Tour of California Stage 6
I was in Thousand Oaks today for Stage 6. It was my first professional bike race. All I can say is - what a blast!!!! It was so much fun to see in person all these teams and riders I've only seen on tv before. I even walked by Bob Roll (although I didn't say hi - he was on his way to the porta-potties and didn't look like he wanted to be disturbed).
I volunteered in the Expo area for the first few hours, coordinating other volunteers and watching all the crowds. I got out on the course about half an hour before the guys came through, and lucked into a spot near a turn. First came the highway patrol, then official cars and motorcycles, then the helicopters, and then, whoosh, there goes the peloton. Good sized crowd, and everyone was making noise and having a great time. A large stretch of the finish area was taken up by the VIP viewing area, but I guess that's no surprise.
I stood on the side of a hill to watch the finishing circuits, and although I was trying to watch the jumbotron, I couldn't even tell who won. After the race I meandered over to where some of the team buses were parked - Toyota/United, Discovery (the bus was unmarked but you could tell - they had the biggest crowd around), Gerolsteiner, Healthnet. I think the big name riders are whisked away, but there still were alot of riders sitting around chatting, taking off their kit, etc. Oh, and Johan Bruyneel was just hanging out signing autographs!
Pics later - as soon as I figure out my new photo program (grrr)
