Down Under

I'm in Australia. It is heaven. I don't think I could be happier anywhere else at the moment. The sun is shining, the roads are great, the people are friendly and hilarious and the coffee is strong. The only drawback is I'm going to have to name my firstborn (boy or girl) after my buddy Jono who set this trip up. I still can't really believe I'm down here doing this, and I kind of hope that feeling doesn't wear off.

We got up early today to take a little spin down to the coffee shop where we hung out, talked trash and had good laugh for almost two hours as other cyclists filtered in and out. Jono seems to know anyone who has ever even looked at a bike in Australia and you could not ask for a better guide. We're apparently going to dive into the whole thing headfirst tomorrow and do both of the local crits that are on the schedule. Then its off to a bubble wrap party and $2 steaks Sunday night, and a day or two to recover before we head to the beach in preparation for the Noosa Crit, which Jono tells me is more or less the best Crit in the world. At this point I'll believe anything that comes out of his mouth. I could not have imagined things would be this nice.

I did manage to mess my hand up the day before I left Colorado. Classic, huh? I may or may not have torn a ligament. The bad news is I'm wearing a splint which is definitely not in style at the moment and I probably won't be surfing anytime soon. But the good news is that despite how stupid I look I can still ride and race with the thing on.

The plan now is to go get me dialed in with Aussie fashion, which I think might mean picking up some (figuratively and literally) tight shirts and a mullet. I can't wait. Don't worry, if that actually comes to pass I'll be sure to break out the camera.