Like a Kid in a Candy Store

This is a photo of one of the orange groves in the back yard of the house. The family said that there is roughly 300 orange trees and each tree can have upwards of 200 oranges. I have been eating so many that my body reeks of citrus.
The house has two types of Avacado trees. The one pictured above grows the ones that are smooth and green. Were as the other Avocado plant looks like a weaping willow tree mixed with a small bush, and that type of plant grows the Avocados that are prongy and dark.
This is the pool house were 5 of the guys on the team are staying. Im on the purple bed near the tv. This family has the right kind of pool house. The kind with a pool table, not the kind thats just propped right next to a pool. The main house is built completely around the pool
This is a photo of the house from the street. Isnt it so authentic looking. They call this style of home "Santa Fe".
The orange grove path down the to the pool house where our rooms are. You can see Big Bear Mountain in the background. I hear that climb is epic.
Apparently the trusses in the home were made from telephone poles that did not pass the test to hold up wires.... makes you wonder how strong the house is... nah their just decoration anyways. Sure looks awesome
The house was built only ten years ago, but our hosts managed to capture this aged rustic atmosphere, while managing to keep the same sturdy clean feeling that you get from a modern home. I cant think of a better place to be while preparing for and recovering during the Redlands Classic.

On a Different note. I have tried almost every allergy medicine that I can get my hands on, and over the past few days I have made several interesting conclusions. All medications have side effects, but while taking allergy meds the side effects have been more severe than simply dealing with the allergies themselves. I woke up each day with a stuffy nose and sometimes got a headache while riding hard. After taking medicine I had watery eyes, dizziness, and drowsiness. The only medicine that works is Sudafed but sadly its banned from competition, so I have to stop taking it in the case that I get drug testing during this weekends race.

In conclusion, I plan on just taking IB profen before each stage and drinking a lot of coffee. That seems to be the only clean, effective way to deal with the pollen and or what ever it is that had been ruining my experience here in California.

The time trial starts tomorrow. I am number 71, I was 70 for San Dimas... weird. The course is really rough, but luckily I got to pre ride it this time. Going easy today I rode it in 13:30 pushing 310 watts. I cant imagine the kind of power past winners have had to put out in order to be sub 9 minutes. More tomorrow.