"Basqueing" in the Sun

Stage one is complete here in the sunny Basque land. The race lived up to it's reputation with some difficult climbs and a few interesting parts. We did one climb that was 1k over 15%. There was really zero reason to do it, but it was there, so we took the turn off the main road, climbed up, descended, and came back onto the main road a few hundred meters later. It is things like that which this race is famous for. Anyway, the stage was difficult other than that. In the middle, Astana pegged it on the category 1 climb. It was absolutely full gas. My legs were screaming at me, but I was able to battle through and go over the top with the group. I think that climb finally blew the lactic from Catalunya out of my legs. Afterwards, I felt much better actually. I think my body is finally returning closer to normal after my crash, too. Hardest part of the day for me was the descents. It is such a mental battle after a crash to regain the confidence in the bike. I think by the end of the day, I was doing better, but I suspect it will take a couple more days. I hope it happens tomorrow though! Nothing else of serious note happened during the stage. I got caught behind the big crash about 2km from the finish, but thankfully it was inside the 3k, so I finish on the same time as the lead group. Hoping for good weather again tomorrow!