Goooooooood morning and welcome back to school! Today is Tuesday, it's August 26th, and it's time for morning announcements....don't think I've ever mentioned that back in high school, I had the distinguished privilege to speak to 1500 kids at a time and dish out the daily morning announcements. Highlights included what's for lunch, the schedule of sports that afternoon, birthdays, plus trivia and/or pirate jokes. I love pirate jokes. It was the finest five minutes of my day, every day. Think about it -- you don't often have a chance to speak daily to such a large crowd, let alone every day for two straight years. And surely at 7:45am, I kept their rapt attention.

Speaking of your daily dose of awesome, with another USA Pro Challenge is in the rear view mirror now, let's touch upon some highlights.1) I want to extend a very sincere thank you to the fine folks of Medalist Sports for putting on another incredible race. I mentioned it before, even under less than desirable circumstances like rain, wind, thunderstorms, and lightning the USA Pro Challenge, 2014 edition, was a BLAST! (...on a related side note, you aren't a professional cyclist unless you bring a complaint to the table, and it's usually a gripe towards the weather.) I'm thankful that Medalist listened to riders' suggestions, like shorter stages which are more interesting and action packed. Being home and racing on home soil is the freakin' best; I love using my currency and my language, I love high-fiving friends and fans, I love giving my family a hug at the start line, I love perusing the VIP area for post-race crisp, refreshing libations, and I love finishing a race and playing guest barista by pulling espresso shots. So great work Medalist, Colorado, supporters, and awesome people.2) Where's Waldo is extended to Where's Biju the Chef in this fun picture from the Vail time trial. Hint: he just might be wearing a red jacket and singing Y-M-C-A.3) Here's a fun way to soak up the post-USA Pro Challenge honeymoon AND get excited about this fall's Krempels King of the Road Challenge. That's right, play along with an ebay auction (that's code for bid!) on this USA Pro Challenge swag and bid confidently knowing that all profits will go to my KKotRC fund-raising efforts. And if you don't want to partake in the auction, then just zip on over to my FirstGiving page and drop a few bucks to help save the world. Please and thank you.4) So now I have a few days to bask, relax, and soak up Colorado before I'm off to the Tour of Alberta up in C-eh-N-eh-D-eh? The air is thin, the people are friendly, and the vibe is right. I love Colorado.