Steve Tilford

NBC Sports did an article and listed Eric Heiden as the 9th greatest Winter Olympian. I thought it was bullshit. Then there was a poll they put out there giving us the chance to vote for the greatest Winter Olympian. I thought it was a no-brainer, but polls are polls. I don’t know how that turned out, but it should not have been a contest. The answer is Eric Heiden, hands down. By miles. Even, Bonnie Blair, who is in the video below, and was listed as the greatest Winter Olympian, by NBC, picks Eric.

Anyway, Yahoo Sports did a little thing on Eric. The guy is so humble and grounded. Anyway, if you have a few extra minutes, watch the video below. There is a cameo appearance of a photo, that Trudi took, of me and Eric towards the end. Hope you all get a chance to watch as much of the Olympic Games as you can fit in.

I’m not sure where this photo was taken. It must have been early when the 7-11 guys were riding Schwinn bikes. Man, does that bike look old.

I baled on the snow and headed out to Southern California a couple days ago. The driving to the airport was slow and treacherous after 14 inches.

I got to San Diego late Wednesday afternoon, just time time to talk to Lance for an hour and then go for a couple hour ride.

On Thursday, I did a little lap of North County. I was hoping to meet up with Gary Hanson, is the in charge of WIRED. Wired stands for – Warrior: Integrating Reconditioning Educating Developing. It’s a program to help wounded and ill service men recover through athletics. I was riding around North County, hoping Gary would show, but ended up getting caught in a storm and had to ride 30 miles back to La Jolla in the rain at 45 degrees. Turns out a new Regiment came back and it was a “circus, non stop”. He seemss like a busy guy.

Last night I got a call from my friend Ann, who lives in Austin. She is out in San Diego for a pathology deal. She didn’t have anything to do so we drove down to San Diego and picked her up and brought her back to La Jolla for dinner. It was cool hooking up with her outside of the city of Austin.

This morning I’m in kind of a rush. I have to be riding in 10 minutes to head to North County for the Swami’s ride. It starts up in Encinitas, which is an hour north at least. I called my old team mate, Thurlow Rogers, and he’s going to do it too, so I thought why not. I’m in pitiful form, but it is always way easier riding 100 miles with a group than on my own.

I heard someone talking in a Starbucks about how unusually cold it is and they can “stand” it for a little while. I was listening to this when I was riding in short sleeve and shorts at 62 degrees. Some people out here sure have a warped perspective on what cold is.

Okay, I need to get going.