Tour of California: Stages 1 & 2

Stage 1 Finish in Santa Rosa

Absolutely incredible. That's all I can muster up at the moment. Despite the rainy weather, I am having the time of my life. It's amazing what can happen when you think, dream, and act.

I haven't had online access the past few days, so this is lengthy post. Well worth your time though :)

Stage 1

Since I missed the opening prologue, I decided to leave Oregon before dawn to make sure I made it for the start in Davis, CA. Needless to say that someone else had a different idea. The Siskiyou summit was bright and clear, but then as I hit Weed, CA the snow began. I started to get a little worried as the side of I-5 was lined with trucks and cars with people frantically trying to figure out how in the world to put the chains on that they bought years ago and never used.

So, since I didn't have chains I didn't stop...a blessing of having AWD. There was a mandatory chain up stop, that totally slowed things up, but they let the Elephant pass to brave the conditions. So I did about 25 mph for a couple of hours...definitely a damper on my race plans. So a long time and a few miles later I made it out alive, and learned a few things:

1. Use the bathroom before entering a chain up zone.

2. Do not wear flip flops when driving through a blizzard.

3. The highway patrol needs to emphasize the safe driving speed for chains. I lost count of the number of broken chains I ran over along the way.

With my plans torn apart for the start in Davis, I booked it to the finish in Santa Rosa. It was absolutely epic and well worth the trip. It was raining, which helped thin out the crowd so I could get a better spot. I got there just in time though to see my boys Levi, Lance, and Floyd make three laps around town.

Floyd Landis

It was pouring rain the entire day, and I could honestly feel the pain in the cyclist's faces as they came through. That is, everyone except for Francesco Mancebo as he broke away to take the stage. Even Lance himself said:

“Holy hell. That was terrible. Maybe one of the toughest days I've had on a bike, purely based on the conditions. I'm still freezing.”

That says a lot coming from someone who has done as many races as him. Chris Horner (also on Astana) rewarded his hard day in the saddle with, “...a double-double (xtra onions), fries, coke, and a strawberry shake.” from IN-N-OUT Burger. Funny thing is that probably covered about a quarter of his calorie needs for the day!

Stage 2

This day was epic and marks a day on the calendar of Dan that I will never forget. After waking up to another day of rain, I meandered down into Sausalito for the start. Somehow I ended up outside of the Astana team bus touching shoulders with the VS filming crew. Then before I knew it, a guy in a yellow hooded jacket pushed his way through the crowd and butted up against the camera.

Some nerve, right? Just when I started to lose hope in my view, this guy turns around and who is it?

The one and only Bob Roll! They best cycling commentator, imho. There I was, in the pouring rain, my day well accomplished. But that was just the appetizer. For the next thing just blew my mind. Out of the bus in a bee line for Bobke was the man.

I don't think it's possible to get closer to the greatest athlete ever unless you are of the opposite sex. I was in awe. Definitely smaller in person than I thought, but small in a pro-cyclist-tree-trunk-quads-three-percent-body-fat kind of way. He is definitely ready to kill.

And to top things off, perhaps the greatest cycling coach in the history of the sport lent a nod my way.

Whew, I was spent and the race hadn't even started! Sitting there in the cold, cold rain I couldn't help but think about how cool this little town is. Perhaps it was my experience there, but even when I arrived the night before there was just something refreshing about Sausalito.

Sausalito, CA

The people, the ocean, the small yet big town feel. Definitely worth checking out if you have never been. Oh, and next year I think I'll follow in this couples' footsteps and get a box office seat for the race start:

Hotel Casa Madrona