So today was probably the most miserable day I've ever had on a bike. It was definitely the longest, both in terms of miles and time ridden. We left Seaside, which is adjacent to Monterey, at 10:00 am and finished in San Luis Obispo at 5:30 pm, after covering 217km along the Highway 1. The official race time was just shy of seven hours, but that doesn't include the 30 minutes or so of neutral riding before we were officially started. It rained nearly the whole time, and the headwind was unbelievable. I spent basically the entire day wondering why, exactly, I've decided to make my living as a bike racer. The funny thing is though, as soon as it was over, it didn't seem nearly as bad. I suppose that sort of selective memory is the only reason any of us can keep going in this sport.

Beyond just the sheer amount of time spent out there, the effort was quite big as well. According to Mike Creed's SRM, we did about 5,300kj of work today, and that's just sitting in. For those that don't know what the numbers mean, the conversion factor to nutritional calories is about 4kj/cal, and a well trained cyclist is about 25% efficient. So just during the time we were on our bikes, we burned almost 5500 calories. That doesn't include the rest of the day. I can't even imagine what it was like for the guys in the break, or the Astana guys riding on the front to protect Levi. Dominique Rollin, a Quebecois on the Toyota-United team, won after spending nearly the entire day in the break. Incredible. I rolled in with the first chase group and went straight to the team bus to wolf down pizza and hot tea. It was excellent.

I should also mention that I got to chat a bit with Damian Schmidt, Barry Wicks, and Ryan Trebon before the stage today. It was great to catch up with the Oregon crew a bit. I kept thinking during the stage about how warm and dry they probably were right then.

Yesterday was an extremely hard day too, but we lucked out on the weather. Unfortunately, I didn't manage to stay with the leaders up Mt. Hamilton, which was the second to last climb of the day. By the time the group I was with got over the last climb, Sierra Road, and back to San Jose, we were almost twelve minutes behind the stage winner. Fortunately for the team, our Colombian rider, Victor Hugo Pena, made it into the lead group and finished 10th, which gives him a shot at a good overall placing.

Tomorrow is the TT, which will be a nice break after the last two days. Not that a time trial is easy, but at least it's over quickly.

So those are the basic, boring racing facts. Other than that, it's been a chaotic blur of buffet meals, transfers to and from the stages, massage, and generic hotel rooms. Oh, and fashion models and a ride in a Rolls Royce too, but that's a story for another time. Crazy as it all is, and as miserable as today was, I'm glad to be here racing. Below is a photo from Sierra Rd that a photographer by the name of Chris Hovey was kind enough to send along. Thanks.

Check out the beard:


Time for bed now. Thanks to everyone that's been checking in over the last few days.