ToC Arrival

Four days into my Cali stay and I'm still suffering from the 9 hour difference. Up at 4:30, little sleep, long days with lots to do... it's tiring! Liquigas is pretty well set up. We've provided our freshly-wrapped (green!) truck for the mechanics to call home, along with assistance from James. We also provided plenty of the mechanics' and masseuses requests so they were able to travel a little bit lighter.

On arrival, I unpacked my new bike... freshly built with one ride... and it was broken. Evidently I packed the box a bit too tight and after the security check it was repacked in a hurry. Oh well, I'm set up with a borrowed SRAM System Six... and the replacement is on the way already.

I picked the boys up on Tuesday night, along with AG2R. Immediately off the plane and they looked like a commercial for a cell phone provider...

Yesterday was their first ride followed by lunch and some wind trainer riding. The cold, wet weather here hasn't been conducive to overcoming the jetlag. Today, we've got some journalists coming along for the ride. We're also filming for a commercial spot. Lots of the guys who were behind the scenes from Napoleon Dynamite are shooting here. They're equipped with the (Oakley) Red camera.

Last night was a bit of karaoke in the hotel bar. I'm no stranger to the mic, but there were some pros there who are better than anyone on American Idol!

More to come...