Newbury, England - My life passed before me. More than once.
That's what happens when you offer to help out. I thought I would be carrying bags from the third floor to the team truck this morning. Instead, they told me to go fuel up the team car. Uh-oh.
Driving on the left side of the road is bad enough. Then there was dealing with shifting (it's not an automatic) with my left hand. And looking out the rear-view mirror, trying to figure out which side of the car the vehicle behind me was going to pass me on (I was only going about 45 and it was rush hour traffic on a Monday morning).
I made it to the gas station - and back - sweating profusely. I felt like a student driver all over again.
A couple of quick observations and comments before going to bed:
- You can purchase a commemorative Rock Racing kit online for about $470. But in England, it'll cost you a lot more - about $600 (when you convert pounds to dollars).
- Serena Williams won the US Open, huh? I saw her being interviewed live by SkyTV at about 12:30 a.m. my time. When is the men's final being played? Wasn't the US Open supposed to be wrapped up by Monday (originally Sunday)?
- I got in a 24-minute workout at the hotel's "mini gym" tonight. It amounted to 20 flights of stairs, 550 calories burned and a watt output close to 850-900 the entire time. I was dripping in sweat (second time today).
- There was no live TV coverage of the race today. So I watched a Twitter update on the press bus, then typed my own account. Memo to race organizers: Don't leave your audience hanging. The guy doing the updates typed "Garmin is on the front" with about three miles to go. Then nothing more. Yep, he left everyone hanging while he jumped out of his follow car to watch the finish.
- I spoke to one of the race commissaires today appeal a ruling on behalf of the team. I knew the answer I was going to get before I even asked the question. But it was worth asking. And I found out that international commissaires know the rules as much as I do.
- The news that Lance Armstrong is coming back dropped a lot of jaws over here, too. And many of these guys know Lance and have raced with him.
And finally, some pictures to close out the night:
2 comments:
Cool! Glad to hear you survived. Wonder if Paul's ever driven in Europe; now you and Neil both have.
What was the rule you were appealing?
And thanks for the hockey photo -- Jon & I appreciate it!
We sure miss you back home here, but are glad you're having a good time. Emily's team won all three games last night, and she served very well. Can't wait until you'll be back to see her in action on the 20th.
I'm sure the girls would be delighted if you snagged them some exotic candy "souvenirs."
I'm glad someone else in the fam has driven a right-side drive manual in Europe also. The real difference is road and lane width. I, too had sweaty palms every time I drove in Ireland. Makes me appreciate driving in the states all the more.
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