After being on the road for six days, I thought I was running out of clean clothes. I’ve been a bit under the weather since Spain, so I’ve been downing Robitussin like it was Red Bull. Unfortunately, the bottle broke and leaked on a pair of jeans and shorts. But all was not lost. As I was digging through my bag I noticed another layer of clothes that were actually clean! Oh happy days!

The racing today started in the rain, went to hail and then sunshine. Even with the crappy weather, the crowds still lined the roads, which was great to see. I have heard that this year’s crowds have exceeded last years. Bettini squeaked out the win and at the press conference gave kudus to racing here in the States. I think as time goes by, the Tour of California will be the season opener for more ProTour teams. And if the UCI and ASO don’t get their act together, that will happen even sooner. As I write this, the UCI is asking teams to boycott Paris-Nice. The director of Quick Step commented on the situation at the press conference and he is not pleased. Speaking metaphorically, Quick Step director Patrick Lefevere said, “We have the actors, and if they want to have a film they need us.”

I have attended every press conference and it is interesting to see what teams send staff to shepherd their rider. Discovery Channel always has their p.r. person bringing Levi to the press conference. Also, he sets the amount of time Levi stays at the conference. The only other team that has done that has been CSC. Also, the big teams don’t seem to be coming out of their busses as much before the race as before. That’s not to say that the riders aren’t being approachable, but there seems to be less interaction between the riders and the fans. I hope my observation is wrong because this rider/fan interaction is what separates professional cycling from other professional sports.

Martine Charles, media person extraordinaire of Toyota-United, must be able to tell that I am almost out of clean clothes, so she just gave me a good looking Toyota-United shirt. Score!

Super Big Hair Fan. And no, I don’t know what that means.

Schamber takes driving seriously

If you can’t tell, I’m sick