Hey George! Would you take a picture with my monkey?

Solvang.  Time Trials.  

Great start to the day - we had breakfast with men in leather pants at the Holiday Inn Express.  It was great to sit next to the moto riders and the race marshall while we ate - we felt like we got the inside scoop.  

The race groupies adventures started the moment we arrived in Solvang.  We caught George Hincapie (Ride #21 and Christie's new boyfriend, sorry Anna) coming out the team RV to pick up his bike for the warmup.  He was kind enough to pose for a photo op with Lorenzo's older cousin, Luca.  This after Anna chased him down..."Hey George, would you take a picture with my monkey?"  We were giddy.  

Next, we tried to get a glance of Lance when Team Astana's RV pulled up but since there was no sign of him, we darted after the other teammates into the Bull Dog Cafe, the local coffee shop where the riders stop in for breakfast.  Guess who we bumped into?  Legends Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwin!  How cool is that?  They were more than happy to pose with Luca.   After bumping into Johan Bruyneel (famous for coaching Lance), we camped out at the starting gate of the Time Trials' staging area.  We saw all 107 riders (except Ivan Basso, who had a "mishap" during warmups).  Anna swears they all looked at Luca who was zip-tied to a tent pole.  The next few hours were great - Luca went for a ride on Mavic's motorcycle, we saw Italian riders warming up (ciao!), and saw cycling greats like Floyd Landis, Tyler Hamilton, Thor Huschovd, Stuart O'Grady, Christian Vandevelde, LANCE ARMSTRONG, and the time trial winner LEVI LEIPHEIMER!!!

We were exhausted after standing still for 4 hours and we were hungry for food and a cold one.  Ahhh...  After lunch, we hit the festival booths for cycling swag.  Our hearts were beating fast as we scooped up stickers, pens, Livestrong bands, Gu, chalk, and elixir dietary supplements (which we hear are great for hangovers).  As the Livestrong reps handed out bands, Christie was asked "do you have kids?"  Without batting an eye, her response was "a couple" to which she was rewarded more yellow bands.  All the buzz was about Lance's stolen bike which was finally recovered on Thursday and on display.  And, what better way to finish the day then meeting Bob Roll (Bobke).  Anna was excited to get his autograph and when she finally got up front, Bob reached to sign Luca..."you can't sign my monkey!!!"  That got a good laugh out of Bob who then posed for a picture with Anna & Luca.  

We had a great day and saw, up close and personal, with the riders.  More excitement is guaranteed tomorrow when we meet up with friends in Pasadena.   

Thanks for listening.

Ciao!