn the hip flexor muscle in my right leg which is making getting back to training a little bit difficult. I must look pretty funny on the bike right now. I can’t pull up on the right pedal and shifting with my left hand all bandaged up is no synch either. So I’ve been riding at the only speed possible – very slow.

The team has me scheduled to do the GP Eddy Merckx this weekend so we’ll see what kind of shape I am in for that. If I get the green light from my doctors to go, I’m hoping the fact that the race is a two-man team time trial will work in my favor.

But why?
Everyone keeps asking me what I am still doing racing. The deal is that our team is pretty small and we have nine guys going to the Vuelta and one guy out with a broken collarbone. So, it takes everyone else on the roster to keep a second program going. Bjarne is very concerned about keeping his “Top Club” rating for next year which means we all have to do our part to earn more points and keep the team ranked comfortably in the top 10. Right now CSC is about sixth overall with points from this season. If the team stays in the Top 10 then they are automatically selected for all the big races next year.

As it stands right now, my racing schedule will come to a close at the beginning of October. The team has me scheduled for about five one day races scattered through Belgium, France and Italy in the second half of September. And, I’m a reserve for the Giro di Lucca, a stage race that stretches into October. I’m hoping I can hold onto my form though then, but it’s been a tough year and I have put my body through quite a lot.

No Hamilton for Hamilton
Taking everything into consideration, it looks as though a trip to the World Championships in Hamilton, Ontario, is out of the question. I have pushed myself to the limit this season under the circumstances, and will need to start focusing on recovering for next year as soon as my schedule wraps up. If you ride yourself completely into the ground it’s hard to bounce back 100 percent for the next season.

On a totally different note, I have a crazy story for you about a trip I took to the U.S. earlier this month. I had been invited to fire the starting gun at a race in New York City on August 3rd. After fulfilling my obligations at the event my wife and I were able to use the opportunity to see family and friends as well as travel home to Boston for a couple of days. We hadn’t been Stateside in seven months, so we were really looking forward to the trip. Since we had been away so long, we had a lot of stuff to bring home with us, which brings me to my story.

We flew from Barcelona through London Heathrow on to New York-JFK on August 1st. We arrived to find one of our bags was lost. It was a carry on backpack we were told was too heavy to bring on board. It was full of newspaper and magazine articles my wife had saved from the Tour. It also contained a bunch of other race paraphernalia, most importantly, the jersey I wore during my stage victory.

Long story short, we finally received the bag from British Airways 20 days after the fact. We had been back in Europe for almost two weeks by then, so we had sort of given up hope of seeing it again. It was cut up, damaged and the contents were all a wreck. And my jersey was gone.

Don't buy this jersey
Don't buy this jersey
Photo: Graham Watson

Traveling as much as I do, I’m used to losing bags. I think it happens at least 10 times a year. But it’s another thing all together to have something stolen from you. You would think with heightened security at the airports these days that theft was not an option. And considering you are no longer allowed to lock your bags, it seems fair to assume surveillance in baggage areas would be extremely high. But to have a backpack sliced up with a knife and pilfered from, proves that this is not always the case. So be careful when you check things these days.

And seriously, if you ever see or hear of anyone offering to sell a 2003 CSC Team jersey with my name and the Tour de France numbers “71” on the back, contact the webmaster of this site to let us know – It’s most likely my stolen shirt. I’ve only given one other one like it away to a friend, and as far as I know he’s keeping it. So there shouldn’t be anything out there remotely similar.

On a brighter note, Nicolas Jalabert had a great weekend at Plouay finishing third on Sunday. He’s really had a great year, riding consistently all season. Next up, we’re hoping for good things from Carlos Sastre who is busy preparing for the Vuelta España as I type this. He will lead the CSC team and everyone has high hopes for him. This race is a big opportunity for him to show his stuff. And with 100 percent team support, he should be able to do something special there. So send the good vibes Carlos’ way during the month of September.

That’s about it from here.

Thanks for reading.


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