So me and Sergio figured that if Lance was coming to our backyard, the least we could do was to go down and check him out. So we loaded up our bikes in the car and headed south with some friends.
We got to the start of the TT real early and went for a ride. The TT route is a real dangerous road while open, with too much traffic, so we headed north into a massive headwind. After 40mins I was dropped and came back :-) The start area was buzzing with activity now, the team vans starting to arrive and putting the bikes and trainers out. Meanwhile Sergio arrived and we mainly hanged out around the Rabobank van, those Colnagos are very, very sweet... too bad for the components though ;-)
The USPS bus was one of the last to arrive, but had a spot right by the start area. We immediatly went over where it was and got a "place" right by the door. The bikes were out and we were able to be around them for a while, to check out the little differences and such. Hincapie's TT bike is very sweet. It's an aluminum frame and it looks great, too bad they don't sell them. I actually prefer those frames to the TTT. Lance's old TTT bike was there too, picking it up anf feeling its weight while remembering the '03 TdF time trials was one of the high points of the day.
After some minutes the first riders to go started to emerge from the bus, namely George Hincapie. After a while, José Azevedo and Floyd Landis went for a short ride. Even though Azevedo was racing at home, he was very focused and professional while some shouted some incentive words. Then finally Lance came out of the bus. The crowd around the bus just went "OH!" when he came out, which I thought was really funny... he stared at the crowd for a moment and then went behind the bus to get his bike and go for a short ride. I had seen Lance last year in Liege and this time he looked to be a bit heavier and of course much heavier than in the TdF every year.
After some minutes he came back and went behind the bus unnotticed by the crowd. I happened to spot him and went behind the bus too. He got the bike in the rollers and continued his warmup, while me, Sergio and a few friends sat in the ground maybe two meters from him, just in awe and respect. After a while that moment ended when the crowd in front of the bus figured that he was out in the back and started to arrive. He continued his warmup and we got some pics of him in the aero position. Also some close-ups of the new bike, which is basically the same as the old one except for the german school aerobars. Other details were the old DA brakes, the SRM cranks and the SRM computers taped to the aerobars.
Finally the warmup was done and Sheryl Crow came up to chat with Lance a bit. Then he took the warmup clothing off and headed to the start area. We then moved to the first bend of the TT route, some 200m after the start. A few minutes later Lance's time came up. It was great to see him whiz by with those hungry eyes you see so many times on tv :-)
-
"Yeah, no one likes a smartass, but we all like stars" - Thom Yorke
smartasscoach.tri-oeiras.com
We got to the start of the TT real early and went for a ride. The TT route is a real dangerous road while open, with too much traffic, so we headed north into a massive headwind. After 40mins I was dropped and came back :-) The start area was buzzing with activity now, the team vans starting to arrive and putting the bikes and trainers out. Meanwhile Sergio arrived and we mainly hanged out around the Rabobank van, those Colnagos are very, very sweet... too bad for the components though ;-)
The USPS bus was one of the last to arrive, but had a spot right by the start area. We immediatly went over where it was and got a "place" right by the door. The bikes were out and we were able to be around them for a while, to check out the little differences and such. Hincapie's TT bike is very sweet. It's an aluminum frame and it looks great, too bad they don't sell them. I actually prefer those frames to the TTT. Lance's old TTT bike was there too, picking it up anf feeling its weight while remembering the '03 TdF time trials was one of the high points of the day.
After some minutes the first riders to go started to emerge from the bus, namely George Hincapie. After a while, José Azevedo and Floyd Landis went for a short ride. Even though Azevedo was racing at home, he was very focused and professional while some shouted some incentive words. Then finally Lance came out of the bus. The crowd around the bus just went "OH!" when he came out, which I thought was really funny... he stared at the crowd for a moment and then went behind the bus to get his bike and go for a short ride. I had seen Lance last year in Liege and this time he looked to be a bit heavier and of course much heavier than in the TdF every year.
After some minutes he came back and went behind the bus unnotticed by the crowd. I happened to spot him and went behind the bus too. He got the bike in the rollers and continued his warmup, while me, Sergio and a few friends sat in the ground maybe two meters from him, just in awe and respect. After a while that moment ended when the crowd in front of the bus figured that he was out in the back and started to arrive. He continued his warmup and we got some pics of him in the aero position. Also some close-ups of the new bike, which is basically the same as the old one except for the german school aerobars. Other details were the old DA brakes, the SRM cranks and the SRM computers taped to the aerobars.
Finally the warmup was done and Sheryl Crow came up to chat with Lance a bit. Then he took the warmup clothing off and headed to the start area. We then moved to the first bend of the TT route, some 200m after the start. A few minutes later Lance's time came up. It was great to see him whiz by with those hungry eyes you see so many times on tv :-)
-
"Yeah, no one likes a smartass, but we all like stars" - Thom Yorke
smartasscoach.tri-oeiras.com
