another sunny day in burgundy

> the headline of today's `'L'Equipe" daily sports newspaper translates to "He gives
> nothing to anyone". Lance is pretty fired up and he and the team are taking no
> prisoners. Floyd was the man yesterday and I think he'll be the next leader of the
> team
> after Lance starts drinking beer, eating burritos and hanging out with his kids.
>
> i feel like i've been dropping too many names but it's tough as we've been lucky to
> meet
> many very cool people on this trip. after the TT up the Alpe a US Postal van was
> parked
> at our hotel right below our balcony. Melanie went out to see if she could score a
> couple of USPS team caps and got to talking to the woman with the van. a few minutes
> later she returns to the room with this woman, Carly, in tow...it turns out that she
> works for lance's agent in texas and is his personal assistant on the tour, taking care
> of all of the little things and coordinating stuff with sponsors, etc.
>
> it was going to take her a long time to get down the mountain that night and she needed
> to change and freshen up after a very long day so Melanie offered the use of our
> restroom. She was very appreciative and gave us some caps and a nice fitted USPS
> baseball cap. We talked with her for a while before she left and she mentioned that
> Lance was very very motivated this year, especially by the doping rumors and assorted
> trash talk...i.e. he's on the decline, beatable, etc. Whenever he faces some adversity
> or feels like he has something to prove he becomes even stronger. She's been having a
> blast following the Tour on the inside, but she's exhausted and ready to get home and
> sleep for a few days. it was just another cool encounter on this crazy tour de
> france
> adventure.
>
> today we went for a 3.5 hour ride in burgundy...flat and pretty windy. we got a fast
> group going and just hammered over all these narrow farm roads. it was pretty epic.
>
> even as a bunch of triathlete guys were getting dropped from the group Melanie was
> right
> there near the front all day long. She even initiated the final attack the blew the
> group apart in the last 8km of the ride...this was just after she said she was going to
> go easy and cool down the rest of the way. classic. needless to say she got plenty of
> compliments at the post=ride picnic and around the pool later. the mountains were
> tough, but i hit my high heart rate of the trip on this ride chasing back on for 20
> minutes after a quick stop to by a copy of l'equipe. i thought i'd be back in no time,
> but the group hammered and i had to time trial for way too long to catch back on. it
> was a tough interval, but fun nonetheless.
>
> we each grabbed a massage here at the hotel this afternoon, so hopefully our legs will
> have a little left in them for the rest of the trip.
>
> we have a wine tasting followed by dinner again here at the chateau tonight. this tour
> de france business is tough work! 8-)
>
> Chris and Melanie
>