California dreamin'

The past few days have simply flown by. They start early, shortly after 6:00 a.m., and there hasn't been a night when I have hit the rack before midnight. Granted, there's a little bit of personal time, like right now at 23:35 hrs (that's the style we use to record times on our doping control forms) when I am updating the blog, or this morning at 7:45 a.m., when I dug out a 1-inch drywall screw out of my rear tire when I flatted on a rare morning ride. Essentially, it's been racing non-stop. And even though I see little of the race while it is progress, I have access to areas of the start and finish that even VIPs don't have.

Belgian super-star Tom Boonen passes by me after signing in for Stage 4

Let's see, my last blog update had been right after stage 1, I believe. The next day we ended up in beautiful Santa Cruz, after the racers had pedaled down HWY 1 from San Francisco on that beautiful coast. The entourage spent the night in the Scott's Valley Hilton, and before stage 3 I had a chance to ride about 20 miles or so in this beautiful part of the world before hopping into the car to do my work on the other side of the Bay area, in Livermore, where stage 3 ended. In the evening I had enough time for another fast-and-furious 10 miles. Interestingly enough, soigneurs from the teams and others from the entourage pull out the occasional bike, too, and try to sneak in just a little bit of exercise. I can tell you, my weight-loss program has been seriously hampered once again.It's not easy living on the road.

After my morning ride near Santa Cruz

Doing the doping control, I get to meet interesting people. There are the chaperones, whose job it is to notify the appropriate riders that they have been selected for drug testing, and there is of course always a local physician whose responsibility it is to literally watch the riders pee in the cup. Seriously. It's the full Monty, so if you're squeamish, you may want to think about a different career choice.They're all good people, excited to be involved and appreciative of the guidance I give them.

With two of my chaperones in Clovis

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And at this point I have to apologize because I am simply too tired to continue writing. I will add more as soon as I can, with photos galore. But now I HAVE to sleep.

Jürgen