So I heard a story a few days ago that I thought I’d pass on…

The team was out at dinner a few nights ago and Jesse (the team director) and Brian (the head mechanic) were telling a story about Cesar Grajales at the 2004 Redlands Classic. Cesar, a Columbian, was just beginning to settle into racing in the States. The team rolled up to host housing in Redlands and the usual scramble began for the best rooms with the best beds. Cesar wasn’t quite quick enough and didn’t make it upstairs in time to get a bed. But he didn’t seem to mind too much. He found some floor space in a large walk-in closet and he happily agreed to sleep in there…

Yes, on the floor…

With no sleeping bag or air mattress… only a pillow and a blanket.

This is the side of Cesar’s face.

Jesse and Brian also said that Cesar only drank coffee and ate bread with honey on it all weekend.

Crazy thing was… After the weekend was over, Cesar had finished 2nd overall to Chris Horner.

Not too shabby.

I’m sharing a room with my Australian teammate Cody Stevenson.
This is a picture of Cody’s bed.

To the left of Cody’s bed, on the floor lies this:
This is a picture of my bed.

I’m going to go sleep on it now.

Good night.

Categories: Daily Jibber Jabber.
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On Sunday, we had another nice long training ride in the East San Diego mountains. We met up with the owner of Speedplay, and Floyd Landis for a bit of a spin in the mountains.

I found myself in the bunch sitting right next to Floyd… but what do you talk about? Every dingleberry in the world hits him up with questions about the obvious situation he’s in right now. I’m sure he’s about fed up with questions about his trial, cycling, his future, and about anything else that relates to that. So, basically I didn’t really feel like being “that guy”…

We had a bit of small talk and I figured… ah, what the hell, I’ll ask him about his hip.

So here it goes:

Austin: So how’s the hip doing?
Floyd: The hip’s fine… everything else is fu@$%# though.

We had a laugh. I could only imagine what he’s going through right now…

Suzanne had wanted me to tell Floyd that she thought he was awesome and that she liked him more than Lance… I forgot to though. She was a bit bummed about that one. Floyd seemed to be a real nice guy. Genuine and easy to talk to. We also had a bit of a chat about Bob Seger. Seems that he’s a fan too.

So that was about it with the excitement for the ride. Floyd and company peeled off after about 2 hours and we turned back for some more climbing. The rest of it was spent going up, and down, in the mountains just outside of San Diego. Nice day, nice ride, no complaints here.

Today is going to be a nice short recovery spin. Nothing too exciting. Then we’re heading off to the Speedplay headquarters to get a bit of a tour.

I’ll write some more tomorrow. I’ve got a good story to tell about Cesar sleeping on the floor in a closet and then running 2nd to Chris Horner up Oak Glenn in the 2004 Redlands Classic. It’s a goodie and worth telling.

Take care.

Categories: Daily Jibber Jabber.
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Greetings. Well, things are smoothing out here in San Diego. Most of the sponsors, staff, and team VIP’s have come, said “hello”, and now headed on down the road. It’s great to see everyone, but it can make for a few busy days. Now that the team photos are all done, the product handed out and dialed in, and it’s pretty much the team left, our schedule is slowing down a bit. Basically, we’re sliding more into the ride and recover routine. Can’t complain about that…

We had a nice casual 4 hour ride yesterday. We did most of the Saturday morning Swami group ride loop and then stopped for a nice cup of coffee down on the beach.

Ah, the beach…

Trent approves.

A rather unorthodox climbing style…

This photo’s for Tommy… he wanted to know what his legs looked like.

As for today… we’re off for a 5 hour ride through the East San Diego mountains. There are a couple of long climbs planned including one dirt one. Should be fun. Word on the street is… someone is meeting up with us out on the road to put some K’s in. A certain recent Tour winner… we’ll see.

Talk to you later.

Categories: Daily Jibber Jabber.
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No training camp is complete without one long drawn out day in the saddle. Today did not disappoint. 7 hours and 5000 kj later we rolled back into the driveway. Our route had taken us from the coast, through Escondido, past the casino’s, up the South Grade of Palomar Mtn., down the East Grade, through Santa Ysabel, Ramona, Highland Valley, and back to the coast. All in all, a great day on the bike and quite scenic as well.

Snow on top of Palomar. According to the locals there was 2 feet on the ground just a few days ago.

The high point of the ride, with exception of Palomar Mountain, was the 1 mile jaunt we made on Interstate 15. We needed to get from one exit to another, so… cruise up the on-ramp, slap it in a big gear, and swap off to the next exit.

What are the odds that in 1 mile of riding the Interstate in the middle of San Diego that you would see a police officer?

Well, today the odds were 100%. Ben Brooks flatted right as we were pulling onto the off-ramp. I glanced over and a police officer on a motorbike was starring right at me. Hm? The easiest was to get out of this one is to send all the foreigners to talk to him. Ben, Trent and Cody laid on their thickest Aussie and explained that we were lost. If the cop was anything like me, he couldn’t understand a damn word they were saying and was confused enough to let us ride on.

So we did just that and rode on.

Neil Shirley’s his name… Fear him this year.

We’re off today for another 4 hours in the saddle. It’s sunny and warm in Southern California today… so why not?

Talk to you later.

Categories: Daily Jibber Jabber.
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Today was the ever so lovely photo day.

I’m being sarcastic.

I typically don’t like the photo day of training camp. Why? Because you really don’t get a productive day in on the bike. Most of it is spent speeding up, slowing down, speeding back up, and flexing you legs super hard so that they look adequate in the photos. Actually today wasn’t a very bad photo day at all. Louis Garneau wanted real photos and not staged one’s. So, that allowed us to get a half-decent training ride in.

3 Easy Steps to Get A Photo Taken Of You That In Turn Gets Published Somewhere Neat:

1. Wear all the current up to date sponsor items. Such as but not limited to: shoes, helmet, water bottles, gloves, cycling caps, helmet, etc.

2. Next, hog the front of the bunch. Never pull off and take cover in the back. Nobody cares to photograph the back of the bunch.

3. Ride a few gears smaller than normal. Also, gently apply your brakes for added resistance. Now, pedal hard. This will allow your legs to flex, grunt, and strain better than they normally would.

Getting ready to ride.

Alright, that’s all for now. We’re heading out on a long training ride today… Looks like we’ll be tying one on.

Talk to you later.

Categories: Daily Jibber Jabber.
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Well, I’m back in San Diego but this time for training camp. I flew in yesterday and spent a few hours sitting at the airport… people watching… waiting… day dreaming… sitting in the sun… and some more waiting. When the team has to pick up 5 or 6 guys in one trip, there can be some waiting that takes place.

After getting picked up we made our way north to Del Mar and to our humble abode for the next week or so.

We’re definitely not roughing it here…

Next, I was greeted with my new trusty war chariot.

Not roughing it here as well… Notice the SRAM gruppo. New for this season.

And then I was overwhelmed with a distinct smell… a smell I’ve inhaled once or twice before… a smell that could only mean one thing…

Aussies.

They’d made it…

We did a little spin. Had a little dinner. Came back to our humble abode… and what would you know? Santa Claus made a visit…

Fresh clothes… (insert sigh of relief).

That’s all for now. Stay tuned and I’ll keep you up to date as to what really happens at a team’s training camp.

It’s breakfast time.

Later.

Categories: Daily Jibber Jabber.
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