Great day – great ride! We all went in one group today, so we had quite an entourage for the four-hour ride. It was a leisurely, mellow ride, but with more flat tires than I remember having. Oh yeah – there was this guy riding along with the team - seems like I’ve seen him somewhere else – like on the Tour de France podium about seven times… Yep, Lance Armstrong was there and leading his team just like good old days. Eki rode, too – My Iron Man is just amazing – he could still be competing if he wanted to. Never even came close to being dropped in Cat Canyon.

There was quite a local crowd waiting – one teacher brought his class. They looked like maybe fourth grade, and they were asking everyone for autographs. One small group of girls was standing right where Lance walked in – they asked and he stopped and signed a bunch. When he walked on, we asked them if they knew who had just signed. Nope – they didn’t have a clue. When I told them it was Lance, they just started jumping up and down and screaming. Were they ever the envy of their classmates, and their teacher, too…

And then, there was a sweet, elderly lady with a cane who stood around for a long time in the cold, with a piece of paper in her hand. She looked a little frail, with tremors. Not like anyone who would remotely be interested in cycling. I thought maybe she wanted an autograph from Lance for her grandkids or something. So I went over to her, and much to my great surprise, she told me she was handing out cycling jokes. Huh? Yup, cycling jokes. She had the joke printed up on 8x10 pieces of paper, but hardly anyone would take one. I think everyone thought she was handing out religious or political tracts, and I guess she sorta was. I dunno… So I politely took one from her.

The joke was about two cyclists asking God for a bridge to Hawaii so they could ride all the way. He says it is impossible and to ask for something else. So they ask God to make their wives understand them, give them everything they want, and take care of them, etc, etc. After a long pause, God says, “Did you want that bridge a two-lane or a four-lane?”

No kidding, that Little Old Lady was handing out cycling jokes, while her Little Old Husband waited in the car, parked right in the middle of the driveway where we were going to leave from. More power to them, whatever the reason.

Turns out that all the guys who flew in yesterday on that 27-hour flight – yes, not 20, but 27, arrived without their luggage. I guess they missed their connection in London with the resulting flight marathon. Also, the three folding massage tables never arrived. I offered to loan them a pair of my jeans… Or take them shopping…

Pics I will be up later - I have to go over to use the Bulldog Cafe wifi. The wifi speed here at the hotel is not much better than dial-up. Took me an hour just to upload the few pics last night. I still like how the French call it weefee...