Editor: I’ve hounded Chad Beyer for the last few weeks to write us an update of what life is like as a neo-pro. Beyer, an Arizona product, managed to get us an update amidst his hectic travel schedule; Qatar, California, New Mexico, New York and France. And those are just the places I know off the top of my head.

Enjoy.

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I was a little nervous coming into this season, as it would be my first year professional. I didn’t really know what to expect. By late December I had already learned of my first race Tour of Qatar. I would have to be in shape early.

Say cheese! Beyer smiles (kind of) for the team's "mug shot".

My first real experience with my new team (BMC Professional Racing Team) was in January, at team camp. Camp went really well. I was in good shape and the team was happy with how I was riding. From there it was off to Qatar, my first race with the big boys. I was a little nervous lining up with Boonen and the other big names, especially considering it was a race almost designed for them. I tend to lean a little more towards climbing as one of my strengths, so it would be interesting to say the least.

All in all Qatar went really well. I managed to get myself into two breakaways during the six stages of crosswind madness. Qatar was quite the experience, not only within the race, but getting to see the Middle East as well.

On the open roads of Qatar.

From Qatar it was back to the US for some more racing. It’s been fun racing in the US this year. The last four years I was based in Belgium racing with the USA U23 National team and wasn’t able to do many domestic US races. It’s a completely different style racing here in the US. After a couple of races I was getting used to it and the results came. My first win of the season was Tour of Murrieta in Southern California, shortly after I followed it up with a win at Tour of Battenkill. I was very happy to be able to get some good results early in the season. From there I had a little rest then it was off to Gila.

All smiles as Chad claims his first NRC win.

There were rumors of Lance and Levi showing up at Gila, but no one really believed they would. But sure enough the night before it was official Lance and Levi would be racing Tour of Gila. This brought up a rarely heard of rule and as a result we (BMC) had to send five of us home. I was lucky enough to be able to stay and compete. The remanding 3 riders, Scot Nydam, Florian Stadler, and I were registered as individuals and had to were blank jerseys. I was excited for the race. I didn’t know what to expect having it been my first time competing in the Tour of the Gila.

The first stage went very well for us. I made the break of 10 riders. We were caught on the last climb and I was able to hang on for 10th while Stadler finished 6th and Nydam was 9th. It was a boost in spirits having our “whole” team in the top ten. The next stages went pretty much as planned. Then it was time for my most dreaded event the time trial. Not only is the tt my weakest area, I had the 7 time Tour de France champion starting right behind me.

The crowd for the TT was quite big considering we are in Silver City, NM. My goal was to try to hold Lance off until the turn around. I thought this would almost be impossible. As I started I looked down at my speedometer and saw 31, and I’m thinking “I’m only going 31km and hour… I’m going to get caught wayyy before the turn around”. I quickly discovered my speedometer was in miles per hour, and settled into a nice rhythm. I felt comfortable and smooth on the bike and as I was heading out I could feel the confidence growing within. I was inching up on the turn around and Lance hadn’t caught me. Would I be able to hold him off?

As I climbed up the last roller to the turn around there were photographers passing me and stopping, waiting to snap a picture of the man himself. I finally reached the turn around, and had successfully held Lance off. As I took the corner and brought myself back up to speed I glanced to my left and looked him straight in the eyes. Now I was going to try to hold him off to the line.

At the base of the last climb on the way back towards the finish, I could he the sound of Lance over my left shoulder, and the whoosh whoosh of his disc wheel as he passed. He finally caught me, then he shifted down and started to kick up the rpm’s in his famous pedaling style. I kept it in my big ring and cranked it out. I started to come back up on Lance. I didn’t know if I should pass him? But my only chance of putting in a decent time was to give it all I had on the climbs and hope for the best. So, I pushed as hard as I could and went by the man. I was now coming up on my minute man, and by the top of the climb I was within 10sec of him.

I was pushing the limits of my spinning capabilities on the final decent to the finish of the TT. My team director had the mechanics put on 58 tooth chain rings and I was using all of it. With about two miles to go as I was coming up on my minute man Lance came by me with some speed and continued to put time into me until the finish, it was pretty impressive. I was glad the TT was over and I was happy with my ride.
With the TT over we had a couple more stages to go until the last day where anything can happen. I made it through the next couple of stages with all my skin and was looking forward to the Gila monster as they call it.

The last stage started out as normal, with a flurry of attacks until the breakaway was established. Scott Nydam managed to get in the move which was good for us. With Livestrong riding on the front the time gap stayed within reason. The on one of the descents I noticed something in the middle of the road and out BMC team car parked on the side, and my stomach dropped. I knew it was Nydam, and having just crashed the day before in the cirt this was not good. The field went passed and I looked at him, he was lifeless and it almost brought me to tears. Right then and there I almost pulled the plug. I didn’t really feel like finishing the race when one of my teammates was severely injured. Then my director came on the radio and reassured Florian and I Scott was alright and that we needed to focus on the race.

After that I felt some fire building up inside and I wasn’t going to hold anything back on today’s stage. As we hit the foot of the killer climb riders were getting dropped left and right and the field shattered almost immediately. On the front of the group were Chris Horner, Lance Armstrong, and Levi. They were letting everyone have it. I held on until we were down to about ten riders. Then I just couldn’t quit keep the pace on one of the steeper pitches and came off of the group, but I kept with it. I didn’t want to blow up, I knew if I blew up at altitude my race would be over so I rode it just within my limits. As the climb went on I started to see other riders coming out the back of the front group. I kept my temp and passed the casualties of Chris Horner’s pace. I started to claw my way back to the leaders and was getting closer and closer. The top of the climb was just in sight and I knew I had to catch Levi, Horner and Lance by the top otherwise I would never see them again. I dug and I mean I dug deep. I shifted down and put my head down and gave it all I had. Right at the crest of the climb I rejoined the leaders.

We started the descent with a group of six, containing Levi, Lance, Horner, Phil, Burke, and I. But the race wasn’t over by any means. We had another significant climb and right at the base I hit it. I was hoping Levi might let me go. I wasn’t a threat to him on GC and I had helped him bring back a breakaway earlier in the week. At first it looked like that might be the case. I got a gap of about 30sec. Then Horner picked it up and brought me back.

Then after the climb we descended some more, with Horner still setting solid tempo on the front. We hit some more climbs and I attacked hard again. Levi brought me back and then Lance attacked. Phil jumped on his wheel and I was quick to follow. These accelerations got rid of Burke and Horner. Now it was just Lance Levi, Phil, and I. I couldn’t believe I was in a group of four containing Levi and Lance. By now there wasn’t much left in the legs and I was just hold on until the finish. Levi lit it up with about 500 meters to go and I couldn’t follow. I finished 4th on the stage and 5th overall, I’ll take it.

That was Gila and it was quite the adventure. Scott is recovering well, and I’m sure he’ll be back to winning races soon. I’m very happy with how the season has been going thus far and can’t help but get excited about the future. I sometimes have to pinch myself just to make sure I’m not dreaming… There’s nothing I’d rather be doing than riding my bike.

Also, a big thanks to Arizona cycling. I wouldn’t be where I am now if the local races didn’t exist. There are many people who have helped me get to where I am now and I always keep them in the back of my head when racing.

Chad Beyer