Riding the brakes...

... and by brakes I do mean those mechanistic, metal gripping contraptions that allow for stopping. While we will be riding in the break on Sunday, this brake riding refers to the likes of the descent at Gila after seeing the massive crash that took out the likes of Zirbel and our very own Mr. Cole (yes, I crept down the Gila-monster)...

So yesterday we are heading back to LAX to pick up our teammate Rolf - sidenote: LAX is an hour each way from our hotel, whereas John Wayne Orange County is five minutes... I didn't book the tickets. Back to the story, on our way to the airport I see that the brake light is on and that for the entire day I had been burning fuel and brake pads by not deactivating the e-brake.

Now, one might laugh at the fact that I am travel savy and can discern which airport makes the most economical sense, yet drives for 2 + hours with the e-brake engaged... yeah, it's called irony.

So, it's day 2 of our Cali trip and we just found out that we don't have to race on Saturday - i.e. no prelims.

Our field for Sunday will be 150+ and it will be fast and furious.

Because we are not doing prelims we are motor pacing with Andy - once he arrives at LAX (the airport that from our hotel is half way to Oregon).

This brings us to the topic of the day... what should we do between now (well, post motor pacing) and Sunday at 2:30 pm when the whistle is blown? You see, our guess is that Andy wants us to sit down and do nothing; but we, the cyclists who get little time away from work and riding, want to have some fun while in the land of Angels.

So, if the reader will indulge, please provide some ideas that will keep our legs fresh, but allow us, at the same time, to have some fun - as well as allow us to write something about our adventures in Cali-land before the race...

- Ian

p.s. at top is a pic that Phil took while we were riding along the Santa Ana river bed. He got a new camera for his birthday, but is bitter about not having a memory stick as of yet. On the other hand he was quite proud to capture a perfect portrayal of my incredible form on the bike... oh yeah and more importantly those hot unis...