Feb 16, Saturday - Well, yesterday was a travel day, and an uneventful one at that, unless you count managing to sit beside a cute gal on each leg of the flight. As for leaving the winter chill of St Louis behind and being greeted by the shorts and shirt weather of Palo Alto, let's just say that it was an easy transition. While it still got chilly after the sun set, the night air required nothing more than the comfortable fleece jacket which was thoughtfully included in our staff clothing package.

The two-hour time differential had me yawning at 9pm local time last night, but if I can somehow manage to stay on Central time, I think it will work to my advantage. That would get me out of bed at 3am Pacific and allow me to put in an undisturbed 2-3 hours of web work. This will no doubt limit my late-night partying style points, but I'm OK with that.

I awoke this morning to perfect running weather and took full advantage with a 10k jaunt to Google's campus and back. Although I couldn't enter any of the locked buildings, my walk through the inner quadrangle revealed employee amenities the like of which a typical nine to fiver wouldn't dare dream. It's good to be king, er... I mean Google. Eventually a Segway-riding security guard zoomed up and kindly informed me that my presence required an invitation. No problemo, I was just leaving.

Later that morning, I got in-processed by the Tour of California office. 1-cap, 8-long sleeve T's, 3-polo shirts, 1-fleece jacket, one $450 food debit card, and a couple of signatures later, I was officially a part of the TOC traveling roadshow. I now find myself feeling good about life even after last night's hell of enduring two hours looking for an airport shuttle that never appeared and then today's hour spent waiting for a work-group meeting that never materialized. Just like a race, you adapt to conditions and move forward.

Walking three blocks from my room at the Marriott, I found a store with Giro sport sandals on clearance for $19.99 and afterwards managed to strike up a very friendly conversation with a SoCal gal in Trader Joe's who is in my age group, looks 15 years younger than she is, and coincidentally is an ulta-distance cyclist and multisport athlete.

My first impression: You gotta love California.

My online Google searches had to travel a mere 3 miles.

How about a sand volleyball game after you finish your programming?

No thanks, I'll be in the heated, endless pool.

St Louis could take a lesson from Mountain View, CA.

Super Mario (Cipollini) unretires with Rock Racing.

Tyler Hamilton (right) wanting back in the pro peloton after serving his penance.