My plane circled around Philly, waiting for a thunderstorm to quiet down, so I ended up arriving late last night – what else is new? Got a great view of the city from the air, and it is impressive. Lorin, the Radio Tour voice gal, picked a couple of us up at the airport, so I didn’t have to do the never-ending stops of the airport shuttle. Long check-in line at the hotel – a youth lacrosse tournament is happening, so parents, coaches and kids were lined up.

As we drove up to the hotel, there was Vince, the DC wrench for all US races, washing the team car and looking quite cheerful. Those guys work so hard… In the registration line, way ahead of me, was Dave Bolch, making all the arrangements for team’s rooms. Guess Lance must have headed on to Girona, ‘cause Dave is Lance’s head guy here in the US. Dave always drives the team car for Lance’s training rides, and takes good care of Lance and the ranch.

Headed over to an Irish pub a couple of blocks away to catch up on the latest happenings with some buddies and came back to the hotel lounge for a Bailey’s. Ran into Dirk, Max, Leif and Jurgen – all looking fit and happy. Traded the traditional three Belgian cheek kisses and chatter. Max borrowed my rental Subaru Outback a few times at team training camp, and he always returned it, newly washed and shiny, with a full tank of gas. He’s a great guy. They are all pretty stoked about Paolo’s possible victory at the Giro.

It’s driving me nutz to not be able to follow the Giro while I’m here – work does get in the way of things, doesn’t it?