So I'm riding up Gibralter Rd. (a 4kft climb) today after the Sunday Worlds and there are way more
people along the road than usual. And lots of them have cameras. I'm thinking something's up, and
it's sure as hell not that they want to see some masters fattie struggling up the hill. Then one guy
yells out that the USPS guys are climbing up ten minutes behind me. Hmmm, slow down and wait or keep
cruising? Not wanting to deal with the etiquette conundrum of what to do if they caught me--i.e.,
hang on or just let them by--I kept going, across the top and down the other side.
Well half way down the hill I finally decided to stop and see what's coming. Turns out it was the
USPS "classics team" and they were out on a six-hour ride from Solvang to Santa Barbara and back the
hilly way. Coincidentally, my friend Evan was climbing the hill also and they came up behind him and
he decided to hang on the back. Nobody suggested he drop off and let them go so he didn't. He said
they were really drilling it and one-by-one about half of them got popped off the back. (He hung on
but then again he's a very good cat 1 roadie from Colorado.)
Certainly most of the fans that made the drive up the winding road were hoping to see Lance, and I
bet half of them don't know that they didn't! Also, rumor has it that there have been 20-30 people
on their bikes each day waiting outside the USPS hotel in Solvang hoping to get to ride with the
team, and another huge bunch there just looking for autographs and memorabilia.
Mark