COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- "This is Timmy's coffee," Danny Pate says, loading up his espresso machine. His teammate and good buddy Timmy Duggan is selling beans roasted in their home state for charity, and Pate has dutifully stocked up. The following week at the Tour de Georgia, Duggan will go down in a frightening crash, and a shaken Pate and the rest of his teammates will dedicate their team-trial win to him.

But this day is peaceful, a rare one away from the bike. Pate uses maple syrup to sweeten his coffee. A bright morning has turned chilly and overcast, and snow is on the way. Inside, Jack Johnson croons from a set of speakers. Pate's russet-colored husky, Kojak, sleepily blinks his eyes -- one blue, one hazel -- from the dog bed in the living room. A stack of DVDs, mostly comedies, sits on the coffee table for future viewing.

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