“As the sun goes down, so does the lid to my tool box”

Today was my last race day for 2000. A road race from Brussels to Izegem. It was, for a while, a feeling of being in the US. There were so many Americans at today’s race, it took me a bit to remember I was in Belgium. The sun was even shining and hardly cloudy. That is not typical Belgium weather. We pulled up and instantly parked next to the US Mannheim auto (Mercury) team. There I saw my good friend Mike Sayers who, together with a few Sacramento boys, raced for my club/team back in the early 90s. Mike will say that I gave him his break in bike racing, but really I just helped him a little. He stuck with it long enough (through thick and thin) to get where he is now. It is cool to see him do battle on Euro turf. Scott Moniger and Chris Pic were also there for the US Mannheim team. The Linda Mcartney team had Matt DeCanio, who I don’t really know, but made the change from a US team to being here. There was Mike Creed and a few other Federation riders who, combined with a few Canadians (including Brian Walton), made up a composte/mixed team. Last but not least, I saw Chann Mcrae (Mapei) whom I had the opportunity to work with while we were both on the Saturn team. He is almost always happy and smiling. Today was no exception. It was nice because I have not seen him since the middle of the 1998 season. He has been living in Italy and ripping it up there.
Kirk Obee (US Postal), made the total come to (about) 10 Americans and the canucks made it come to (about) 16 north Americans. That is great how so many (north) Americans are making it big in Europe.
Now, as my last race for the season is over, I’m ready to relax, go home to sit on the beach and have (multiple) drinks. So as the sun goes down, so does the lid to my tool box. For the duration of the year. Sorry, I can’t help you. I’m on my lunch break for the next 3 months.