Have you held a Swedish Goddess, sir? "Yes I have"

Well, in a sense. Emilia Fahlin, Swedish national road race champion; lined up for the San Dimas Stage Race time trial. It being my sworn duty (sans affidavit, blood oath only) being an SC Velo race, it was my burden to be a time trial holder for the Cat 3, Cat 2, Pro men, (and what?!?) the Pro women as well?!? It was certainly a challenge, and I refused at first, but in the end I managed somehow. It being against my Omishesque way of living to hold tight female bottoms wrapped in tight fitting clopthing. Now if you were a cycling geek, which I am not, then you would be oogling over these women. In fact, I was drooling over some of the bike set ups these girls had more than what was in the Lycra. However, I couldn't help but admire the professional women athletes who I had to (with the utmost professional demeanor) lovingly hold while they waited to launch their time trial up Glendora Mountain Road. Some of these women had lower body fat then the Cat 3 men, and you could sense the power some of them had as they took off. I have to admit they were the pickiest of the bunch, "Little to the left please," "wait, I'm not ready," "when you feel me take off let go really quick, OK?" But, it's their job, so you oblige them with the requests they need to get their mind right. But seeing the road rash scars, tanned skin, and hearing the many Australian accents soon put me at ease.

Back to Emilia Fahlin. You know, this one:
























The Sprinter is not usually a fan of his own likes of Blond hair/Blue eyes; as a rule I have been a brunette lover a majority of my life. But it was not hard to see why Team Columbia's Internet home page had doubled in visits since Emilia joined the team. She upheld the classic look you would picture if some said "hot Swedish girl." There were plenty of other lookers to be sure. Some of them talkative, some of them focused and quiet. Cath Cheatly and Tiff Cromwell of Colavita were HOT, and in desperate need of post TT rubdowns, but my offers were snubbed. Tina Pic gave me a very flirtatious "Hi" and for a moment I thought I blushed. Tina of course a famed and feared sprinter, with enough confidence to share for everyone. Mara Abbott was SKINNY." I mean, ripped to the bone. It was no wonder she scorched the time trial and took the yellow jersey. Moving on to the Goddess; fine display of Third Reich poster child perfection.


Now under protection of the Sprinter's graces, the blond bombshell's balance is in my capable hands. Note my VERY serious look.





















Off she goes. Note the sprinter; checking out the smooth lines of her, uhhh; bike..
























Later on, the Pro Men lined up. I was a little surprised at some of the set ups. It seemed many of them were absent the power meters/GPS units/fancy wheels. In fact, the Cat 3's and 2's had WAY more expensive rigs than most of the pros. Yet, the pros went MUCH faster up the mountain. Guess that says alot about ability vs. gadgets.



Here is Bahati, who is always super cool. As a sprinter he wasn't sweating any of this uphill TT stuff. You could see he was just here for fun that day. Bahati had a new Kestrel, as many of the Rock guys did. Although some still had the Scott bikes they used a few years ago.





















Here is Rory Sutherland, Ouch/Maxxis. Big guy, and how he got up that 3.8 mile mountain course in less than 14 minutes is beyond me. Not the little guy with the glasses talking to him. Didn't bother looking him up, but what a prick. He had an OUCH shirt on and was apparently one of the staff. Didn't do much but stand there and tell people good luck. Asked him to take a picture of Rory and I and he said "I'm not comfortable with that." Huh?!?! Yeah, ok dude, go spank yourself.




















Here is Lucas Haedo, JJ Haedo's brother. I always liked the Colavita kits, especially with the big olive oil bottle on the back.























And here is my hero for the day. A bonifide Cat 1 racer. SC Velo member Josh Webster, our local rider. Josh is cool, humble, and a strong guy. While the rest of these guys ride bikes for a living, Josh is a full time teacher and still finds time to mix it up with the pros. It's guys like him I respect the most.























And who was there? Henk Vogels! Part of the new managment team of FlyV Australia. Henk was kind enough to pose with the sprinter. Thanks mate! Well, what a day. I kind of wished I was racing as I held the Cat 3's, watching them take off. I'm on the mend so hopefully I will be racing again soon.