Feet on the ground in Solvang...

Once again, the stage 5 ITT is held in my hometown of Solvang.  Despite being a cycling mecca, I'm one of two racing cyclists in the entire village, so it's encouraging how excited the town gets about this event.  The rain you see on TV is real.  And it's wet and cold -- and the forecast for next week is sunny in the upper 60s... Irony.
So here was the plan:  My buddy Jason who lives on the TT course out in Los Olivos (right before the climb) drove to my house in Solvang this morning at 7:00.   We were going to ride down highway 101 on the coast the 40 miles to Santa Barbara, and hook up with friends Gary and Chester, and a few of Gary's friends from "back East."  
The weather was beautiful as we noodled out through the valley and over the pass down to the 101.  As soon as we went through the pass, it started to rain.  A lot.  We now faced a 25 mile headwindy slog in the rain to Gary's house.  Between us, we had four flat tires.  I was shivering.  We arrived at Gary's place 1/2 hour late, soaking wet, and pissed off.  Weather.com had betrayed us badly.
At Gary's, we threw our stuff in the dryer for an hour, gorged on oatmeal, and tried not to go the way of Jackson Stewart.  
After awhile we headed out, climbed over the highway 154 pass (remember ToC 2006?) and descended back down into the Valley.  The rain came in fits and spurts (and a few downpours) and the wind came from all directions.  
After a total of 70 miles, we arrived at Jason's house, pigged out, and sat on the porch to watch the riders go by.  My throat hurts from screaming.
I wish I had something more insightful to say, but I'm tired.  Here are a few observations:

1.  Dave Z's mustache is straight out of a 1970s porno flick.  And his USChamp TT kit is really sweet.
   
2.  Bettini looked defeated.
   
3.  Cipo and the rest of the Rock squad have the coolest kits I've ever seen (they're also a staple of many of the races I do -- but the green is new).
   
4.  Fabian looked rough.
   
5.  Levi was FLYING.  We were sitting where they were really slogging down the mouth of the headwind and everyone looked like they were pegged.  But Levi was FLYING.  FLYING.  It was really impressive.
   
6.  I love the SuperFan.  

After the Levi came through, we put our wet socks and jackets back on, rode over the Ballard Canyon climb and dropped the 6 miles back into Solvang to the S/F line.  I bumped into Bjarne Riis and I saw Bob Roll.  But mostly I saw a lot of my riding/racing friends, none of whom looked as cold and dirty as me (because they drove).  Because of the crowds, I got separated from the rest of my friends (who were separated from one another).  After some brief searching, I dropped down the hill to my house to take a warm shower.

So, a great 4.5 hour ride in the rain with friends, followed by good eatin' and front-row seats at a pro bike race.  Can't beat that.