My Day at the Tour of CA

Triathlon Forum
1

The kids opted out, so it was just the wife and I. We loaded up and got out there about Noon so were set up shop in a good spot. Walked around and checked out the expo and booths. Lots of cool stuff, though I was bummed I didn’t find the place giving away cow bells!

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3376/3280662508_0b87839705_o.jpg

We went by the Versus both and saw Craig, Phil, and Paul broadcasting. Brenda waved at them and they waved back. She got a great shot.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3631/3279841339_f5704689a7.jpg?v=0

Picked up an Official Guide:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3471/3280715720_14be1b5019.jpg?v=0

After that we walked back to our spot and settled in for the show. The weather was a wee bit chilly and windy, but overall it was bearable. Saw every rider come thorough on the out and back section in front of the Capital. My wife got lots of great shots but these are the ones of the big dogs:

Thor Hushovd
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3375/3279904423_fe1831e67e.jpg?v=0

Tom Boonen
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3241/3279869105_ebb8b3dd62.jpg?v=0

Tyler Hamilton (or his twin? :slight_smile:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3301/3280690440_392961a29e.jpg?v=0

Dave Z. Head dead almost the whole time we saw him.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3462/3279841383_21ba8f770b.jpg?v=0

Christian Vandevelde looked good.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3338/3279841475_cb2b517e01.jpg?v=0

Lance came storming through. The crowd absolutely was thunderous and we were a long way from the start. It was like a wave of noise when he went by and the mass of people switching from one side of the middle divider to the other was pretty cool looking.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3188/3279841427_0759e36cf7.jpg?v=0

Unfortunately the closer up pics of Floyd didn’t turn out, but here is what she got:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3626/3279841557_16c570ea45.jpg?v=0

Finally it was Levi’s turn:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3149/3280662860_6a367fd140.jpg?v=0

Walked over to this finish and who did I happen to see walking down the street (pic w/wife):
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3159/3279841709_b4735d3129.jpg?v=0

Those who got tested:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3362/3280663008_70c446dd9e_o.jpg

11- Fabian
2- Lance
47- Jurgen Van De Walle
135- Luis Romero Amarn

On the way to testing we walked by Highroad and Hincapie:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3317/3279841657_6d28730d02.jpg?v=0

Fabian coming out of testing
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3558/3280663046_cf00a8427e.jpg?v=0

We waited for almost an hour for Lance to finish testing. Here is what I was rewarded with:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3533/3280715672_436edfa52c.jpg?v=0

I’ll let you decide if it was worth it. It was for me :slight_smile:

2

Very cool pics!

3

Great pics! Love the one of the Versus crew waving! I’m positively shocked Lance got selected for doping tests :slight_smile:

Where were you guys situated?

Here’s my pics from 15th and L about 600M from the finish line:
http://www.sactriathlon.com/images/AmgenTourofCalifornia2009/

I was seriously disappointed by the number of people dropping their head and lifting their helmet tail up in the breeze? Were they looking at their gears or just not paying attention?

Watching the TV broadcast, they didn’t mention how bad the crosswind was on the final stretch. There were some massive gusts that took several riders by surprise.

4

We were at 7th and N, so they hit the corner and immediately went into a headwind. We had maybe 10-15 secs between the corner and when they made it to us. It was a great place to watch, it sucked that we couldn;t see the jumbo or hear the announcer though. That’s ok. I’m going to go watch the Vs coverage on TiVo now :slight_smile:

5

I don’t know about the dropping of the head. Dave Z. looks pretty aero with his head down. It looks like it fills the hole and causes a rounded shape to the front of his body. His head is also very low and the tail barely sticks up. Maybe it’s on purpose?

6

Great pics!!

My pics are report are here:

http://ironclm.typepad.com/ironclms_tri_world/2009/02/tour-of-california-prologue.html.

And all the photos:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=221908&id=595830044&l=f8b66

Very nice to hang with Jimmy R. today and to see Darrell and Ian. Looking forward to tomorrow.

clm

7

I don’t know about the dropping of the head. Dave Z. looks pretty aero with his head down. It looks like it fills the hole and causes a rounded shape to the front of his body. His head is also very low and the tail barely sticks up. Maybe it’s on purpose?
I agree about Dave. Even with his head down, he looked super aero. His helmet may not have been stock as it did appear to have a smaller tail than what I expected.

8

Your coverage is better than any of the media sites I’ve seen so far so thank you for that. Very nice. Great photos. Enjoy the race!

9

Thanks for the thread and pics.

10

Sounds like we were just up the street from you, about a block or so further away from the U-turn - it was an awesome spot because we could see the riders twice (we were on that headwind stretch, too).

You’re right, it was cool looking when the big riders came by and the crowds ran back and forth on the median to catch a glimpse in both directions. Sort of the bike racing equivalent of everyone’s head going side to side watching a tennis match!

11

Thanks for taking the time and posting. Excellent coverage.

12

Awesome pix…thanks for sharing. I am getting ready to head down with my son for stage one. It is pretty cold, wet and windy here in Santa Rosa area but maybe that will just make it easier to see everything…I am really looking forward to it.

13

Great report and photos. It made my wife and I wish we were there. We have seen bike races all over the US in the last 30 years and have seen our share of Tour de France winners, but the circus never gets old. It is funny because we have relatives who live along this years course and don’t have a clue that it is even there. The Lance Rides again card is great we are lucky to have his autograph on a jersey with Fignon, Hinault and Lemond(prior to their feud). It was a perfect day for bike racing overcast with just a bit of rain.

14

Are you coming down to the peninsula or Santa Cruz on Monday?

15

Nice pics too dpm.
The guy in frame 37 has a frame way too big for him?
http://www.sactriathlon.com/images/AmgenTourofCalifornia2009/content/bin/images/large/IMG_7730.jpg Darren Madams
http://www.sactriathlon.com/.../IMG_7730_large.html

16

Are you coming down to the peninsula or Santa Cruz on Monday?

I was thinking about it but with the rain…I think I’ll just go out to the Presidio and watch them go through there.

clm