I’m heading off to go watch the final stage of the TOC. This will be the first pro bike race I’ve ever watched in person, so it should be interesting.
No guarantees on whether I’ll be chasing Lance in a speedo or not! 
I’ll try to report back with tons of pictures for all you less fortunate folks over in those gloomy eastern states.
I return to you after an awesome day of cycling. A bunch of us from our tri team went out in team gear and rode different sections of the course, cathing the riders at strategic places for photos.
We started at the start line and watched the riders head off. A few of us even got interviewed by a reporter, since we were all wearing the same kit (UCSD Tri team). We then cut out a segment of the route to get ahead of them, and rode on the course up to the KOM at Lake Wohlford. I’m not sure if the spectators were just excited or thought we were a pro team, because we were getting tons of cheers and cowbells. We watched from near the top of Wohlford as they ascended. At one point, Floyd even looked directly at us as we were taking pictures (we think he was actually looking past us to the riders chasing below).
After watching the riders ascend Wohlford, we cut across to the climb at Cole Grade, skipping Palomar unfortunately (or fortunately?). We decided to ride down Cole Grade, and then suffered back up to about the halfway point, so we could watch them ascend the switchback. A bunch of us ran with the different groups of riders as they came up (though we made sure to stay safely out of the way). There was a group running in speedos, some of whom we knew (and are triathletes, go figure).
All-in-all, a great day. I was very impressed by the strength of the riders. They cruised up climbs at 20+ mph that had me crying and begging for mommy (figuratively of course ;-)). And this was after 8 days of racing. I had always known they were fast, but it was much more impressive to watch it in person.
My internet is being retarded, so I’ll try to get my pictures up as soon as I can.
Check graham watson’s photos… I think one of your team is in one of his photos.
Nice, that is one of our guys carrying the American flag and running next to Lance. I’ll have to show him that one.
We also made it onto the live coverage of the race, and we’re shown right at the beginning of the Cole Grade video on the TOC website.
OK, finally pictures can go up:
Waiting around at the start line
A couple of Cervelo Test Team riders warming up
The start of the race. You can see Levi at the front in the yellow jersey.
The breakaway riders ascending the Wohlford KOM
The chasing peloton
The breakaway again, as they near the top
A couple of chasing riders
Team Astana pulling the peloton up the climb
We kept asking them for just one bike, but we got nothing…
Guy wearing angle wings. Actually one of the weirdest things I saw all day.
A Fly V rider abandoning the race
The helicopter circling Cole Grade
The break starting the ascent up Cole Grade
And the first chasing group (there were many groups after Palomar)
The first of the riders
Once again, Astana is pulling the pack
And there goes Lance, pulling them all (Levi is off to the very left of the frame, mostly obscured by one of the speedo guys)
The fastest car in the windtunnel
Representin’
No pics of Antler Guy?..I’m bummed.
Looks like a great day!
Hey, I’m in one of your photos.
FWIW next year, park before the turn up Cole grade, ride 6 miles to the big bend on Palomar (4 miles up) and when they’ve all passed, ride back down and up Cole, there’s plenty of time.
Sorry, no antler guy. I think he was on Palomar(?), and we didn’t end up going over there.
We did see Batman driving around a yellow VW Beetle with the batman logo on it, which was hilarious, but I didn’t get any pictures unfortunately.
Did you see the way Antler Guy was running? Head perfectly still, the rest of his body chuggin away. Totally focused!!!
****Did you see the way Antler Guy was running? Head perfectly still, the rest of his body chuggin away. Totally focused!!!
Think about it, running with a 20 lb. helmet, and a 7 foot wingspan, of course his head was perfectly still, it HAD to be.
You don’t turn your head, you don’t look down, you keep it perfectly still, or you fall down.
What looks dumber, a guy running with an antler helmet, or a guy falling down wearing an antler helmet? Toss up.
Dude, your tri club’s Kit- perfect. Thanks for posting the pics, sounds like a great day.
“We did see Batman driving around a yellow VW Beetle with the batman logo on it, which was hilarious, but I didn’t get any pictures”
I got Batman on Cole Grade. Strange…
