Day 5 (Sun 20 May) Downtown LA

Mike and Stephanie about to ride the closed streets of LA before final stage of Tour of California 2012

Halfway through the second lap

Boys admiring latest Trek bike
Jordan (Radioshack liaison), Mike R, Mike B and Jake

Outside MOCA - deconstructed aircraft

Maths lesson - Outside LA central public library

At the after-match party
Mike, Chris Horner, Ben

Same venue - Mike, Jens Voigt, Ben

And again - Stephanie with Jens

Day 4 (Sat 19 May) Mt Baldy

Stephanie and Ben on the Glendora Ridge Road to Mt Baldy

Mark, Mike B, Mike R, Ben and Stephanie at KOM on Glendora Mountain Road

View of Glendora Ridge Road with Mt Baldy in distance

Mike and Stephanie at Mt Baldy Village waiting for tour to pass

Mike and Mark about to do the Mt Baldy mountain climb

Sumo boys waiting to cheer on the riders

Stephanie on the finish line at end of the Mt Baldy climb

Day 3 (Fri 18 May) Big Bear Lake

Stephanie beside the bike of her T-shirt hero!

The team about to start the ride up to Big Bear Lake
Stephanie, Rustin, Ben, Mike R, Mike B, Rob, Jam

Stephanie at Big Bear finish with Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwin behind

Stephanie and Jam get a close encounter with Phil Liggett

The team watching live coverage of the Big Bear stage from the VIP lounge at the finish.

Video clip of the Peloton sprint finish on Big Bear

Day 2 (Thu 17 May) Hesperia Loop

Jake repairing Stephanie's snake bite on the Hesperia loop?!

Gourmet lunch at Silverwood Lake after the Hesperia loop

Everyone in front of Joshua trees on Hesperia loop.

Mike and Stephanie above Silverwood Lake

Day 1 (Wed 16 May) Lake Arrowhead

Team start from Lake Arrowhead: Mike R, Mike B, Ben, Stephanie,Rob, Rustin, Jam 

View from our window at Lake Arrowhead

Day 0 (Tue 15 May) Mark's parents' place Chino Hills (LA)

View from Chino Hills towards Mt Baldy

Stephanie and Charlotte at Avocado House cafe in Ontario

Day-1 (Mon 14 May) Getty Villa

Stephanie and Mark in gardens at Getty Villa (LA)

Corridor of outer peristyle Getty Villa

Domestic garden at Getty Villa

Mark and Charlotte relaxing after lunch at Getty Villa

Day -2 (Sun 13, LA)

We spent the morning exploring Venice Village and beach at Santa Monica and the afternoon at the Getty Centre which had a great exhibition of photos by Herb Retts, a small but quality selection of  impressionists and superb views south over Culver City towards downtown LA.

Welcome to LA city of the car!
View south from tram up to Getty Centre

Mike and Steph at Venice beach

Mike and Steph at Venice Canals

Mike and Steph at Getty Centre overlooking Culver City (LA)

Day -3 (Sun 13 NZ)

The harsh cell phone alarm call at 3.20 am woke us with "the time is 3.20 - time to get up" repeated several times before Stephanie managed to silence it. Our next cycling adventure was about to begin - this time following the Tour of California - the taxi would arrive in 30 minutes. A quick shower to wake us up, final packing of gear and we were on our way to Wellington airport. A mojo coffee and a quiet seat in the pumpkin shells lessened Stephanie's anxiety - had we forgotten anything and would she be able  to handle some of the challenging climbs ahead. I'm sure she will cope well given her efforts in the Pyrenees last year. A few uncomfortable hours in non reclining seats and we were at Sydney Airport. A lone american voice in the concourse reminds us that we will be hearing a lot more of this over the coming 3 weeks. Another coffee and a muffin and we are on the leg to LA touching down 19 hours after leaving Wellington at 6.10 am, but it is still 6.10 am - did Einstein have something to say about this?! Great to find our friend Mark Duffield from San Diego waiting for us and our American holiday begins.