I hadn’t really planned on coming to Georgia for the Tour de. I was here in ‘04 and it was fine but in general shooting stage races is not my idea of a good time. The opposite, in fact. But with the right situation a couple days at a stage race are okay and that’s what I have. But it’s not done yet, fly down to Fla to shoot a tri bright and early on Sunday. And then, and then. Home. Here’s TeamType1 in the strange team time trial today.

Sager after taking a whupping at Sea Donkey. Trying some different things and part of it included shooting post-race images on white seamless. Well, let me tell you something - seamless and 25 mph winds are not a great combination. The seamless actually got pulled off the wall it was gaffed to, torn into tiny bits and blown into the atmosphere. Great. So you improvise and find the shadowed side of a 10by10. Not too bad if not ideal. Even raced the sport singlespeed on Saturday morning, my 2nd MTB ride since last November, and it wasn’t half bad. Geared light, 32×20 on the 29er, and while it kept me from going super fast it left me with some gas in the tank on the final climb. Finished just above mid-pack and had a good time rolling with the Thule guys. And now the travels continue, off to GA tomorrow to shoot a couple stages of the Tour de then Sunday a tri in Fla. The end is sort of in sight but the toll has not been light.

It was sort of funny to shoot this guy on Monday and 6 days later see him drilling it at the front of Paris-Roubaix. Getting to shoot Van Summeran and Sentjens was great, both really relaxed and funny guys. Just getting back on East Coast time and, shocker, it’s time to get on a plane again. The timing of the China trip was less than ideal coming as it did right at the beginning of the busy season. But I suppose there was never going to be a perfect time. Sea Otter will be pretty relaxed this year and the funny part is that E-dub signed me up to race the singlespeed race. Seemed like a good idea at the time. But now that I think of it I realize I haven’t ridden a mountain bike since the first weekend of November (!) and haven’t ridden the blinglespeed since some time in early October. The trails are still under snow. At least I’ll be fresh.

China seems like eons ago, chiefly because less than 3 days after getting home from that trip I was off to Belgium for another trip. Belgium was, uh, challenging. There were highs and lows and in general it was a good trip, but there can be no underestimating the toll days of frustration take. I learned a bunch of valuable lessons, the hard way, but also got some great rides in. Chiefly the Cyclo Tourist Ronde van Flanders. That it took place in the cold, pouring rain was almost incidental, still a super fun way to spend a Saturday.