KICKIN' IT WITH TORNADO TOM

In honor of Big Tom Boonen's victory today at the Ronde van Vlaanderen (Tour of Flanders), please enjoy this photo of Tommeke and I hanging out a few years ago at the Tour of California.

SOLVANG TIME TRIAL VIDEO 'N' MORE

Lance Armstrong, Michael Rogers and Levi Leipheimer zoom by in this video shot by Jen McQuaide! Jonathan Vaughters, Garmin head honcho and argyle advocate in Solvang after the time trial.
Hey buddy, you mind slippin' me one or two of them wheels there?
An intriguing member of the Pasadena tifosi.A newly shorn Bob Roll after stage 7 in Pasadena.
Big George Hincapie leads the charge up a bump in Pasadena.

Some of Quick-Step's quite fetching Tarmac and Roubaix SL2's. Below, Rock Racing's Kestrel RT 800 which, quite frankly, looked a bit low-rent compared to the other rides at the TOC. (Bikesdirect.com is selling them for about $2,700.)

Jen, Bake and I at our home for five hours on Cole Grade on stage 8. The ridge behind us is Palomar Mountain, which the riders had to climb first.

Christian VandeVelda kinda suffering a bit up the grade.

MORE TOUR OF CALIFORNIA PHOTOS REDUX

Here's Bake in front of the Rock Racing Bentley, of which he was most enamored. Below, Bake and I pose with Versus' Paul Sherwen, who seemed like a genuinely nice guy.

Below, the lead group makes its way up a minor bump (to them) on one of the Pasadena circuits.

Floyd Landis below after stage 8. (Still not sure how I feel about the guy; fans seemed to love him though.)

Batman drives Cole Grade after the peloton passes.

Here's the stragglers group on Cole Grade which was a 9-percent climb for 3 miles. Tyler Hamilton, Mark Cavendish and Wenatchee's own Tyler Farrar are in this photo. At this point they were 18 minutes behind eventual winner Frank Schleck.

Below the ever-smiling Chris Horner makes it up with a faster group.

Bake and some of his Cole Grade artwork.

Not sure what the story is with this bike. The guy was just riding it around the finish area in Pasadena.

The lead group charges up the road in Pasadena.

MORE TOUR OF CALIFORNIA PHOTOS

Stage 1 winner Francisco Mancebo chatting up one of the Rock Racing girls after the Solvang time trial.

About as close as we could get to Levi after he won the Solvang TT. Below, George Hincapie, very popular with the California tifosi, cools down on the trainer after his time trial.

Dave Zabriskie takes second at Solvang and overall too. Below big Jens Voight, who, in person, comes across as more tall and thin than big.

That's Jens on the trainer below too.

Below, see a lifeguard waiting for the pelaton to pass on Cole Grade during stage 8. That's our white Impala rental car too!

Below, Jen, Baker and high school pal Mike D'Annucci as we wait for the riders on the Pasadena circuit, stage 7.

TOUR OF CALIFORNIA PHOTOS!

Just got back from a fun-filled trip to California that included three stages of the Amgen Tour of California, trips to Disneyland and Legoland, as well as dinner mit me brother Chris and his lovely family including wife Dee (Happy B-day!) and daughter McKinley. Added bonus: caught up with high school pal Mike D'Annucci whom we hooked up with at stage 7 in Pasadena. Speaking of which, above, please check out the great shot Jen took of the breakaway group, including big George Hincapie on the first of five circuits around the Rose Bowl. Below, Lance Armstrong guts his way through the Solvang time trial held the day before in Solvang. He must be famous or something; we noticed a lot of people cheering for him throughout the three days.

About 10 minutes after we arrived in Solvang, we found Mark Cavendish (who'd won the tour's previous two stages) cooling down after the time trial. He's the man of the moment in professional cycling right now and was gracious enough to give Baker his autograph.
Below, that's me with the giddy grin behind Tom Boonen who'd just emerged from the anti-doping bus where he'd had to make a contribution, as it were.
Below, Jen scores another great shot: this one of the Astana machine on a minor bump in Pasadena. Chris Horner is at the far left, Levi in yellow, and Lance at the far right in the yellow helmet.