Via portugal

Girona, ES
17/07/2007

Portugal's got the whole racing thing down, and they absolutely know how to run a good race. The hotel we stayed in was just outside Santa Cruz on the beach. And the beach was nice, it had the whole deal... the sand, the waves, the occasional boat, the sun... and what would be a nice lazy vacation if we weren't racing.
The racing in Portugal is all-in. The terrain is endlessly rolling with the occasional 2 km 20% climb with the 3rd category rating which absolutely everyone goes for. &, to add to the fun there's not one rider who isn't on the full program...
I thought I'd come into the race with much better legs than it turned out. In the end it was more of a day to day thing than overall, though I was nowhere near taking a stage, rather I was more able to enter the mix and follow a move or two by the end of the race. I think in the end it was good preparation for what's to come in the tour of Portugal, and certainly a heads up as to how they'll be going: insanely and slightly unbelievably well.

Blue

The life and times of Spain: Blue

Where am I? What time is it? Who am I?

Girona, ES
Thursday, July 5, 2007
ES 10:02 AM / Pacific NW 1:02 AM

The problem with our apartment is that the winding passage of stairs up to the third floor not only is too narrow, but also clad with stairs of a similar likeness. This is not a problem for the average "consumer" (whether they're Spanish or not... of course it helps if you're euro- then you are most adept at fitting in tight places), but for he who wilds not only a bike but the shoes for riding it, the descent is altogether treacherous. If you were to apply a rating to the descent, I'd give it 9.8 out of 10- with 10 representing he who, in frustration, jumps from the balcony to elude the bedlam synonymous with the winding dark, save the bit of sunlight trickling in from the vary top, vertigo of our stairs.

Of course, the fourth of July came and went with little animation. Indeed, the spanish seemed to have finally exhausted their supply of fireworks from a week ago. I have no idea what they were celebrating, in fact I missed the real calamity while riding the Route of the south, but of course they had enough explosives left to draw celebration out another week or two... lighting off small bombs during my ongoing moment of siesta- which effectively stirr a fleeting feeling from within that perhaps the town was under attack by some unfriendly group of rebels. Regardless of the onslaught I jumped to the conclusion that is was of little relevance to the US independence day.

Fire at will

Girona, ESP
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Girona 8:24 am /pnw usa 11:24 pm

I was reading the article on the latest attacks in Glasgow, and it said that police were hunting for the suspects of the bombing or whatever... and it showed a picture of two police officers standing in the airport holding machine guns. If they spot a suspicious guy they can just hose down the whole place... maybe get some of the suspicious bystanders while they're at it. Maybe it's just for show or something: "we mean business, but we're here to party." In Spain they have revolvers. When the protests for catalunya indepencia happen they bring in the policia special ops, who've got the red berets and the shiny boots, the swanky HOV van... but no machine gun.

No HOV lane here either, what's up with that?