Thanks to everyone who's left comments and emails in the past weeks wishing me well on the Tour of California selection. I'd been holding off on posting here, waiting for an official Tour of California roster to be released by either Rock Racing or the race organization itself, but it starts in four days and I still haven't seen anything. So I'll just come out with it: I'm going. It'll be great to finally get to start what has quickly become the largest, and possibly the most important race in the US. As much as I might have said otherwise, it's been difficult to be at home the past couple of years and not taking part. This year would have been no different. But I probably would have lied about it again.

Actually, because I'd been basing all of my training since November on trying to get ready for this one race, missing it this year would have been an even more bitter disappointment. On Health Net, I was always told far in advance that my season would start later, and that I shouldn't worry about trying to prove anything at training camp. This year, I was told to get ready for Tour of California as far back as October, but it became progressively more clear as the off-season progressed, and the roster continued to grow, that it was anything but a given that I'd be going. So it's a relief to know that all of that hard training wasn't wasted. Now I get to see how well prepared I actually am. I won't promise daily updates here, but I'll try to get as much posted as possible. If anyone has any specific questions you'd like answered, or any particular angle that you'd like to see me discuss, just leave a comment. I'll do my best.

Here's an unfortunate tale, though. When I arrived home from training camp I found that my brand new, as yet unridden DeRosa bicycle had been broken on the airplane. Look at this heartbreaker:

As much as I'd traveled with a bicycle over the years, I've had incredible luck in avoiding this sort of thing. But considering the treatment that the [poorly] trained apes in the baggage department routinely give to our luggage, it really isn't surprising that it happened. What was also unsurprising was the dismissive attitude I was treated with when I initially reported the damage. The story took an unexpected turn, however, when a representative from Rock and Republic made a call on my behalf and politely mention the L word. One whisper of 'team of lawyers' into their ear, and a compensation check and note of apology was quickly dashed to my doorstep. Moral of the story: don't roll over when this sort of thing happens.

Other than that, things have been great since I got home. The weather's been kind of crazy, but not so much so that I haven't been able to get the training I've needed. There's also been plenty to do off of the bike. This past weekend, I made a trip to the handmade bike show over at the Convention Center. There was some amazing stuff on display. Jonathan Maus at BikePortland did a great job of covering the show, check it out if you weren't able to be there in person. My friend Sacha White also got some personal attention on Velonews. I had the good fortune of getting to know Sacha when he was just getting started in the bike building business, and I've been the proud owner of one of the first Vanilla cyclocross bikes he ever built for the past seven years. His waiting list is apparently in the five year range now, so I'm lucky to have gotten in when I did.

I also made a trip to the Bagdad Theatre on Hawthorne last night to hear Michael Pollan speak about his new book, In Defense of Food. His last book, The Omnivore's Dilemma, was one of the most interesting books I've read in some time. If you haven't already read it, do so. Start tonight. It'll change the way you think about food, but in a constructive way. It's not a gross-out book and it didn't turn me into a vegetarian. It just made me a lot more conscious of the types of food I eat, and where those foods come from. Especially meat. Based on his talk last night, I expect this new book to be equally good.

There's plenty more I could write about now, but I'm going to go ride my bike instead. Below are some pictures I've taken over the last couple of weeks. More posts will come soon, I mean it this time.