The Queen of Neoprene and I drove up to Solvang for the Tour of California.

I love road trips. Whether they are day trips or week long trips I am in. The Queen and I left after work on Thursday night. We drove up the Belmont Shores to stay at her friends house. On the way The Queen introduced me to Pinkberry.

I normally don't like frozen yogurt but, it was excellent! Too bad the closest one to San Diego is in Temecula. In the morning we left early enough to miss most of the traffic and made it to Solvang an hour before the Time Trial started. The atmosphere at the ToC races is pretty unique. It's not the spectators you would expect to see. Groups of kids, dogs and families milling about. There was the usual smattering of bike geeks, shop geeks and industry people. The race was fun to watch but, the best part for me was walking through the team areas. They had grouped the teams in a large parking lot and it was opened to the public. Thankfully not everyone knew it and it wasn't packed. We were able to stand 3 feet from Boonen, Bettini, Hincapie and everyone else while they were warming up on trainers. All the racers we saw were happy to talk to the fans and sign autographs.

The sickness has passed..... for now.

Two weeks ago most of San Diego and I caught the flu. The strain was impervious to most medication and is still lingering with me in form of a cough. I hate being sick. Most of the time when I get a cold, it lasts a few days then withers away, not this time. I missed 4 days of work and many times thought overdosing on Mucinex might be better. It took a little over 7 days to get my energy back. I am not yet up to riding but, soon.

Well do the math. I did not go to 24 hours in the Old Pueblo this year. It's the first time in 7 years that I missed it. Although I wouldn't go straight to "missed". The forecast had snow, rain and cold temps. With my flu condition there was no way I was going to risk a pneumonia. It looks like it was a good decision. The guys were held up getting out of town because of black ice, snow and mud slides on the 8 east. When they arrived in Tucson it was snowing and cold. Yuck.

At least it let up for the race. Unfortunately the weather was the only good change during the first lap. Elliott went first for the guys. On his way out the fire road toward the first climb, a jackass nudged his handlebar and he flipped over the bars breaking his collarbone and fracturing his elbow. Poor SOB. For the complete story and xRay photo's checkout the B&L Blog.

Jens turned 40 last night (at least thats what are waitress thought)!

Great turn out for another Jens slam-fest, sorry buddy. Dainty, RL.com + his better half, Kaiser, Tracy the neighbor, Mike &J, Aaron & Heather, Mattallica, BigAss, The Sheppard, Me and Tater Tot celebrated Jens' birthday at Masuo's.  

Fun was had by all, at little strange and confusing but, fun. 

Well.... where to begin. Here is a synopsis;

1) Had a nightmare date last week. She might have been an axe murderer but, I escaped narrowly. (Long story)

2) I started working out again to get back some fitness. I rode in the YMCA Spin-a-thon again this year and had my ass handed to me, I am still sore. I rode my bike Saturday, Sunday and Monday (I think I am riding to work today as well).

3) The Queen of Neoprene and I went to 4 Super Bowl parties on Sunday. I ended up back at #1 (The bearded ladies house) for beer pong spectating.

4) My new MTB cranks should be in this week! With Old Pueblo so soon, it might Tucson where I try them out.