Race Day 1 - Evening edition

Well, after a great dinner and a couple beers, I am relaxing in my room. And man am I exhausted - the weekend is a blur of Durango festivities, bike rides, friends visiting from Europe, and of course getting through the mound of paperwork and preparation for this week. I am watching the highlights on Versus in my room - looks like I missed a great race!


Great digs here at the Cimarron Lodge. My roommate tonight is none other than our Directeur Sportif, the legendary Belgian Rik Van Slycke. Pinch me.


Dinner was in a tent behind our lodging, at the bottom of Lift 7. It is a great setup - each team has 2 tables, one where the riders sit, and one where the rest of the team sits. I saw most of the guys go back to the buffet tables at least 3 times. I was surprised that they drank so many soft drinks with their meals!

It was awesome to walk down the buffet line with Cadel Evans - and I gotta say he looked tired. The Garmin tables were definitely in a good mood tonight.

Cars are fueled, bottles are all full and on ice, bikes and cars are washed, and the plan for tomorrow has been shared with the team. And yes, the bottles are clean.

Wrapped up the night with a couple beers with the crew - it also amazed me how little they keep track of the race or talk about it, even afterward when we are chilling out.

Big day tomorrow - taking the crew from the hotel in Telluride to the start in Montrose - my first chance to be 1:1 with Levi and the boys. Then off to the finish in Crested Butte. Lots of driving!