"Mi Daughter es 21 anos, you, how old??"

My last ride before leaving Girona was a solid 5 hours steady, I went exploring and actually accomplished every thing I set out to do, found a nice loop, not too much traffic, and a couple of good climbs...ended up being an excellent day...entertaining as well...So I stopped at the top of the first climb to get some water out of a fountain, there was this guy there filling his bottles too....He didn't speak very good english and my command of Catalan spanish amounts to exactly nothing, but I understood enough get out of him that he thought pretty highly of professional cyclists, especially ones from America. I took it as a compliment that after about two minutes of conversation I fulfilled enough of his standards for me to be considered in a marriage to his 21 year-old daughter. He gave me his card and said to call him and I could come over to his house to eat dinner and meet his daughter! Yes, Yes, I am damn good-looking, and I have a steady paycheck...blah, blah, blah, and a wife at home! Apparently it doesn't matter and pro cyclists are in high demand here in Spain....Hehe, I rode away shaking my head and laughing.

After the ride we boarded a RyanAir flight to Porto, Portugal, then a 300k drive to Lisbon for the race. We are staying right on the beach and it is gorgeous! I will get you guys some pictures next week when I get back to Girona as I forgot my download cable for my camera....sorry...I have taken some good ones already....The prologue is in about three hours, sort of like San Fran and Tour of Cali, some rollers before a 3k uphill finish....oh to dream of another strong start to a stage race....'till next time!