Tour of Missouri - Stage 3 Time Trial
So I'm sure you want to hear about the ITT, right? Well, 1) If you noticed the time of my post from last night, you'd know I'm too tired to remember whatever happened today...and 2) One word: Levi, what else could you imagine?!So this morning started early as usual. (Keep in mind, anything before noon is early for me.) I woke up at 6:30am so I could get my things packed, out to the lobby, and pull the car up before everyone else got out to meet me at 8am. Being the suck up...wait...overachiever that I am, I was in the lobby by 6:55 with luggage in hand. I still don't know why I was out there SO early! But I sat around for about half n hour watching the old foggies neandering around the lobby preparing to go on their tours, or group breakfast, to doddle around the grounds...whatever it is they do. So around 7:45, I finally decided to put the newspaper down and pull the car to the front door so I could be ready to pack Virginia's stuff in the car and be rolling by 8, destination: Starbucks! After a quick trip to Starbucks and running into a few of the Medical members who'd ventured into Branson, we were back in the car heading to The Landing to prepare today's only Hospitality area. When we got there we parked directly in front of the Hilton and the enterance to the Landing, only 50 or so hards away from our Hospitality tent which was RIGHT in front of the starting ramp. (Great view! Aye?) I immediately got into my routine of placing banners, setting up auction items, and taking pictures. Re: Pictures I'll admit...today I slacked off a bit... Earlier in the event, I was eagerly involved in the goings ons around the tent. I even ran into Shawn again and gladly gave him a bracelet for access to the tent (Happy early Birthday, Shawn!!!) After talking to him for a while, I made my way back to work. At one point, I moved outside of the Hospitality area because a lot of the riders were making their way to the Start gate from behind our tent, so I moved out to direct and escort them through the crowd to the ramp. That took up a lot of time and helped time to pass quickly. Later in the afternoon, I remember someone telling me that Discovery had been selling items by their bus in the mornings...So I took a "break" and neandered down to the team parking area and arrived at the Disco bus in time to see George Hincapie wrap up his warm up. I've never gotten to see the Disco boys (or many others for that matter) warm up before a time trial. It was really neat to see. I also watched Johan Bruyneel hop back into the car. "The Master at Work!" I noticed before he pulled off that he said something to George on the radio and George gave a smirk and a thumbs up. I really, really wonder what he said... After tracking down a few of the leftover Disco t-shirts, I headed back to the tent, making my way easily now that all riders were out on course. Whoa! What was I thinking...after it happened I realized...two Disco riders that passed by me while I walked up...I had a brand new white Disco t-shirt and a fairly new Sharpie in my pocket...I JUST PASSED ALBERTO CONTIDOR!!! And didn't get his autograph at the perfect time...oh well...we're only half way through...The crowd left temporarily and the tent wasn't as busy, but inside it was still a bit full. We have flat screens all over our tent and folks were watching anxiously. The camera was really focused on George. When he passed his two minute man, everyone stood up and cheered him on. I'm sure he heard it, even though he was 18 miles away! Folks began making their way back to the tent and the presentation stage just down the hill around 2pm. The awards ceremony was taking place around ~2:15. The VIPs, etc. made their way down to another tent set up just down the hill a bit with a better view of the podium. I stayed up in the original tent to guard belongings like our Felt Cruisers that are for auction, as well as our Build A Bear wearing a Build A Bear Best Young Riders Jersey. After the awards ceremony, we had already cleaned up and shut down the tent. As soon as someone else came to guard the bike, I again neandered away to the Build A Bear store just down the road to make my own Best Young Rider Build A Bear! I had a lot of fun making it too and the folks int he store enjoyed my jokes about the bear being more aerodynamic than me, stronger than me, much better looking in lyrca...So my new bear, named Disco Branson (I love his new name!!!) and I made the way back to the car for our transfer to Springfield overnight. Virginia and Amy were already in the car and Virginia was behind the wheel...(wait a minute!!! They hired me so just this wouldn't happen!!!) The ride back to Springfield wasn't a great one for me. For some reason, I began to get quite car sick before we even left Branson...I managed to make it to S'field with what was left of my snack in tact...although a bit lightheaded. We checked into our hotel, the Oasis...The teams and riders were staying in the main part of the Oasis and we were somehow stuck in the "reject" building just across the parking lot...wow! When we were walking through the hallway to our rooms, we noticed a funky smell! When we got in the rooms, funky was compounded with musky! We were all really suprised (especially after our luck in getting 'stuck' at the Welk Resort last night!) at the accomodations. Not even five minutes after I'd walked into my funky smelling room, my allergies began to kick in...at one point before I had planned to go to Wal Mart with Whitney, I noticed that my allergies were getting pretty bad. When I went to get the keys from Virginia, my eye was swollen so bad due to allergies, that Virginia was ready to "escort" me to the Medical room...but I told her I just had to wrench out my contacts and I'd be fine. So Whitney, Jana, and I made out way to Wal Mart...they wanted toys (beachball, soccer ball, frisby...wine...) and I wanted Sudifed!!! By the time we left Wal Mart, my allergies began to subside. I got a call from Virginia saying "if you're this bad only a few minutes into the room, then it's only going to get worse. Goodness knows how bad if you SLEEP in the room! I have you a VIP overflow room across the street at the Drury" which was where other staff members like the VIP folks were staying. I still had a few errands to run and managed to take about an hour or two to go to dinner. After dinner, Bar B Q with a few friends, I made my way back to my car at the Oasis. My friends were heading to the bar for a nightcap and a hankerin told me to go in and spend a few minutes in there with them...once again, when I'm heading in to find them, I pass Johan at the bar!!! Wow, my hankerings this week are really something great! So I had my usual water while they teased me about being too shy to go see him...I eventually got a call from Dr. Brother (my brother Tripp) so while talking to him in the hallway, Johan and my friends had all managed to skip out. When I was walking out to my car, Kevin Livingston was doing a wonderful impression of juggling in the hallway and throwing soft, squishy balls at one of the Disco helpers, "accidentally" tossing one at me, but missing. I didn't miss when I threw it back, everyone noticing what a great curve I have.So around 10pm, I had left the hotel, crossed the street to the Shell station to wash off our window (that had some FUNK from the highway all over it!!! still does too!) while talking to Tech Director Chuck Hodge (I want his job one day!) who was getting gas for tomorrow's stage and finally got to my new hotel...so here I am...and honestly...I need a shower and some sleep, so I think this is a good place to wrap things up!Some comments that I've gotten so far include folks agreeing that the strategies yesterday were a bummer, no matter what Harm Jensen says about protecting Chris Werry...(He's now 15 minutes behind, big deal!) Another comment was the weather, the cold temps are unusual this time of year. Well, the weather is ideal, beautiful! The mornings are crisp and cold and around 11am, things will start to warm up. But a spot in the shade will still cool you down quickly. Tomorrow or Friday is actually supposed to be quite cold. I'll look forward to that.Until tomorrow...JC - Signing off
So I'm sure you want to hear about the ITT, right? Well, 1) If you noticed the time of my post from last night, you'd know I'm too tired to remember whatever happened today...and 2) One word: Levi, what else could you imagine?!So this morning started early as usual. (Keep in mind, anything before noon is early for me.) I woke up at 6:30am so I could get my things packed, out to the lobby, and pull the car up before everyone else got out to meet me at 8am. Being the suck up...wait...overachiever that I am, I was in the lobby by 6:55 with luggage in hand. I still don't know why I was out there SO early! But I sat around for about half n hour watching the old foggies neandering around the lobby preparing to go on their tours, or group breakfast, to doddle around the grounds...whatever it is they do. So around 7:45, I finally decided to put the newspaper down and pull the car to the front door so I could be ready to pack Virginia's stuff in the car and be rolling by 8, destination: Starbucks! After a quick trip to Starbucks and running into a few of the Medical members who'd ventured into Branson, we were back in the car heading to The Landing to prepare today's only Hospitality area. When we got there we parked directly in front of the Hilton and the enterance to the Landing, only 50 or so hards away from our Hospitality tent which was RIGHT in front of the starting ramp. (Great view! Aye?) I immediately got into my routine of placing banners, setting up auction items, and taking pictures. Re: Pictures I'll admit...today I slacked off a bit... Earlier in the event, I was eagerly involved in the goings ons around the tent. I even ran into Shawn again and gladly gave him a bracelet for access to the tent (Happy early Birthday, Shawn!!!) After talking to him for a while, I made my way back to work. At one point, I moved outside of the Hospitality area because a lot of the riders were making their way to the Start gate from behind our tent, so I moved out to direct and escort them through the crowd to the ramp. That took up a lot of time and helped time to pass quickly. Later in the afternoon, I remember someone telling me that Discovery had been selling items by their bus in the mornings...So I took a "break" and neandered down to the team parking area and arrived at the Disco bus in time to see George Hincapie wrap up his warm up. I've never gotten to see the Disco boys (or many others for that matter) warm up before a time trial. It was really neat to see. I also watched Johan Bruyneel hop back into the car. "The Master at Work!" I noticed before he pulled off that he said something to George on the radio and George gave a smirk and a thumbs up. I really, really wonder what he said... After tracking down a few of the leftover Disco t-shirts, I headed back to the tent, making my way easily now that all riders were out on course. Whoa! What was I thinking...after it happened I realized...two Disco riders that passed by me while I walked up...I had a brand new white Disco t-shirt and a fairly new Sharpie in my pocket...I JUST PASSED ALBERTO CONTIDOR!!! And didn't get his autograph at the perfect time...oh well...we're only half way through...The crowd left temporarily and the tent wasn't as busy, but inside it was still a bit full. We have flat screens all over our tent and folks were watching anxiously. The camera was really focused on George. When he passed his two minute man, everyone stood up and cheered him on. I'm sure he heard it, even though he was 18 miles away! Folks began making their way back to the tent and the presentation stage just down the hill around 2pm. The awards ceremony was taking place around ~2:15. The VIPs, etc. made their way down to another tent set up just down the hill a bit with a better view of the podium. I stayed up in the original tent to guard belongings like our Felt Cruisers that are for auction, as well as our Build A Bear wearing a Build A Bear Best Young Riders Jersey. After the awards ceremony, we had already cleaned up and shut down the tent. As soon as someone else came to guard the bike, I again neandered away to the Build A Bear store just down the road to make my own Best Young Rider Build A Bear! I had a lot of fun making it too and the folks int he store enjoyed my jokes about the bear being more aerodynamic than me, stronger than me, much better looking in lyrca...So my new bear, named Disco Branson (I love his new name!!!) and I made the way back to the car for our transfer to Springfield overnight. Virginia and Amy were already in the car and Virginia was behind the wheel...(wait a minute!!! They hired me so just this wouldn't happen!!!) The ride back to Springfield wasn't a great one for me. For some reason, I began to get quite car sick before we even left Branson...I managed to make it to S'field with what was left of my snack in tact...although a bit lightheaded. We checked into our hotel, the Oasis...The teams and riders were staying in the main part of the Oasis and we were somehow stuck in the "reject" building just across the parking lot...wow! When we were walking through the hallway to our rooms, we noticed a funky smell! When we got in the rooms, funky was compounded with musky! We were all really suprised (especially after our luck in getting 'stuck' at the Welk Resort last night!) at the accomodations. Not even five minutes after I'd walked into my funky smelling room, my allergies began to kick in...at one point before I had planned to go to Wal Mart with Whitney, I noticed that my allergies were getting pretty bad. When I went to get the keys from Virginia, my eye was swollen so bad due to allergies, that Virginia was ready to "escort" me to the Medical room...but I told her I just had to wrench out my contacts and I'd be fine. So Whitney, Jana, and I made out way to Wal Mart...they wanted toys (beachball, soccer ball, frisby...wine...) and I wanted Sudifed!!! By the time we left Wal Mart, my allergies began to subside. I got a call from Virginia saying "if you're this bad only a few minutes into the room, then it's only going to get worse. Goodness knows how bad if you SLEEP in the room! I have you a VIP overflow room across the street at the Drury" which was where other staff members like the VIP folks were staying. I still had a few errands to run and managed to take about an hour or two to go to dinner. After dinner, Bar B Q with a few friends, I made my way back to my car at the Oasis. My friends were heading to the bar for a nightcap and a hankerin told me to go in and spend a few minutes in there with them...once again, when I'm heading in to find them, I pass Johan at the bar!!! Wow, my hankerings this week are really something great! So I had my usual water while they teased me about being too shy to go see him...I eventually got a call from Dr. Brother (my brother Tripp) so while talking to him in the hallway, Johan and my friends had all managed to skip out. When I was walking out to my car, Kevin Livingston was doing a wonderful impression of juggling in the hallway and throwing soft, squishy balls at one of the Disco helpers, "accidentally" tossing one at me, but missing. I didn't miss when I threw it back, everyone noticing what a great curve I have.So around 10pm, I had left the hotel, crossed the street to the Shell station to wash off our window (that had some FUNK from the highway all over it!!! still does too!) while talking to Tech Director Chuck Hodge (I want his job one day!) who was getting gas for tomorrow's stage and finally got to my new hotel...so here I am...and honestly...I need a shower and some sleep, so I think this is a good place to wrap things up!Some comments that I've gotten so far include folks agreeing that the strategies yesterday were a bummer, no matter what Harm Jensen says about protecting Chris Werry...(He's now 15 minutes behind, big deal!) Another comment was the weather, the cold temps are unusual this time of year. Well, the weather is ideal, beautiful! The mornings are crisp and cold and around 11am, things will start to warm up. But a spot in the shade will still cool you down quickly. Tomorrow or Friday is actually supposed to be quite cold. I'll look forward to that.Until tomorrow...JC - Signing off
posted by JC Gillespie at 11:37 PM
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