It was so cool to watch the Lance Chronicles on OLN last night. A lot of the scenes were from the training camp in Southern California and I watched the filming of a whole bunch of the footage by OLN. For example, the sequences where Lance is riding alone along the road, I was driving right behind the film crew. Where the Shimano team car is following him, that is where I had been driving, and they just had moved up and passed me. I was driving right behind the crew in all the sequences. How cool to see it on TV. And of course, I was looking for myself in the press conference - all I saw was my legs... The two guys who are filming for OLN, Rob and Chris, are really great guys. Sure wish I had their job! They get to travel everywhere.

So the Posties have been racing in Europe: Klasica Primavera, Pays Basque, Liege-Bastogne-Liege, Fleche Wallone and Amstel Gold. Max will ride the Ronde Van Made on May 2nd. I think that Max has recovered from his fall in Paris-Roubaix. It was such a bummer 'cause he fell in Paris-Roubaix last year and was injured, then, too. Michael Barry said that the average speed in Fleche Wallone was 47 kph. Wow - they really flew along on that tough course! Ryder took 5th in Klasica Primavera, and that was a tough one, too. Floyd, Chechu, Jose, Triki, Jurgen, Benjamin, Tony, Guennadi and Ryder are racing in Europe, riding well and riding hard, but Georgia seems to be grabbing all the glory.

I want to take a moment to say Farewell to Scott Martin, who fought the good fight against cancer. He was well known and loved in cycling community. I saw him and we chatted at the Ride for the Roses, and while I did not know him well, his goodness was just an aura around him. I recall taking some photos of Lance signing items for Scott last October at RftR - I think I will look back thru my tons of photos and send the pics with Lance to his wife....

What a day - the crowds were huge yesterday all along the route and the finish was pandemonium around Lance. It looked like the crowds at Le Tour - Lance was just mobbed - everyone wonders why he has security with him, but the guy would be knocked down and crushed by the stampede of people who each feel that they are entitled to an autograph or pic with him. The crowd looks like they are running from a burning building, and people get in his face with cameras and pens and scraps of paper. They scream his name as if sheer volume will work some kind of autograph miracle for them. It's a strange kind of love, I'll tell you...I never cease to marvel about how he maintains in the midst of all this. At the Dawsonville start, some young woman went into a hysterical, screaming frenzy right outside the bus window, screaming at the top of her lungs, "Lance, you are my God". She was out-of-control crying and throwing a fit. Not a pretty sight...

I went through my 500 pics of the Alpharetta finish last night. I put them up on my smugmug.com gallery, finishing about midnight, and realized that I just fallen asleep sitting in front of my laptop, so the need for sleep took priority over this Blog. It takes me about three hours every race night to do the photos, the Blog and the two website updates, plus putting Dan Osipow's press release into HTML and uploading it to both sites.

I also went to the USPS reception yesterday evening, very nice low-key event. Lance and the guys each said a few words - they are all really nice people. I chatted a bit with Pavel - he is a great guy. Also talked with Damon - he hadn't known that I had lived in Santa Cruz a long time, too. He is a warm, friendly person. And spent some time talking with Kenny Labbe - he is just the best guy! Johan had to see all my finish pics - he really likes looking at my sequence shots. I told him that he needs me to travel with the team to take these shots for him at every race - he grinned, but I just don't think he bought that idea. Oh well, not all great ideas fly, do they?

So the team members all headed out at different times, last night and today - what a logistics challenge to arrange and transport team and staff. Some of the guys will take a bit of a recovery time in May, especially Lance and the Tour team. George and Lance are really looking forward to having some downtime with friends and family. So this Blog may have some racing downtime, too, since I will not be at any Postie races until the Wachovia Series in June. So you will see more general thoughts and comments here for a while.. Thanks for reading the Georgia Blog and I really thank you for all the great comments that I have received...

The stage today was a horrible sufferfest for all the teams. I stood at the finish line and shot their faces - the guys were just half dead from heat, fatigue and dehydration. Some of the teams did not have any soigneurs there with water bottles, and the guys were begging for water from the crowd. One guy from Ofoto just slid off his bike and to the ground, another guy had to be helped off from his bike - his legs would not hold him up. It was hurtful just to see them.. It was 91 degrees down the hill, and I swear that was the most brutal climb ever. Pavel came in with a slight smile again - he was one of the few who did not look fried, neither did Eki. Super Mario came in way back, and he stopped to sign autographs and grin at the fans. Getting on their bikes and riding again tomorrow makes them all heros in my book...

After waiting a half hour for the shuttle to never show up, I raced back to the hotel and ran into a couple of folks from the Chicago Tribune, who graciously invited me to ride up to the top of Brasstown Bald - they had a coveted parking pass for the top. We drove madly over to Athens to drop off the photographer to ride in the Caravan, and then Bonnie and I flew on up the hill. The crowds at the top looked like the Tour de France - the guy who has the "Allez, Y'All" sign was up there, too. Bonnie wondered if we would see the Devil guy anywhere, but the Devil did not come down to Georgia - if you know Country/Bluegrass music, you will get my feeble pun...

So Lance stays in the Leader's Jersey, after a hard stage, and tomorrow will be a rough one, too. The carefully orchestrated ceremony of the winners presentation got screwed up again today. It was so tacky - the podium girl handed Lance the flowers, did the kiss-kiss thing, and then asked him for an autograph. So there he stood, on the top step on the podium, flowers dangling, and then whole process came to a halt while he signed an autograph! That is a first, I'll tell you.

Speaking of Podium Girls, I saw that George's lady, Melanie, was at the stage today. They were on the other side of the finish line, so did not get to talk with them. I did talk with Bob Roll, and asked him if he had a quote for the Cat's Hill Classic in Los Gatos on May 8th. (I do the publcity for that race.) He didn't bat an eye and said, "When I saw Greg Lemond race the Cat's, I knew right then that I would be an also-ran." Bobki raced the Cat's Hill in the olden days (OK, OK - I'm joking).

So we had the same old press conference after the race, with the same old obvious questions from the same reporters.. The guys all are dead tired, need a shower and a massage desperately, and they have to sit and and be polite, and endure the same questions and comments every day.

Of course, the really big news, that everybody expected anyway, is that USPS is ending their sponsorship. It is a bummer and I can't imagine calling the team anything but the Posties - rather messes up my fan site URL, huh? However, I think that the eight-year long sponsorship is pretty outstanding in the US. All the rest of the races this year certainly have a poignancy and wisp of sadness to them. I can't imagine seeing the team in anything but red, white and blue..

I stayed the night in a crummy Super 8 Motel - as I walked to my car, CB and Ted Arnold pulled out. We just grinned and shrugged, "oh, well, it was cheap."
I am sitting on the upstairs veranda of the Race Media Center in Dahlonga. It overlooks the beautiful little Town Square, which is bustling with activity right now. Re-routed traffic, crowds, cyclists and expo tents. Local folks have already been sitting in their choice spots for a couple of hours, and it is still two more before the racers arrive.
The entire Town Square is set up for wireless Internet, so I am in Heaven, and the other media folks are also sitting all around the square, enjoying the lovely breeze and working outdoors. However, I am behind the Jumbotron, so I have to go down and check out the action. More after the race...

Wow - What a day! I was standing with the Postie staff at the end of the finish line and we saw this bunch of blue come flying over the hill. Out of the bunch, like a streak of blue lightening, came Lance, throwing his bike over the line. We just went wild! I gave College the biggest bear hug in the world - he was the person next to me, so I laid it in him! We were totally surprised - it was just great. I wore my Go Lance shirt, so I told Lance that is why he won. "Well. thank you very much" he said, with a grin. It's Ok. Lance, but you owe me one.

So I hung out and watched the guys warm up for the TT - they were all real casual and joking, Lance was drinking bottles and throwing them to the fans - he was joking and laughing with everyone. So casual and so relaxed, and then he goes out and just smokes the time trial. It was a great day, except that one of the young riders, Craig Lewis, from Team TIAA-CREF, got hit when a car pulled out on the course. He is hospitalized with a concussion and collapsed lungs from broken ribs. I wish him well - we are seeing too many of our cyclists with these kinds of injuries.

So Lance is in the yellow, and it was so funny when he was on the podium. They had some older fellow present the jersey to Lance...well this guy jumped right up on the podium beside Lance and held up his own arms in victory, just like Lance was doing. So the press photographers just went berserk, because the guy was screwing up their prize podium shots. Nobody got him down, so everyone who took a shot had this old dude in it. He was totally oblivious to his faux pas, so no solo shot of Lance in the yellow today.

I got to the race course real early this morning, and found two classes of pre-school kids on the 2nd Street Hill, drawing like crazy. I don't think they knew that they were duplicating an old Tour de France tradition, but they sure were having fun. I put several pics up in a separate gallery. It is really so cool how all the towns in Georgia get out and support the race - they are so proud to have Lance here.

It seems like reporting on the big Tour de Georgia is taxing the knowledge base of many local reporters - I noticed that a local Macon writer talked about the "mousette food pouch" that the riders use. And I've seen more than one headline that says, "Lance Armstrong, Olympian" - Guess not everyone knows that he is a five-time Tour de France winner, or his Olympics history. A lot of folks are mistaking the bus driver for Lance when he leaves the bus. One lady asked me who was on that big ole bus - I told her Lance Armstrong and the Postal team. She said, "Well, I did not know Lance was on that team - don't that beat all?"

Thomaston was so proud of their involvement - what a nice bunch of folks in that town. Very helpful folks, however, I got three different versions of the directions to Columbus and ended up with a long detour. Beautiful country, tho. On the race Jumbo TV yesterday, a dog ran right in front of the two break-way riders. It just flew across the road and the crowd shrieked - a really close call. There are a lotta dogs in Georgia - I'm surprised it doesn't happen more often.

I have a few miles to drive today, since I am staying in Rome - slight miscalculation on my part in mileage. It will be a preview for me of the Tour de France - the miles that I drive there from stage to stage are unbelievable... Maybe more later if I find a WiFi ...

Stage 1 - First race and all the riders were nervous and jittery. I hung out at the team cars and the Postie Motorhome - it is huge! I went in to take a peek before then guys came out, and it is deluxe. They were missing a coffemaker, so Dave had to make a run to K-Mart. Posties without coffee? It can't happen. Saw a soigneur with an armload of Jittery Joes coffee bags. Hey, maybe I just figured out why the riders are all jittery, huh?

The OLN film crew, Chris and Rob, were there, filming the wrenches at work. They told me that they travel everywhere with Lance and the Posties. They said that if they had a nickel for everyone who asked them if they need help, that they would be rich. What a job! I'm green with envy. Rob has this belt bag with a ton of batteries - it must weigh 30 pounds. I'm walking around with this huge camera backpack, myself. I forget about it and turn around and whack people, especially when I am trying to get thru tight places. And I must tell you that the professional photographers get a mite testy about who stands where for finish line shots.

I was right beside Lance at the start line, and they brought out this really young kid who has testicular cancer - somebody told me he is ten years old and is living with a foster family. Lance was so sweet to him and listened intently in the midst of the crowd noise. He was totally focused on what the kid was trying to say - His face was just full of compassion for the child. I took a couple of shots from the side - I did not want to get in their faces.

After the race ended, there was a big crowd at the bus, as usual. One guy stood right in front of the bus, holding up a big poster that had Lance magazine covers and photos glued onto it. He had a pen in his hand, and I wondered if he really expected Lance to get out of the bus and sign it. The bus started to inch away and the guy finally moved.

Talked to George and yes, he is gonna be dad and he is getting married in November.

I put up a bunch of shots from today's race on my smugmug gallery - click in the menu on the right to go there...

Macon, Georgia - after one long day of traveling. Left my place at 4 am.
Car rental place in Athens airport was out of cars, so they gave me a Chrysler Seebring for the economy car rate. I think I will be visiting the gas pump pretty often. Lotsa power and I have a heavy foot on the gas pedal - I wanna stay on the good side of the Georgia State Police, for sure...

Race headquarters was pretty mellow, and I picked up my Press Credentials. Also stuffed my pockets with freebie Jelly-Bellies. I am addicted to those things.. Love 'em. Drove over to an economy motel that I had booked online - the upstairs railing was lined with seedy-looking guys drinking booze out of paper bags. Needless to say, I exited in a hurry. I expected everything to be booked solid, but I found a spot right next to the Posties, and with WiFi as a plus. What more could I ask?

I drove up this evening just in time to hear Lance holler Hi at me and take off to some kind of event. I had time to chat for a minute with Damon. He has such a great smile - he looks so happy and excited to be riding with Lance - I know Mike Creed is, too. They all piled into team cars with Johan, Dan Osipow and Mark Higgins. I think maybe it was some sponsor thing for the Tour of Georgia folks. I love the new look (paint job) on the team cars. I'll head downtown real early in the morning - I like being on the scene real early... FYI - The time stamp on these postings is California time...

Well, Sea Otter was really hard work - not enough volunteers to fill all the spots, so I had to adjust plans frequently. Had some great, dedicated people who were so willing to help. Cheers to all of them!
Arrived home late last night and got up at 3 am to head to the airport for Georgia. I will miss the big Press Conference today in Macon, but it is such a zoo - so crowded and so many press folks jammed into a room. Everyone vying for spots to get the same shot of Lance. I don't feel bad about missing that at all.
I love my WiFi connections at the airport and at Starbucks.

Of course, the big news that I heard is that George and Melanie are gonna be parents in November. It may not even be so, but if it is, George will just be so happy. I can't imagine anyone being a better dad than George. He is so sweet and kind. He just loves kids. I saw him in SF a couple of years ago with some kids in his family, and he was so patient and loving with them. They were just jumping around all over him and he was great with them.

First day of Sea Otter and I made it thru the usual crisis of expecting 45 volunteers for an event and having 10 show up. I made it work with some strategic placements and last-minute pleading for few more folks to give some time. I had to course marshal a critical spot, myself. But I love course marshaling, so it was fine with me. Most folks are fine with being a bit inconvenienced by the race, but today some guy went into a rage because he could not drive down a road, head-on into the oncoming racers, to fly his model plane. Not a pretty sight...

I arrived at Laguna Seca this morning to work the Sea Otter event. It is such a huge event - last year 12,000 registered riders and over 60,000 spectators. The Sea Otter Village is like a small town, springing up for four days, and disappearing just as quickly. It reminds me of a stage in the Tour, such an incredible amount of superhuman work by staff and crew. I doubt that many folks who come here know the humungous amount of work that is involved.

My role here, as in many of the US Pro races, is to coordinate and supervise the volunteer course marshals. Volunteers are the backbone of cycling in the US - we simply could not do the races without folks who are willing to come out and stand for long hours to keep the racers safe. What we can give - lunch and a tee shirt - simply does not convey our appreciation to these great cycling fans. And the riders know and appreciate you folks who volunteer. I have heard racers thank volunteers at the Start and Finish lines. So come on out and volunteer for cycling races in your area! You get the best seats in the house, and are we ever glad to see you.

Update on Max after the crash today at Paris-Roubaix. I hear that he had to have stitches in his arm and has a banged up knee. Get Well Soon, Max!!

Graham Watson has great pics of P-R up on his site now, including one of the TV motorcycle crew taking an ender on a muddy corner right in front of the peloton. This was the cause of the big crash where Max was injured. Several of the Posties fell, as did many other riders: www.grahamwatson.com

Paris-Roubaix didn't happen for George, in spite of his riding so strong and aggressively. Bits of bad luck started with a team car being involved in a minor crash - cyclingnews.com said that the wrench who was driving was looking at attractive scenery (read females) instead of the road. Bet he got an earful about that! And then Max and Stijn crashed, so George was up front alone again. He held his own until 12 km out. He raced a good strong race, with good tactics.

Have not heard how Max and Stijn are - hope nothing serious from the crash.

It was a bummer that Museeuw flatted in the last kilometer, and lost his chance, since it was his last race before retirement. Another cyclist got caught up in a Flemish flag and had to untangle the flag out of his wheel - I think it was Hoste. People just don't think when they stick stuff out in the rider's faces, or try to slap them on the back, or run beside them. One word: Don't!

The Hell of the North is tomorrow and I can guarantee there will be a lot of riders who will be too nervous to sleep tonight. It is really a bummer that Eki won't be riding. I think that the body has its own timetable to heal, regardless of race schedules. George sure found that out last year.

I dropped a note to our ex-Postie, Mattie White last week, to give a bit of support. He tells me he is gonna be OK and that he is one tough "Ozzy". Matt switched to Cofidis with the hopes of racing the Tour, and now the latest news is that all competition is suspended for Cofidis... Bummer for Whitey - he is a great guy and a good, tough rider.

Here's a winner... I hear that Canadian Cyclist Mag will soon be offering a Michael Barry Bobblehead Doll and a Ryder Hesjedal Bobblehead Doll.

What! No Velogal Bobblehead? Oh well ... no fame, no money, no glory, but somebody has gotta keep Postie Fans in the know....

Received my Cycle Sport mag today and was pleased to see an article on the Posties called "Young Guns". Way Cool! There was Damon Kluck, Dave Zabriskie, Patrick McCarty and.... Michael Creed. But Mike bore an amazing, uncanny resemblance to Benoit Joachim - Jeez, are they undiscovered twins? Has CS revealed some deep, dark family secret? Nope, guess not. It looks like someone at CS (maybe some new intern) put in Benoit's pic instead of Mike's. They are both handsome guys, but look alike? Not!! Guess the CS Smoking Gun misfired... Wonder if this pic will get Mandy Moore's attention?

It is a bummer that Eki is having a bit of a problem with his wrist. It is not broken, but he is going to have to let it rest and mend for a while. Here is a press release about the strong candidates for the
American road cycling team at the Olympics this summer. It's gonna be a tough choice - these are all great riders.

As you can see, this was started before Redlands Bicycle Classic. My grand plans were to write in the Blog from there, but I soon discovered how time-consuming it is to review and upload photographs. I took 1897 pics with my new Nikon 2DH. Wow - I love this camera! But at least a couple of hours work after a long day of following the race. Not much time left for fun and games...

I spent several hours in the hospital with Dave Z and his great, supportive girlfriend. Z had road rash over most of his body and a couple of huge gouges on his face. His head got banged around pretty badly. All this and never a whimper from him - How stoic can you get? He is OK and is now on the mend.

The people in Redlands are just the best - so friendly and helpful. The volunteers refer to themselves as one big family, and some of them have volunteered all twenty years of the event! They were all so great to me...

My great discovery was the T-Mobile Hotspot at a near-by Starbucks. Since my Viao laptop is Centrino, I can WiFi dozens pics up to my website in a couple of minutes. So cool.... Hope there are lots of Starbucks in Georgia! I will be there with a Press Credential and my super Nikon.

The next race that I work will be the Sea Otter Classic in Monterey, CA from April 15 - 18. The Posties will not race this event, but I will be coordinating volunteers there. Maybe I can talk with you all about what a nail-biting chore it is to find 800 volunteers for an event with 12,000 registered participants and over 60,000 spectators.

So I may not be writing in this Blog every day - if there is no racing, I am not going to drone on about the weather and my grocery list to fill up space....