We all sang Happy Birthday to Chechu Rubiera when he came out to ride this morning. The birthday song was started by none other than Johan Bruyneel. It was great to see the wrenches, soigneurs and team doctors all singing at the top of their lungs in the morning rain, with big grins and much goofing around.

The team rode Gibralter from the south side – it was a traffic mess getting there and back, and a mess on Gibralter with the rain. The guys climbed well, moving swiftly along on the climbs and descending on the rain-slick, rutty road at a speed that made me cringe. A couple of Levi’s friends rode along, and I had their bags and wheels in my car. I mostly drove support for them, and they abandoned near the top - didn't have cold weather gear. So I got two bikes, six wheels, bags and two riders in the Subaru, and took off at demon speed to catch up with the rest of the group. Gave them a ride to remember on four wheels, I think…

My photog buddy, Mark Shimahara, of www.bikezen.com, rode with the team and surprised the devil out of me. I know he’s a good rider, but I didn’t know that he is so good - he never got dropped – not once! He said riding alongside of Chechu, Fumy and the other guys gave him an adrenalin boost. So the guy takes excellent cycling shots and rides like a Pro. You may recall that Mark sent shots for this blog from the Tour de France last summer. Good on you, Mark…

No pics today – I do not get my cameras wet for anything or anybody… Maybe manana if it is dry.