Rewind...

Awhile back I mentioned this cat I met in the feed zone at Madera...

We're sittin' there all chit chattin' and what not when he mentions that his racer is gonna be pissed off because he missed his feed.

So I respond with something along the lines of, "When they start paying you then they can be pissed off."

And my man quips, "They're paying me... quite well."

Now my interest is piqued and my ears perked up... "What's this?" I think to myself.

I guess the perplexed look on my face must have asked the questions for me because this guy who seems to have figured something out hands me his card. The card got lost somewhere in the pile of Gu wrappers and water bottles on the floor of my car, but the gist of it was...

You pay me $200 plus expenses and I will wrench, feed, drive, fill water bottles and do your laundry for you while you race... basically, I will treat you like a pro sans the massage.

The guy was the real deal. He'd previously earned his living wrenching in a bike shop, made a few contacts with Daddy Warbucks and his compatriots and the rest is history. He'd been to Phoenix and Baker City, Bend and all points California with his clients... road trips, he'd drive the car with all the equipment whilst the clients flew.

"here's my bike. pick me up at the airport. oh, and I'd like two scoops of cytomax in my bottle, my eggs over easy, and put a little of that butter in my chamois."

"yes'r" or yes'm"

Can't figure this one out. Part of me is thinking that it is a good gig, if you love bike racing... part of me is thinking that one couldn't pay me enough to do that. But, then again, I do it for free for a bunch of kidlets every weekend...

Anyways, I'm all wonderin' just who would really pay for this stuff... I mean, the 35+ crowd would be the target audience I guess... lots of extra dough laying around for most of those cats. Why do you think bike shops won't give 35+ers sponsorships worth anything more than a minor discount. So I sneak a peak the next time the boy's on the job passing out bottles.

Shor'nuff shoulda guessed it... he was passing up bottles to a team full of guys in red and white with a big S on their chest. Hmm? as if those guys needed anymore of an advantage...