Mandarinas

(Thursday, February 8, 2007)

Woke up before Sam and snagged a quick bowl of cereal before we both headed out to meet some other guys on the team. The Canario (Canary Island guy) was waiting alongside El Cubano (a teammate from Cuba) and another local rider who lives in Alcoy. We all rode together along the same stretch as the day before, but Sam turned back when we started going up hill so as to be cautious with his recovering knee.

This particular climb wasn’t too long, but the road was narrow and wound its way up the hillside, crossing old bridges and gently rising until we had a good view of the small towns below. I could tell the Cubano is fast; we didn’t go hard, but you can tell when easy is really easy for somebody. I look forward to being on his team for sure, although I probably won’t see him in the race for very long.

The descent was cool: windy and fast and I wasn’t always sure how wise it was to follow their wheels, even though you would think they’d be taking it slow because they’re not wearing helmets. (It’s apparently not cool to wear helmets.)

Amid the olive orchards on the other side of the small mountain we rode past a tangerine orchard; I stole a couple but between El Cubano and El Canario, they must have had a few more than a dozen stuffed into their bike jerseys. It made for a good snack on the drizzly road back to Alcoy.

The rest of the day involved eating, napping, Sam cutting my hair, shopping for food, eating, reading, and now finally, bed.