What a day yesterday… The ride was way over six hours, and the guys did Figuroa twice. Or once and a half, that is. We rode for about three hours and then headed up the killer Figuroa from the Santa Barbara side - then descended at unreal speeds, considering how bad the road is. When the guys got to the bottom, near Los Olivos, both Johan and Dirk turned their groups around and sent them back up again…

The guys again climbed that grueling, pot-holed road back to the top. By then it was late afternoon - very windy and cold – the guys were sweating, fatigued and chilled. I followed the Classics group, and saw Eki tearing up the road – way ahead of the others the second time up. My Iron Man is awesome. And, yes, his new hairdo does kinda look like a modified mullet.

A couple of the guys got dropped, so I dropped back with them and followed – nobody gets left alone on the mountain. This ride is not easy for the non-climbers on the team. They all had an extra incentive, because Sean Yates suited up and rode the Figuroa with them. Pretty amazing to see Sean out there climbing with the team. He held his own place pretty well… Chapeau bas to him! Dirk rode with the team the day before. I teased him about his hairy legs…