oh yeah

By the way, that photo is of the driveway to the house we're staying at. Rand Miller, eat your heart out. This road blows doors off of that gentle grade to your apartment. Okay, so it may not be a "road", but its some manner of paved surface thats gotta be well over 25%. They have to put blocks under their tires every time they park, and most cars can only get up in reverse. Insane.

I'm chillin out right now, enjoying the hospitality of the Family Alexander. They have two boys racing on the team with me, and both Joshua and Adam are decorated international cyclists, besides being super cool. I hear there are some serious European teams coming to Tobago, with ex Gerolsteiner riders and so forth, but I know these guys are strong as hell and I'm hoping we can give them a run for their money. Feeling a bit sick right now, despite sleeping for almost ten hours last night. We're gonna just chill this morning/afternoon and then take a little spinny sometime around 3. Tomorrow its off to Tobago by ferry and then the racing starts Thursday.

I should say that everyone I talk to, and I mean EVERYONE, has horror stories about Tobago, especially the last stage. It seems like every story about Tobago starts out, "Now I don't want to scare you, but...". It sounds like there are extended climbs above 20%, hair-raising descents with sheer cliff drops, a local population that doesn't believe in road closure, and a hot hot sun. "Is like ah fokin muhgnifyin glass buhrnin ahn ant!" My plan right now is to give it everything I've got in the first few stages, which aren't supposed to be as bad, try to do some work early on stage 5 and then just enjoy the rest of the ride at my own pace. The course pretty much circumnavigates the island and its supposed to pass by and through some of the most beautiful jungle and whitesand beaches in the Caribbean. People said they've seen racers try to hang on and blow so badly they had to start walking their bikes. These are ex-pros, mind you. So unless I lose 30lbs or have a fortuitous accident involving radiation and super-human powers, I think the plan will be to just ride my own race and try not to die. Of course, if my team can really put something together, well then I guess I'll have to forgo that leisurely plan and do whatever I can to help them

I just changed my ticket from Monday morning to Wednesday, so even if I'm bleeding out of my eyes trying to climb on Sunday I should still have some time to see the sights before I leave.