DrBadger
03-30-2008, 08:26 PM
Well, I just got back from a pretty cool weekend! I was up in the hill country of Texas (Fredericksburg for those in the area) for a cycling weekend put on by some of the contractors we work with at work.
Went up Friday and we started with a 30 mile warm up ride with the guy who was planning all the cycling (Lawrence Walker, he owns Coyote bicycle tours), then that night Chris Carmichael spoke to us a bit, very informal and answered questions.
Sat we did a beautiful 60 mile ride to the north west from Fredericksburg. Chris rode with us, but didn't make it all the way back to the group I was with (there were lots of crazy racer guys who took off the front!).
We then all went out for dinner and I got to sit at Chris's table for dinner and chat and ask questions. Pretty interesting guy. He is really nice and very candid. He talked a lot about Lance....confirmed what we all already knew.... very talented and motivated guy, but not easy to work for :rolleyes: He also talked quite a bit about Greg Lemond and his realtionship with Lance. Turns out that Chris actually lived with Lance and Sheryl Crow for ~3 months at Sheryl's house in LA while Lance was training... said she was a really great person, really down to earth, and that she was too good for Lance :)
Today we did another 60 mile ride, but this time heading south from Fredericksburg to the town of Comfort. Since Chris had missed riding with some of on Sat he started in the back of the pack and I got to ride with him for quite a while. He asked how I liked Texas compared to the Bay Area, asked about my dissertation research, we talked about alternative energy, and apparently when Discovery was shopping for a new sponsor they talked to a lot of the major oil and gas companies... pretty interesting. Got my photo taken with Chris (needed documentation!) at the rest stop in Comfort and then Chris sped off with one of the faster groups. I made it about 10 miles more before deciding to SAG in as my knee was starting to really bug me on the hills (note to self....call my bike fit guy...)
So, all in all a pretty cool weekend!
Went up Friday and we started with a 30 mile warm up ride with the guy who was planning all the cycling (Lawrence Walker, he owns Coyote bicycle tours), then that night Chris Carmichael spoke to us a bit, very informal and answered questions.
Sat we did a beautiful 60 mile ride to the north west from Fredericksburg. Chris rode with us, but didn't make it all the way back to the group I was with (there were lots of crazy racer guys who took off the front!).
We then all went out for dinner and I got to sit at Chris's table for dinner and chat and ask questions. Pretty interesting guy. He is really nice and very candid. He talked a lot about Lance....confirmed what we all already knew.... very talented and motivated guy, but not easy to work for :rolleyes: He also talked quite a bit about Greg Lemond and his realtionship with Lance. Turns out that Chris actually lived with Lance and Sheryl Crow for ~3 months at Sheryl's house in LA while Lance was training... said she was a really great person, really down to earth, and that she was too good for Lance :)
Today we did another 60 mile ride, but this time heading south from Fredericksburg to the town of Comfort. Since Chris had missed riding with some of on Sat he started in the back of the pack and I got to ride with him for quite a while. He asked how I liked Texas compared to the Bay Area, asked about my dissertation research, we talked about alternative energy, and apparently when Discovery was shopping for a new sponsor they talked to a lot of the major oil and gas companies... pretty interesting. Got my photo taken with Chris (needed documentation!) at the rest stop in Comfort and then Chris sped off with one of the faster groups. I made it about 10 miles more before deciding to SAG in as my knee was starting to really bug me on the hills (note to self....call my bike fit guy...)
So, all in all a pretty cool weekend!