And So it Begins…

Two states down and one race viewed.  This last week marked my third year of viewing the Amgen Tour of California and while stage 1 turned out to be a complete bust, I had a great time making the glacially paced trek up to South Lake Tahoe from my parents’ house outside of Sacramento by way of Donner Summit.

Because the stage was originally postponed, I had plenty of time to relax once I finally arrived at MontBleu around 9:30 AM (I left at 4:30 AM).  The lobby was abuzz with riders and staff taking advantage of the extra time they’d been gifted by the snowstorm dumping inches upon inches of the white stuff on the race route.  I’d just traveled along said route and it was obvious during my drive that if the race were to continue under those conditions, then they were all nuts.

At around noon, I was given word that unofficially the race would begin at 1:15 PM and rider sign in would begin shortly.  I headed out to the start, bundled up in many layers of warm winter clothing that have never seen the month of May, and waited in the storm for the excitement to begin.

Jonathan Vaughters of Garmin-Cervélo with rider Linus Gerdemann of Leopard Trek and Brian Nygaard making a case for rider safety to Andrew Messick.

Of course, we all know how that worked out.  After all of the riders were signed in and a local high school choir sang the national anthem, the race was officially cancelled at 1:15 PM.  At least that gave me a good hour of photographing the guys!

Will Dugan of Team Type 1 was muy frio at the starting line.

Turns out that cancelling was a brilliant idea, as this is what highway 89 looked like when I made my way home.

Hwy 89 when I stopped to put the cables on my tires.

Tuesday was another run of the mill day here in town for when there is a major international bike race hitting the local avenues.  As history would lead us to believe, we were in for another rainy day.  Modesto has hosted the Tour of California four times now and each day was a rainy one.  While the roads were dry for the circuit finish, the storm slowed the arrival and made for my wait downtown a long one. 

Eventually the guys arrived, whizzed by at a high speed, and the stage ended.  I immediately headed over to the team bus parking to track down Burke Swindlehurst so I could finally say “Hi” after missing Merco this year.  It was nice actually tracking him down this time around.

I also ran into this guy... some dude named Thor Hushovd who measures his own saddle position.

When the day was done, I headed home to my dry apartment in the ghetto.

Next weekend I’ll be hitting Greenville for USPros and hope to get many great shots of the race, but it’ll be a while before I get a chance to share them.  I’m very much looking forward to my first real vacation since 2000 and meeting up with some new friends.

The rest of my photos can be seen here:  Stage 1 - Lake Tahoe; Stage 3 - Modesto

Bunny’s Gettin’ Her Groove Back

Yesterday I got my bike back from the shop with the shiny new fork (that doesn't actually match) and a new seat post.  Of course, this would mean a ride (or two or three) this weekend.

Today was my first road ride since the accident and only my second ride (first was the short jaunt on the mountain bike).  I was so excited about getting back on the bike that I couldn’t get back to sleep this morning and ended up starting my morning much earlier than needed.

It’s all good though because today I rode my bike.

The anticipation was almost too much for me and as I was getting ready to leave to meet my friend; I was actually nervous and shaking.  The worry about what would happen wasn’t going to stop me though.  Nothing was.  Not even the crazy winds of 10-20 mph along our chosen route.  Any other day those winds probably would have deterred me, but not today.  Today was going to be a good day.

And it was.

Ready to roll out and sporting my Raisin Hope Foundation wristband to remind me how lucky I am.

I started with a couple of laps around the parking lot just to make sure I could remember how to clip in and out.  Immediately, I fell right back into the familiar routine that had become second nature to me.  I guess that saying about never forgetting how to ride a bike is true.

Although the wind didn’t stop me from riding, it did slow us down and cause us to cut our ride short, but the ride was nothing short of amazing for me.  I’d forgotten what it feels like to clip in and out of pedals.  I’d forgotten the feeling of the breeze on my face.  I’d forgotten what it feels like get down into the drops and hammer into a strong wind (my flatlander hills).  Oh, how I miss these things!  Okay, I could do without the wind.

It’s all good though because today I rode my bike.

Now, as I sit home getting ready to meet a friend for lunch, all I can really think about is my next ride.  I’m high on endorphins and can’t sit still.  Tomorrow can’t come soon enough.

Coincidentally, tomorrow is when I pick up my new Giro Ionos waiting for me up at the shop by my parents’ house.  There will definitely be a ride to celebrate that too.