Oh No! Eki crashed during a training ride yesterday. He hit a pothole, going pretty fast, and down he went. Broke his sternum and vertabrae - Looks like he will be out of the Tour with these injuries....

I’m hearing talk, which if it happens, will make a whole bunch of us very happy! I’m hearing that Lance may be at the SF race on September 4th! Nope - not racing, but maybe in the announcer’s booth, signing autographs and making appearances. So, get your plans together for SF in September! That will be really cool, since the SF race has been Lance’s signature end of season race ever since it started.

I remember when the Threshold folks contacted me about working on planning the course marshals for the route of the Inaugural SF Grand Prix in 2001. Dan Osipow had already spearheaded the planning of the actual route, and so Chris Spaeth came out from Threshold HQ for three days to plan course marshal placement and positions. He and I drove the planned 10 mile course dozens of times, studying the traffic and pedestrian patterns of crossing and usage. This kind of planning involves a ton of stops, left turns in No Left Turn areas and quick U-turns: I drove, since I know SF fairly well, and boy, did we receive our fair share of honks and one-finger salutes. Howdy SF, here comes The Race! ( We also did the same thing for 10 days and 600 miles to plan the course marshal placements for the first Tour de Georgia.)

Course marshals are the most prized and precious necessity for a cycling race. It’s all volunteer and done for the pure love and support of cycling. We can’t give anything but lunch, a tee shirt and vast appreciation, but we can’t do it without our volunteers, either. It’s a “They gave a race in SF and all I got was this tee shirt” thing. Insert Philly, or Georgia, or Sea Otter or Cat’s Hill, and it’s the same thing. BUT... the course marshals are really the folks who keep those racers safe, alive and accident-free.

Whether it’s Lance, or Tom Danielson, or Chechu or whoever, what stands between them and a vehicle coming on the course in front of them, or a pedestrian deciding to cross with the peloton flying around a corner is.... Yep.. the course marshal. It’s a long hard day of standing, and you may never really know it, but you kept someone on the Webcor or Healthnet or Jelly Belly team from crashing and missing out on their season. So, if there is a cycling race anywhere near you, and especially in Philly and SF - Just Do It - volunteer to be a glorified crossing guard/course marshal and be a Cycling Angel....

Our Discovery team has taken a few hits so far this season - it’s been a rough one for some riders. I hear that Hayden Roulston is very gingerly back on his bike after having a painful cyst removed. He was tentatively scheduled to start at Catalunya on the 16th, and then head for the US - I think maybe for Philly (but that is not confirmed). Doesn’t give him much training time at all before Catalunya... He’s had some bumps along the way in his short Discovery career - he celebrated his Olympics selection in the land of Oz, got too rowdy and got nailed by the long arm of the law. Johan wants his riders squeaky-clean, so I think maybe Hayden was sweating that one...

Yaroslav Popovych has had visa problems (naw - not the plastic card type) and seems that they are now straightened out, so he can get back to work. Christian Van de Velde had to go thru a whole rigmarole with the same type visa issues when he started with Liberty Seguros. Speaking of CV, I saw him at the Marriott lounge on Sunday when the Tour of Georgia ended. He gave me and big grin and a big hug... He is such a great guy. I remember training camps in Arizona, where CV rode along beside my car, chatting through the passenger window at 30 mph, then said “see ya later”, stood up on his pedals and took off like my car was standing still...

Haven’t had an update on Mike Creed and his fatigue problems for a while - hope he is doing well and recuperating. And hope that Leif Hoste is doing well, too - remember he got his knee pretty banged up at a Milan-San Remo crash. It’s real tricky to get back into training and competing with a knee injury - so easy to stress it and re-injure it.... And Michael Barry had to drop out of TdG with stomach problems, but I think he’s OK by now....

And don’t forget to cyber on over to www.amdprocycling.com to stay in the know on the latest hi-tech AMD stuff that our DC guys are using. And speaking of MB, he has a journal on the AMD site, too.

Earlier this morning, I was reading an excerpt from “Inside the Postal Bus” by Michael Barry. I have the book, (freebie - thank you VN) but found myself reading the excerpt in April 25th issue of VeloNews. Michael is so thoughtful, articulate and a darn good writer. He was setting the scene about an early morning awakening by the UCI vampires to do testing, right before the start of L-B-L. He and Chechu were awakened in the dark by the UCI loudly banging on their door.

I was imagining the rider’s mental preparation the night before, the butterflies in the stomach, the difficulty getting to sleep with nervous jitters, and then to be startled awake out of a deep sleep like that. Adding insult to injury, Michael says that 30 or so of them had to wait out in the hall - right in public - for the testing... Sleepy, tired, hungry, gotta pee - too bad - the UCI calls the shots.

You probably already know that every rider in the peloton has to let the UCI know where they are at all times, for out of competition testing. Michael says that they all leave their cell phones on all the time so they don’t miss any call commanding them to be available to be tested. The UCI reps show up anywhere, anytime. Wasn’t it Lance who had the vampires show up at this home when he was getting ready to head for the hospital for the birth of one of his kids, or some significant event like that?

Michael makes some good comments about the UCI’s attention to their health and safety, but that it ends before the guys get on the road. He makes some very thoughtful comments about the lack of attention to some very dangerous roads they have to ride during the races. Michael also describes his horrible crash during the 2002 Vuelta - it is amazing that he survived the crash, and then being run over by a motorcycle, which ended up on his chest. Cycling is NOT a sissy sport, like some dumb sportswriters try to say....

Heads up - Velogal’s Wachovia Journal is now up on www.procyclingtour.com (red icon on lower left side) and is supposed to go up on wachoviacycling.com soon. Dave Towle has a column there, too, so cyber on over. I think it will be a weekly thing....

I receive lots of mail from fans who tell me how lucky I am to be around the team, and how much they envy me. Well, I am darn lucky to be considered “one of the guys” by the Discovery Team. I’ve been around the team for five years now, and it has been a process of earning their trust and confidence. The guys like and trust me, Lance likes and trusts me, and Johan likes and trusts me.

They know that I am not going to pester them for stuff, that I will stay out from under their feet (or should I say wheels) and that I am going to respect what they do and say behind the scenes. Their private life is private to me, and they know that I am not going to try to run out and make money from photos or quotes. For example, at the Tour where George met his podium girl, Melanie, I was there for their first kiss and took pics. I sent them to George and that was it... I didn’t publish them anywhere, even on my site.

George told me he was OK with making them public, but it just didn’t feel right to me. They were just the sweetest photos you could ever see - but those shots are for their private photo album. The shots are theirs, not mine.... So when little Julia Paris Hincapie was born, George sent me the address and password so that I could see the first pic of Julia on the hospital website. He knew without even saying that I was not gonna pass it around to everyone. It is just a part of the private life of a famous rider that needs to stay private. True for George, for Lance or for any of the guys....

Email addresses? Yeah, I have them all - I’ve had Lance’s for years and have never given it to a soul. Not one person: my best friends, my family or even the guy in Belgium that offered me 100 euros for Lance’s email. The very first time that I met Lance was when he invited me into the team bus in Antwerp, Belgium. What he said about me then is still true now, “She is the only fan who doesn’t want a piece of me”. It's really Trust, not luck - that’s why you see me around the team...

Sorry, sorry, sorry... I totally eliminated Monday from My World As I Knew It. I was on an airplane (s) the whole day, and it seemed like an eternity. If Lufthansa can give wifi to their passengers, why-oh-why can’t American airlines do the same? I would gladly pay for wifi internet access in the air, instead of a $5 charge for headphones to watch dumb movies (I don’t). So I played jawbreaker on my HP PDA until I ran the battery down. And, BTW, no electrical outlets either. Oh, since you asked, I was on America West - Boy, are their gate representatives ever rude in Atlanta - they either need an attitude adjustment workshop, or to be told to hit the road by auto, air or whatever...

Yeah, no Lance Armstrong Sirius Radio Monday recap because it was a taped re-run - Lance was going in too many directions at once. I asked Higgs (in Blairsville, before the stage start) about how and when they were gonna do the show that evening. I thought maybe your dear velogal might be able to sit in, (quietly with hands over my mouth, of course), and watch the show happening. Alas, it was not to be...

Was Tom Danielson ever walking on air in Georgia - positively floating, yet he was so respectful of Lance. I saw Andreas Kloden being the same way on the podium at the Tour de France - he actually took off his cap and bowed slightly before Lance as a gesture of respect. It was just great to see the team so happy with his win - and so was Johan. Tom is gonna go a long way with a DS like Johan, and he knows it...

Paolo came in second in the Tour de Romandie Prologue TT by just 0.03, and Ryder was tenth by 0.04. Nice riding, guys! And the latest big news is that Cipollini is retiring, effective immediately... I took a couple of nice shots of him last year at the top of Brasstown Bald, right after the finish line.

Thanks to the folks who sent me a “where are you?” email - it’s real nice to know that you are reading every day...

My motel in Blairsville was ancient, well worn, tattered and cheap. It was out of town a few miles, but the only lodging available. I wasn’t expecting much for the price; just hoping it would be clean and safe. When I checked in, the elderly owner said, “Honey, we ain’t fancy, but I keep it neat as a pin.” Well, it was shabby and the paint was peeling, but sure enough, it was clean. The folks in Georgia have a lot of pride...

It was cold in Blairsville - in the morning, my car was covered with frozen hail, and the bitterly cold wind was still blowing. The DC team bus was mobbed at the start, and when Lance came out, people chased after him, running at full speed. I took a couple of shots of him being chased. It’s actually a little scary to see - it’s a wonder he doesn’t get knocked down and trampled.

I took off and headed for the finish - it was a long, slow trip with all the traffic. I headed in the blocked-off exit to the race right behind Dan Osipow, so the State Police let me through, too. One illegal U-turn and a couple of blocks of driving where I wasn’t supposed to be, another set of security guards, and I was parked right in the Media parking lot. The finish area was packed.

I shot from around the first turn after the start/finish line, and though I missed the final sprint, I got to see and shoot a very touching interchange between Lance and Tom Danielson right after the finish. Lance and the guys came back to the podium for the Best Team Award, and they had fun with the champagne, spraying the crowd - Chechu even had a swig of it... Tom was just grinning from ear to ear the whole time. All in all, a good race, but sad to say goodbye to Lance for American races. Also, a goodbye for Andrea Tafi, who is retiring this year. He received the Most Aggressive Rider Award. Over and over again, he waved and blew kisses to the loudly cheering crowd - suddenly his face became solemn - he quickly put on his sunglasses to hide his emotions and left the stage.

OMG - It was so cold on top of Brasstown Bald that we all thought we were going to freeze to death. We encountered no traffic at all, which means we left way too early, but we drove all the way to the top in pea soup fog and then came back to the parking area, which was one K from the finish line. I took my car up, and just parked and waited - I was thinking of hiking a bit, but it was ugly, bad weather conditions. The wind was howling, and it rained, hailed and lightly snowed off and on all day. Hardly warmed up at all, and everyone was wearing everything they owned. Thank You, Kevin, for those arm warmers!! My new sox became mittens for the day. I froze my arse off the whole day long, and so did almost everyone else.

I watched the race via the Jumbotron - a huge crowd was huddled together and cheering for Lance. Altho we heard that he was a not feeling well, Lance gave 'em Hell by taking off like a shot, on the next to the last climb, and set it up for Tom to take the win. Hmmm... I wonder if this is a message that he is leaving his Lance legacy to Tom... And Tom does have the heart, guts and determination that Lance respects.

All the guys looked pretty fried when they came by, and after riding in the sunshine and climbing up to freezing winds, I’m sure they were suffering big-time. I stood at the last turn out of the parking area that headed up to the finish. One of the LPI riders came by wearing a backpack! I don’t know if he rode with it the entire day, or picked it up right before he got to us. It looked totally weird to see a Pro racer finishing the last one K up Brasstown Bald wearing a backpack...

Of course, being in Georgia, Elvis was there in a shiny gold lame suit with tennis shoes and a two-day-old beard. He made some riders laugh - much more so than The Devil at the Tour. And the Jittery Joe team staff came back down from the top in their little convertible, wearing no shirts and ski caps. No, it was only the guys....

A photographer from Brazil, plus two guys and a dog named Eddie (who had epilepsy) hitched a ride down the hill to the highway with me. I had the heater going full blast and we were roasting by the time we got to the bottom, but it felt so damn good after freezing all day. Eddie shook the whole day, and the guys reassured me, and dozens of other bystanders, that it was the epilepsy and they were not letting their dog freeze. But I figured if we were all so damn cold, that a little shorthaired terrier must be cold, too. If I were Eddie, I’d rather have waited in the car...

All Weather Hell broke loose in the Georgia mountains this afternoon. I was in Dahlonega and the sun was shining one minute - the next it was pouring rain, hailing, heavy winds, with thunder and lightening. It just trashed the whole Expo area - tents were blowing down the street, umbrellas were turning inside out and merchandise got soaked. I took a bunch of pics and put them up in the smugmug gallery.

The teams rode thru it all, getting pelted with rain, wind and hailstones, and only being able to see a couple of feet in front of them. It was truly shitty weather to race in! But, I don’t think there were any crashes - we were all holding our breaths. While they were suffering, I was in my favorite little cafe in Dahlonega - its called The Dessertery, or something close to that. They have the best Apricot Chicken Salad and Tomato Basil Bisque. They make their own bread, too. Yummm! But, hey, I got a little wet when I went out to take my pics... Almost got whacked in the head by hanging pot of ivy that came sailing along in the wind like some low-flying space being.

Tomorrow, I have to get up early to head for Brasstown Bald with another photographer - she has a media sticker for her car, and I don’t. So I am following her to the bottom of the mountain in my car, and then hitching a ride to the top with her. It will be a zoo, and the Georgia State Patrol doesn’t let cars up to the top, so the traffic jams are horrendous. I am staying at a cheap, cheap motel in Blairsville tomorrow night, so no wifi available for sure. If I can get to the media center, or find a hotel lobby or parking lot with wifi, you’ll hear from me. If I can’t - sorry!

Pics are up in the smugmug gallery for stage 4...

The TT in Rome started at The Darlington School - Boy, was there a turnout of students and staff. It looked like a junior high school, and the kids were totally stoked. They had balloons, a band and food concessions, and Maxxis had the top BMX stunt guys doing their thing on a ramp in the parking lot. I hung out and took a ton of photos - but, in spite of myself, there was a telephone or power pole in too many of my shots. Dammit - the same thing happened in Redlands. Not great photography with junk like that showing. The DK BMX Stunt Team was totally cool and totally good! They were so tattooed and I could just see the teachers wincing - the kids loved ‘em...

At the bus, I was inside the yellow tape, so was right beside the guys - ended up standing about three feet from Lance when he was the last DC guy left to go. He was laughing and joking, and giving College a bad time about the latest bus boo-boo. I took a couple of shots of this big ole rip near the back wheel. I gave College a hard time about it, too. He told me that I could have his job as a bus-driver...

It was so funny, Jason came out and warmed up first on his TT bike - the students thought he was Lance and went nutz. On kid from Texas (I guess) had cowboy hat and a Texas flag that he held upside down. College was hollering at him to get it right, but the kid didn’t know the difference. The guy was sitting on someone’s shoulders and was hollering his head off. One little girl was begging and pleading for Lance’s autograph - he threw his cap to her and she just went into orbit - she was yelling and screaming and laughing and jumping around.

Things are going to be pretty low-key around the team bus next year, I think. It’s sure not gonna be the same chaos and energy from the fans. Even though it started raining, all fans just stood their ground, hoping to be the selected ones that got a signature. Lance went over to the fans and walked down the line, giving more autographs than I’ve ever seen him sign before at one time.

It was wet and messy for the TT, just like in Besancon - I think the team rode pretty gingerly - they’ve had too many crashes already this year. I heard that Benoit went down in Fleche Wallone yesterday, but haven’t heard yet how he is... We gotta save those bodies in one piece and in good shape for the Tour and Number 7!!

What a great day - turned out that I had booked a Holiday Inn Express just across the road from the start line. Sweeet! Fayetteville is just a darn nice little town - Fate-vyl - they told me to say, real fast. They thought my pronunciation was so funny - they could tell I am from California, they said.

I was walking along the inside of the start line when a woman stopped me and asked if anyone was selling LiveStrong bands - I told her I thought they would be at the finish of the stage. She was so disappointed - said that her husband had bought her a yellow band on the Internet and it turned out to be a fake one. She said she will not wear it as a matter of principle, but as a cancer survivor, she wanted one so bad. OK, you know what I’m gonna say - I took one of mine off and gave it to her. I told her such integrity deserves a reward... She was so happy!

I was right beside Craig Hummer of OLN when he interviewed Lance. My Numero Uno said hello to me before he started the interview with Craig. Lance looked so relaxed and serene - it is real obvious that he is at peace with his decision. He was smiling and happy. I managed to keep my mouth shut and not mess up the interview - Craig trusts me after so much time shoulder-to-shoulder in France and at training camp.

I got kiss, kiss from Chechu - he is so adorable. I got a lot of pics and when I just now downloaded them, the frames are blank - I thought my compact card must be shot, but I think its something else. Grrr- I had a ton of close-ups of the DC Men. The images from my D70 showed up on the card in the camera viewer, and in the Windows preview, but not in my pictures folder. Something is wrong and I can’t figure out what: is it the card, the camera or my software? The properties of the images show up, but the image itself is blank. Anybody out there know something? Please shoot me an email if you do... So all I have are a few images from my D2h to put on smugmug.

I arrived so late last night that I stayed in a motel in Macon, and hung out for the finish of the stage. It was real mellow watching the preparations at the finish line and the expo area. My friends, Jerry and Angie Kelly were there at the Live Strong booth, and were doing their thing for the LAF. The Georgia Cancer Coalition had organized the expo with a cancer awareness and prevention theme, and did a real nice job of it.

The race itself was sloooow, I mean real slow. The peloton came in an hour later than the slowest time the race organizers had in their speed table. I was thinkin’ maybe they stopped along the way for some Georgia peaches or sumpthin’...

It was a weird stage: the Colavita team car rear-ended the Kodak-Sierra Nevada team car. The Colavita car died, and they had to use a mini-van, which is against official rules. Then, during the finishing laps on the circuit, Andy Schleck of CSC miscounted, or the announcer did, so he thought he’d won with one lap to go. Up went his arms, a la Zabel, but another rider informed him that he was a tad early - premature celebration syndrome, I guess...

There are 500 photographer/journalists, or so the TdG press folks told me, so it’s a zoo at the finish line. Plus, you gotta give them a driver’s license or a credit card to get a photographer’s vest - really, I’m not kidding!!! In spite of being credentialed, you gotta give them something that you want back so that you don’t steal your photog’s vest - they keep it until you return the vest after the race. Problem is trying to find someone with your card or license after the race ends - it’s a crazy, chaotic melee. It’s really time-consuming and the photogs are pretty pissed about it... For me, I’m not playing that game after today - finish line shots are plentiful, so I’ll just do something else from now on...

I put just a few images up in my smugmug gallery - velogal.smugmug.com

It’s been a great ride, and one more Tour de France will be the Big Finish... Yeah, I know, we’ve all known it was coming sooner or later, and we dreaded hearing it, but win or lose the Tour, Lance is going out on top with all of us fans! I’ve been hearing from a lot of you and I know how you feel, but I think we’ll hear a lot from Lance after July 24th. You know, the Ride for the Roses is gonna continue, and I betcha we’ll see Our Guy on his Trek for that, and for the Tour of Hope. And we may see him a bit on Discovery Channel and of course, on Sirius Faction Live Strong.

So the Unofficial Fan Club is gonna stay up after the Tour (several of you have asked), but updates may not be as frequent - it depends on what Lance does, huh? And of course, this blog will go on and on. Actually, you will soon see Velogal’s Wachovia Talk online fairly soon. I’ll let you know when it goes up, maybe this week.

Big Tex will be ridin’ the ranch, and his kids are going to be delighted to have Dad at home and in hugging range every day. Good on ya, Lance - you deserve to kick back and enjoy life after the bike. Carpe Dieum, we love ya, Big Guy...

OK - I just got back from Sea Otter and had a listen to the Lance Armstrong Sirius Live Strong Show. It was taped - Higgs couldn’t figure out why they call it “live on tape”. Well, me neither. They were in California, in the Santa Monica Mountains. Lance was riding a six-hour ride, with Higgs, Chris Carmichael and Dave Bolch. Of course, Lance was the only one on two wheels... Guess he was doing some steep climbs, but he still talked and told a joke - that’s pretty realistic for riding with the guys, too - telling jokes and horsing around.

Higgs asked Dave about his typical day with Lance and sounds like the big thing is to not run out of gas... Bolch says that Lance looks lots better and motivated this week, plus he’s having fun. Higgs asked about the difference between training and racing for Dave. Answer was that in training, Dave has to focus on only one rider and team racing is a lot more involved logistically.

Lance said he was “suffering like a dog” on the climb and was busting his ass. He did a couple of steep descents, so they had a lot of music. Lance told a joke from Francisco Quinn (son of Anthony Quinn, the movie actor from the Fifties, or sometime around that era). Lance saw him on ride, and found out that Francisco was one of 13 children and that Anthony Quinn worshipped Eddy Merckx. Joke: Father and young son go into library. Son is messing around with a quarter in his mouth, swallows it and is choking. Father yells for help. A nearby lady puts down her book, removes her glasses, and grabs the kid’s testicles - she squeezes and the kid coughs, “Aaargh” - Repeat - Repeat - Finally she squeezes his cajones real hard and the out pops the quarter. The father thanks her and says that she must be a doctor or paramedic. She replies, “No sir, I am a lawyer.” (Version I heard ends with: The lady picks up the quarter and puts it in her pocket, “Nope”, she says, “I’m a lawyer.”)

OK - remember that I am just repeating what I heard... I have friends who are lawyers... Lance said that his climbing heart rate was 168 while he was telling this long joke.... The guy is climbing some humongous, steep Santa Monica mountain and telling jokes? Well, yeah, I think his training is right on track.... Carmichael said that Lance took time this winter to enjoy his sixth win - that is a strong attribute that Lance has. He achieves his goal, takes time to enjoy it and then hits the training hard again...

I’m heading for Georgia early in the morning, so I’m signing off and will blog just as soon as I can... Cheers!

Another short and sweet blog entry. Last two days have been the big days for the amateur and pro road races, so lots of work for me. I’m pretty fried tonight, up at 4:30 both days. I had some really great volunteers and really outstanding were the Marines from DLI - the Defense Language Institute of Monterey. Every year, these men and women volunteer to help out at SO, and they are just the best people - I value and appreciate them so much! Sea Otter is just a huge success this year again - the place is packed and will be again tomorrow. No cycling event can exist without volunteers, so please turn out and give your local races a helping hand...

I’ll be taping Lance’s show tomorrow night (if it comes on at 6 pm PDT) and hope I have time to listen ands do a recap for you. I’ll be heading home from SO and packing to leave for Georgia on Monday morning.

No, I’m not getting up at 4:30 tomorrow morning - the road stuff is finished and that is my specialty. I’ll just help with checking in the volunteers and mellow out at last...

A beautiful day here at Sea Otter! Very mellow and the big crowds have yet to arrive. We had a great group of volunteers today, and this is gonna be a fantastic event.

I was happy to see Trent Klasna here - he’s looking fit and relaxed since his retirement. Says he doesn’t miss racing at all - he was ready to be finished after sixteen years. He is really a nice guy and has always been a favorite of mine. Speaking of favorites, my buddy Frankie Andreu is here with OLN - we’re gonna see a lot of cycling this year on the telly.

I wandered around the Expo a bit and ran into a lot of folks I know. The LAF has a LiveStrong booth and I chatted with a couple of staffers from Austin. I talked cycling talk with Pete and Amy from VeloNews and got my first look at “Inside the Postal Bus” - I was like a little kid looking thru each page for the photos that I shot.

For the Prologue TT on the track, I was designated to be the person who stands in the middle of the course just before the finish line, and sends the racers to one side for the finish line and the team cars to the other side. I do great arm pointing and gestures, but the very first woman rider was heading down the chute, but at the last minute, she veered over and went on the car side... I was yelling at her, but she didn’t move over. I don’t know - I had told each of them on their warm-up laps which side they would finish on... Beats me...

Tomorrow is Amateur racing down in Fort Ord all day, and I gotta get up about 4:30 am. So, Goodnight All...

Every year, I am just awed by the efficient teamwork here at the Sea Otter - the staff and crew create an entire village, plus construct venues for amateurs and pros: Gravity competitions, Road Racing, MTB, Mountain Cross, Super Cross, Dual Slalom, Dirt Jumping, kid’s events, fun rides, just to name a few... Preparing the courses, fencing, signage, food, water, officials, announcers, radio communications, safety and security, power and porta-potties, managing a huge fleet of vehicles, erecting a huge tent village in the expo area, recruiting and placing volunteers - the list goes on and on.

Everyone on the different crews knows exactly what their job is, and how to do it. We come together from disparate locations across the country and meld into an instant cohesive team. Rick Sutton and Frank Yohannon bring back the same well-seasoned crew and staff every year. And, yes, we are top-notch... What do I do? I recruit, coordinate and place the road course marshals for both the amateur and pro road races.

This Sea Otter event isn’t just a celebration of the bicycle - it’s a celebration of an awesome group of hard-working people who create a cycling miracle out in the middle of nowhere. You wouldn’t believe the hard work that goes into the making of the Sea Otter every year. And, speaking of hard work, standing ovations are appropriate for the over 700 volunteers that are absolutely essential for the existence of this event. Come on down and check us out... Go to the link below for info..

OMG - Talk about tough! Leif Hoste seriously crashes in Paris-Roubaix, gets back on the bike and finishes 33rd in the race.... Now we hear that he fractured his sternum and punctured his lung!! And still finished the race. Unbelievable - he’s gonna have to have a tube stuck in his lung to removed some blocked air, and he’ll not be racing for quite a while. I can’t believe that he finished riding - Jeeze... And Mike Creed is down with some kind of fatigue thing - he’s laying low until they can figure out what’s wrong.

Well, the Morgan Hill Grand Prix was just one fine race. Kudos to Specialized and the race organizers - they did a great job! The Hill reminded me (and many other folks) of the Cat’s Hill in our Los Gatos Cat’s Hill Crit - it will be on May 7th.

I was delighted to see Dave Zabriskie entered in the race and boy, did he hold his own, solo, against teams like Webcor. He said he knew that he had to get out in front and stay there, and he sure did. That guy is one fine, talented racer. He and his girlfriend, Randi, are great people, too.

She and I were talking about his crash in Redlands, and I went to the hospital with them. The only way that I could get in, to be support to Randi, was to say that I was Dave’s mom. Randi was pretty freaked, and wanted me there, so we just stretched the truth a bit. I was with them for several hours in the emergency room, waiting for a diagnosis of his head and facial injuries. The only funny thing that happened that whole tense time was that, after a couple of hours, the phone in the room rang - the nurse answered it, looked straight at me and said, “David’s mother is on the line.” I, without batting an eye, said, “Oh you know, sometimes we have several mothers, don’t we?” She just smiled... So now I am known as Z’s “other mother”.

So these daily bits may be somewhat erratic while I am at Sea Otter, and will for sure be at night. Then at Georgia, I’ll just have to do the best I can to get on the Net. Are there Starbucks in Georgia? If so, I can catch wi-fi there, or maybe they will have good connections in the Press Rooms....

And, again, a heads-up that I am changing my email address to velogal at gmail.com There was too much confusion with using thevelogal with a yahoo address. Somebody else had almost the same address and mail was going to the wrong place, etc. Of course, my Zone Alarm firewall is giving me grief about signing in to gmail from my home PC - OK on my laptop - go figure.

Heads Up! My email address is changing from yahoo to gmail. Still dodging the spambots, so send to velogal at gmail dot com. Cheers!

Here goes with the Monday morning Lance Armstrong Live Strong Sirius Faction Radio report... I had to PVR it, since I was in a Sea Otter meeting - the program seemed short, so maybe I missed some of it. Lance was in Los Angeles and Higgs was in Austin - they talked briefly about Lance being in New York to do his thing at the Stock Exchange ( I saw him totally by accident on the Today Show) and then his ride with kids in Central Park. All to promote the 2012 Olympic bid and make amends for saying he thought Paris was a good choice.

They talked a bit about golf and the Master’s and how Tiger was great. Lance was a surprise entrant in the Garrett Lemire Memorial Grand Prix in Ojai on Sunday. The crit is a memorial to Garrett, who was killed by a motorist in a Tucson bike race in 2003. Harm Jensen defended his title and won again this year. Lance had just finished a three-hour training ride and glided up to the rear of the peloton at the start line just minutes before the race started. Lance rode alone against the other teams. Lance found our about the race from his friend, Dave Letteri.

Lance said that after the race, he was hurrying to get into his car, when this guy with sunglasses and a scraggly beard came up to him and said, “I’m Brokaw”. I guess it was the Tom Brokaw, incognito, just vacationing and saying hello. Lance also sent his best to Peter Jennings, and said that lung cancer is a tough battle to fight.

Lance answered a few questions from fans: What’s it like to train in public, especially in New York? Lance said it is surprisingly easy to get in a four-hour ride - he goes across the Bridge and into New Jersey and beyond. Said he passed a guy who said, “Hey, I was at your 22nd birthday party”. They rode together for a couple of hours and chatted. But most people don’t recognize him when he is riding alone. Lance said last year he passed a guy in a Ride for the Roses jersey, and Lance asked him where he got it. The guy told him all about the RftR and how great it was, and what it was for - the guy never even knew he was talking to Lance!

Someone asked about the article in the New York Post by Tony Kornheiser (see link). Lance said he thought it was a good article and well-balanced. Another question was about this strategy for Brasstown Bald at the Tour de Georgia. Lance said that it is an incredibly tough climb, not long, but so steep. Last year he used a 39x25 - this year he’ll use a 27. Said the organizers have thrown in a new, steep climb right before Brasstown Bald. He said the scenery in Northern Georgia is spectacular. Someone again asked about Philly, and Lance said that he wanted to do it and Johan said no - that he needed to do Dauphine Libere instead. (If anyone asks him again, gang, I’m not even gonna mention it!)

Next week, Lance both Lance and Higgs will be in Austin, and I’ll be wrapping up the Sea Otter and zooming back home to pack and catch a plane to Atlanta Monday morning. Lance’s big press conference and announcement will be in Augusta on Monday afternoon, so I’ll be in a plane enroute, and miss it.

Tomorrow, I'll tell you about the Morgan Hill Grand Prix - it was super and it was such a cool surprise to see my friend Dave Zabriskie, there. And to see him kick keister and easily win!

Watching cyclingnews.com and the Paris-Roubaix coverage. Can you believe a crash in the neutral zone that took out Victor Hugo Pena? Talk about a nervous peloton... Then, later in the race, they were talking about a Mavic neutral support guy who was standing on top of the moving Mavic car, adjusting the seat level of a spare bike to give to a rider. Dude ...very gutty or crazy or both. Wow! There are twenty-six pavé (cobble) sections in P-R this year, and some ugly cobbled climbs... Plus mud, mud, mud. Scott Sunderland said that P-R was a race of “attrition, guts and luck”, and he is so right.

Hincapie takes second to Boonen at P-R, and I’m off to the Morgan Hill Grand Prix and to the final Sea Otter meeting. I’ll listen to Lance’s show on my way home on my Sirius Starmate and have the report tomorrow.

Looks like Roger is racing Paris-Roubaix today. This guy is going to suffer big-time - Hats Off to him - he’s a gutty guy. Broken thumb in a cast for a little protection, but leg and ankle are still really painful for him.

It’s barely daylight and I’m off to course marshal at a feed zone/rest stop for a Century ride - Oh great, it’s still raining outside. Lovely....

More later.... Ciao!

Thanks to one of my blog readers, Burt, for a heads-up that cycling.tv has an interview with George Hincapie and Roger Hammond that you can view for free. It’s a nice, long interview that looks like it’s filmed in a quaint Belgian cafe or hotel lobby. George is such a nice, modest guy - and so handsome! Roger is a great guy, too and really tough - he’s honest and funny and loves being on Lance’s team.

So Paris-Roubaix is tomorrow, and the final DC team start list is still waiting on how Roger Hammond’s injuries are doing. I guess he is riding now with his broken thumb - he was back on his bike the next day. But I can only imagine how all the banging and jarring of the pavé (cobblestones) would feel to someone hanging on to the handlebars for that entire race. Yeah, I know that the technique is to hold on loosely, but I’ve had a broken finger from playing baseball, and it hurt like hell when I used it... Much less having it pounded for several hours. Roger has been looking forward to riding P-R and has really been training for it. But it will be either Roger or Volodymyr Bilecka riding P-R.

Heard that Chechu is becoming quite the sprinter in Pais Velasco - he was right there in the bunch the last stage. This guy can do it all! Plus, he is working on his second degree in biomechanical engineering, or something like that. His wife is an attorney, so a very bright, well-educated couple they are.

So Lance is/was in New York to make a couple of appearances and appease the patriotic wolves and yellow journalism, second-rate newspapers about his preferences for the 2012 Olympics. Some New York Post writer has discovered that trashing Lance causes a lot of stir, so he is making manure while the sun shines, so to speak. Journalistic wheel-sucking is what I call it...

The AP (who is not among the YJ’s mentioned above) reported that Lance was asked about retirement, and he responded that it is a possibility, and that he is still thinking about it. He said he’d have enough to do with his cause for the fight against cancer to last for 50 years, and he wants to be a full-time father. So if you want to see Lance ride the Tour for sure, maybe you’d better get it together and plan that dream Tour trip of a lifetime now!

So Roger Hammond did get banged up in the crash at Flanders - I had a feeling it wasn’t good - he broke his thumb and banged up his knee and legs. Probably will be out of commission for Paris-Roubaix. That’s a real bummer for him and for the team. George will likely still be recovering from his flu bug or whatever it is... The DC team is not having the greatest luck, health-wise so far this year.

I see where the SF Board of Supes (or is that Stupes) finally agreed on a decent amount to charge the SF Grand Prix promoters (formerly the T-Mobile International, originally the SF Grand Prix) for city services. Asking a cycling race promoter to pay almost a half-million dollars for city services is a death sentence for a cycling event. Duh...how difficult is it to see that it’s not like a NASCAR race or a football game, where fans pay some ungodly amount of money for admission fees, and then the promoters can cover their costs and make a profit. The only thing that covers the costs of cycling races (and those costs are astronomical and unbelievable, no matter how large or small the race) is sponsor dollars.

What we need are some dedicated sponsors, like Discovery Channel, Wachovia or Dodge, to step up and take over title sponsorship of these cycling events. I work as an independent contractor for Threshold Sports, and they are the most dedicated and hard-working bunch of people you could ever know. What a shame it will be, if cities do not realize the potential income and tax revenue that these races bring to cities, and drive the promoters into the red to pay for services. One thing I know for sure, is that promoters do not make big bucks and get rich on cycling races.....

Watched Gent-Wevelgem on cycling.tv - It kinda stuttered and hung up on my screen - maybe just my dsl or maybe North America and Canada viewers overloaded the server. It’s great to be able to see and listen live, for sure. Guess Roger crashed ( haven’t heard how he is) and George abandoned - I think he is sick again with the crud that seems to be spreading through the peloton for the umpteenth time.

I was looking at the Lance 10/2 merchandise on niketown.com - it’s pretty cool, but also pretty pricey. I really like the design... I ran into one of the guys on the USA National team (think it was Zach Bolian) at Ontario airport - he was waiting in line in front of me to put his stuff into the TSA inspection. He had this way-cool DC Pro Team messenger bag! I asked where he got it, and he said from a friend somewhere in high places. So I guess we all have to wait until this stuff gets put on the market for the “rest of us”. I tried to get some schwag at training camp, but man, they were really tight with the stuff this year.

Looks like I may be doing some writing on the Wachovia Pro Cycling site - I’ll keep you updated about this and give you a link, if it happens. Would start shortly and continue until the end of the Wachovia Pro Cycling Tour races the first week in June. Let me know what you are curious about and what you want to hear!

Heads Up!! Cycling.tv will show Gent-Wevelgem live coverage tomorrow - Wednesday morning - They say 5:20 Pacific time, I don't know if that is Daylight Savings time or Standard time.... But it's a freebie!!

Rushing around to get all everything done that has piled up since I left last Thursday. Unfortunately, uploading the Redlands pics has to take low priority right now - I’ll get to it soon. I have even been neglecting my Lance site and DC team site... April is going to be a crazy, busy month. I’m going to volunteer to course marshal with a local bike club’s annual century ride next Saturday, be in Morgan Hill to cover the Specialized Morgan Hill Grand Prix on Sunday morning and early afternoon, and then rush down to Laguna Seca for the final Sea Otter meeting at 4 pm. Then I’m basically gone from April 13th thru April 25th with the Sea Otter and Tour of Georgia. And, by the way, working to try to earn enough to pay my bills - small details like this get in my way of totally living the cycling life.

I did take a few minutes to read an excerpt from Linda Armstrong Kelly’s book, “Raising Lance, Raising Me” on MSNBC (link is below). USA Today just had an article about Linda’s book by Sal Ruibal (he’s a great guy - I’ll run into him at Georgia, I know). It was nice to see that, in a sidebar, they mentioned Tour de France for Dummies “by a trio of seasoned sports writers” - they said by “podium girl gone bad Sammarye Lewis”. Maybe it will sell PGGB books, too!

I’m sending in my Nikon D2h for repairs this morning - I looked in some photographers discussions groups (Nikonians.org, Sportsshooters.com and Robert Galbraith.com), and I am appalled to see how many photogs have had the same autofocus/metering problem. Like about a hundred just in those groups! I knew there was a problem and thought that my camera was not one of the defective ones, and zap! It just went blooey while I was shooting the race. It’s clear that there is a major defect in the circuit board or something. And I had just ordered a second one before I left for Redlands! The Nikon service center rep started talking repair costs and I said, “No Way!” These folks are gonna fix this thing under warranty - it’s only three weeks past the one-year warranty expiration.

So, there’s Gent Wevelgem tomorrow, and the guys are doing the Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco right now. I hear that Tom was trying to ride to the finish with a flat tire and was really squirreling around on the descent on that pancake tire. Guess the team car was stuck way back, and he finally got a wheel from Mavic. Paris-Roubaix and Classica Primavera are coming up on the 10th. Lotsa busy guys and lotsa sore legs....

Monday morning and time for the Lance Armstrong Sirius Radio Live Strong report. One word: Re-run. Yep - it was a re-run of the show the weekend of Het Volk and K-B-K. The funny story about this is that I had bought the Sirius Starmate and brought it along with me so I could hear the show. I was at the Redlands final podium awards - keeping my eye on my watch and at 5:30, I walked over to my rental car in a parking lot and dug out the little Sirius Starmate (about the size of a pack of cancer sticks), the antenna cord, and the cigarette lighter plug-in cord.

When Sirius says “plug and play”, they really mean it! I plugged the antenna into the Starmate and stuck the little magnetized antenna pod on top of the car, then plugged the unit into the cig lighter and hit the on switch. I had pre-tuned an FM station on the car radio, and tuned the Starmate to that station, and set the Faction station, so I was instantly listening to Faction radio. I was under some trees and between a couple of tall buildings, so I drove down the road and parked in my hotel parking lot. Voila - perfect reception. And then..... The April Fool’s joke was on me - it was a re-run!

So, I highly recommend the Starmate - Go to my site and click the Sirius icon - for $99 you can get the auto version of the Starmate, and $12.95 a month (one month free on a year subscription), you can take your Sirius radio wherever you go. I’m told there is satellite reception in Europe, too, so I’m taking it to the Tour with me. Maybe I’ll sit beside Lance and listen to his show..

OK - remember I told you I had a blast on the moto at the Oak Glen stage of Redlands? Well, yesterday I was on a moto on the Shaver Sunset stage with a different driver and we dumped over....twice!! Going slow... whew!! Dudes - having an 800-pound Harley in my lap was a first for me... I only freaked out about whether my lone, remaining camera and super-expensive 70-200 Nikor lens was broken. It was not, so my bruises were insignificant. All’s well that ends well, so I’m heading back on a noon flight today.

Ok, Ok - the OLN-Discovery-Dan Osipow thing was a little Velo joke. From Velonews via Velogal for April Fool’s Day. The clue was “I saw in the news...” Most of you caught it, I know...

Speaking of OLN, I was standing along the barricades at the Crit course today in downtown Redlands when someone grabbed my hat - I whirled around and my buddy Frankie Andreu was standing there, with that cute, devilish grin he has. Frankie is just the greatest guy and I totally adore him - he is just so genuine and real - no big star-big head guy. He’s funny and smart and knows cycling inside and out. His Postie reports and journals have set the pattern for dozens of other cyclists, but his are always the best. I still find his early reports when I am Googling cycling info - I stop and read them - they are still so interesting.

So we shot the breeze for a while - OLN is covering bits and pieces of Redlands and Sea Otter for their Cyclysm Sundays. Not sure if they are gonna do Georgia or not. Frankie said that he will be at the Tour again, so that’s great news. We speculated a bit about Lance’s big announcement, and the future of cycling here in the States, with Sponsors being so difficult to find.

Since I am working Sea Otter till the evening of Sunday, April 17th, I can’t fly out till Monday morning, and won’t arrive in Atlanta till evening on Monday, the 18th. That means I won’t get there in time for the big announcement - Bummer, but it takes a whole day to get there...

I still haven’t put up any pics yet - it is so time consuming to sort thru hundreds of shots... I had to proof the last of my chapters for the Tour de France for Dummies, so that took up my spare time today. Plus my Nikon D2h ate the biscuit yesterday. I have known that some of the D2h series have a big problem and have to be sent back for a new circuit board or something like that. I thought I was one of the lucky ones without a bug, but it got a “fatal” error and now I’m SOL. I have my D70 as a backup, but after having two cameras with different lenses, it’s the pitts... And it also feels weird to not have my team here at Redlands! I really miss being around the guys... Hey, be sure to check out the new AMD team site www.amdprocycling.com

Awesome, awesome day! Totally cool - I got to ride on a moto for the entire 172k Oak Glen RR! I’ve done moto on some crit laps, but never for an entire stage. Outrageous - loved it! My driver was Fred Rau, who is well known both as a freelance writer and rider in the motorcycle world. Great driver and great machine. I had a blast and Fred later told me that I was so in sync with the machine that he hardly knew I was sitting behind him (that’s a nice compliment).

I see in the news that Discovery Channel has bought OLN! That is good news, I think, for us cycling fans. Keep your fingers crossed and think Giro and Vuelta - Oh Yeah! I also see that Dan Osipow has stepped up from Tailwind Sports to become the head honcho of OLN... Now that is some more good news for us to have the head guy at OLN be cycling-savvy and love cycling. Maybe we won’t spend our couch-potato time watching re-runs of fishing and bull riding. Myself, I watch all the gruesome and gory stuff on Discovery Health Channel when I’m bored...

One of the guys here saw my Lance tattoo and was just asking me about the Tour. He also asked me about Didi Senft, the Devil. What most people don’t know is that the Devil is so malodorous (he really smells bad) that you can hardly stand to be around him. I don’t think he has ever washed that devil costume - those summer July days in France are hot, hot, hot - well, you get the picture...


I am gonna try to get a bunch of pics up tomorrow morning. The crit doesn’t start till the afternoon, so I can get over here (Starbucks) to hook up for my java and wifi fix and upload a bunch of stuff.