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Tour of California 2010 - Part 2

Day 2 of my cycling saga continues...

Saturday May 22 was the Time Trial stage in Downtown LA. For this race, they shut down most of Downtown for the first time since the Olympics in 1984...  it was mad. 
Thanks to Ben, we got to purchase VIP tickets to see the riders in action.  Really close. 

At first we were in the designated VIP tent...  with free booze and food, we thought it was the place to be, but the view from there looked like this.  Lots of people in front of us.  Not good. 

So, we decided to ditch the option to have bottomless Michelob Ultra to get closer to the action.  See how dedicated we are?  We situated ourselves where the riders make a U-turn, a 100 yards or so from the finish line. 

All of a sudden, there is nobody in front of us, so the view was like this.  Amazing!  The riders whizzed by us so close, sometime we had to pull ourselves back from the handrail.  So intense.  You could definitely see their sweat and hear the wheels turn.  And, oh yeah, this is a picture of Andy Schleck taken by Ben.  Isn't is a nice shot? 

What was I doing when he rode past me?  Where is MY picture of Andy?  I was trying to cheer (like a crazy woman) and take a picture at the same time, so here's my version of Andy.   #epicfail

One more photo?  How about Dave Zabriskie!   Again, awesome photo by Ben.  (And, most of the pictures from yesterday's post are by Ben (and Oli), too.  Thanks!)  

After the race, we tried to raid the Garmin bus this time, but our main man Dave Zabriskie (DZ) didn't win the stage and was feeling a bit pouty, so he didn't spend much time with us at all.  Very sad.  From what we've seen of DZ being the strange, funny, brilliant guy, I was expecting him to be more upbeat!  I know he's the US time trialing champion...  I know he wanted this stage.  But I was hoping he was ...  for lack of a better word, a bit more DZ!  Maybe next time.  Go DZ!!

While Oli and I waited for DZ in vain, Ben was getting what he wanted.  He went and got the George Hincapie jersey autographed as well as had one last rendezvous with his lover, Jens Voigt.  I'm happy for him.  

After 2 intense days of race-watching, I've learned a lot!  So here are some of the things to note...

1) Go see the race more than one day.  One day to watch the race live.  Another to see the riders at the bus, maybe.  A mountain stage and TT etc different kinds of race would be good.  Watching a race live is awesome, but a huge part of cycling that is so different from anything I know is how close pros are to their fans.  Might as well take advantage of that.  And to do that, you need more than one day! 

2) Go prepared.  Got Sharpie?  Got jerseys?  I almost brought a 18x24 framed photo of Andy but decided against it.  It would have been awesome and embarrassing at the same time.  Maybe more awesome than embarrassing...  No? 

3) Find out where your team bus is parked beforehand...  and be there early! 

4) Be respectful.  You didn't just ride 110 miles in the wind, so shut up and wait for the riders to come out.  There were some amazingly pushy people...  it's just not nice.  

What do you think?
Don't you just wanna fly to France in July and see the Tour de France now? 

Man.  That would be so amazing.  

Part 3, the final stage coming soon. 

Tour of California 2010 - Part 1

I never said I wasn't a big dork.  I never denied that I'm a little obsessive.  But now I know.  For sure.  That I'm a little crazy. 

Crazy about this business of cycling.  (And a boy named Andy Schleck.) 

Here's part 1 of my 3-day saga following the Amgen Tour of California. 

Amgen Tour of California is an 8-stage race.  (More on AToC here. ) This year, they started the race in Nevada City and over the last week, they made their way down to Southern California.  

Last Friday was a stage in Big Bear, which is about 2 hours from where I live.  I knew that this stage was an important part of the tour (Mountain top finish!) since they announced the route over 6 months ago.  So, I made sure that I was available on this Friday to go see the race. I wasn't going to miss this for anything! 

Friday morning, the usual suspects (Oli, Ben and me) drove up to Big Bear.   We got there early.  We walked around the expo, had early lunch and went on a recon mission to find out where the team buses parked.  (This becomes very important later, so pay attention.)  After we figured out the lay of the land, we perched in the Radio Shack tent to watch the live feed of the race.  So.  Much.  Fun.  I always loved watching the race with a bunch of people.  Everybody talking smack about everyone else's favorite riders. Cheering and yelling.  Getting excited and being sad...  everything is much more fun if you are with 60 people in a small tent.  But, no.  This is not the time to be sentimental about the camaraderie of cyclists. We have an important mission to accomplish. 

As soon as the first rider crossed the finish line, we got up and ran like a bat outta hell to where the team buses were parked. 

One team bus on our collective mind. 

Saxo Bank. 

All of our favorite riders are with Saxo Bank. 

Oli loves Fabian Cancellara.  (Loves him a bit too much for a married woman.  I guess it's ok since Ben loves him a bit too much for a married man as well.  I don't know.  Better not get involved in their business.) 
Ben loves Jens Voigt.  Jens is one of the oldest man in the peloton and also the most popular and respected guy in the peloton.

And, I love Andy Schleck.  

We got to the bus first.  Nobody else was there yet.  That means we secured the best spot in front of the entrance to the bus.  See?  I told you that the recon mission to find out where the buses are is important. 

And, we waited. 

Jens was in the bus already.  Then one by one, the riders started to come back to the bus from the finish line.  They get inside and take a shower, relax a bit.  And, they come out to say hi to the fans.  So we waited.  We waited for a long time. 

The first one out was Jens.  (Of course.  He's the man who does the right thing no matter how tired he is.)  He is a happy man.  Super nice to his fans.  All smiles.  All the time.  I respect this man.  He spent a lot of time with his fans. 

Then the next one out was Andy.  He doesn't look too happy.  Turns out, he had to slow down on the climb because he was told by the management to take it easy, and he was worried that fans and critics wouldn't approve of his less-than-perfect riding.  Don't you worry, baby.  We know this race is your practice for the Tour de France!  The picture is Andy signing my Luxembourg Champion jersey.  

Finally.  Fabian comes out.  He loooves the attention.  He knows he's GQ handsome.  He knows how to work the crowd.  He's goood.  He's a star. 

The picture is Olivia in heaven.  Fabi is SO popular.  It's very hard to get him to pose for the camera.  Oli got her Swiss Champion jersey signed.  She's a happy girl.  

With all our mission accomplished, we started to head home.  All of us still very much in heaven.  We giggled and (almost) skipped all the way back to the car like three little girls. 

Cycling is a very special sport in that the fans can get so close to the pros.  There's no security guy guarding the buses.  No credential to see the riders.  It must be a great motivation for the pros to see that their fans are so excited.  I really hope this tradition will never change.   

I had such an awesome day.  This was my very first professional bike race to watch live.  And it was so much more than what I had hoped for.  I mean, face-to-face with my baby Andy Schleck? 
I think I'm addicted now. 

Day 2 is a time trial stage in Downtown LA!

More on that tomorrow in Part 2 of my saga. 

team a2b Inaugural Ride

A cycling group that I started with my friends, team a2b, had our kick-off event yesterday, and it was a huge success. 

Over 30 people came to ride with us on a bit chilly, Mother's day morning. 

5 of us, the "officers", for lack of a better term, got up extra early to set up everything.  

The food is loaded in to Cynergy, tents are up, drinks are cold...  

With a few words from our officers and it's time to roll. 

Olivia and I lead a Beginner's ride, which was about 32 miles to Manhattan Beach and back. 

Katie, Jenn and Ben lead an Intermediate Ride to the bottom of Palos Verdes and back totaling about 45 miles.

Everyone came back safely, and I believe everyone had a pretty good time...  After party was a blast.  A couple of dozens of bagels consumed.  :) 

Now that the first one is done...  many many more to go. 

I hope that team a2b will be a place where girls can come to learn how to ride a bike and continue to grow to fulfill their dreams whether it is to maintain their health or to be a racer.  

Thank you, friends/riders, for riding with us and making this event a success.  And, big hats off to my associates.  I'm honored to be working with you all on this.  Let's keep this going! 

Guest Blogger - Cortney

Hello Angels.

Hope you are enjoying this nice weather and riding a lot. 
I haven't been riding much on the road, but I am taking a certification course for track riding at LA Velodrome.  More on that sometime when I'm done watching Battlestar Galactica. 

Even though I'm a lazy blogger, my friend definitely is not.  Let me introduce Cortney.  Cortney is a friend of a friend...  I have not met her yet.  But like me, she's a cycling enthusiast and that practically makes her my sister.  :)  She just had her first crit race last weekend.  She's written a piece for me to post.  So here she is!  Thank you, Cortney, for your post and congrats on your first race!  

Bunny Hopping

Wow, I’m exhausted!

 

I should probably start by introducing myself: my name is Cortney, I’m your guest writer for the day, and I’m a relatively newbie cyclist from Washington, DC. I bought my first bike last year, and today I did my first race ever! The race was a crit (and you can learn more about crits here if – like me last week – you have no idea what they are: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criterium).

 

 

I’ve been riding in DC all year training for a century in June, which is my real cycling goal for the year. This crit was a temporary distraction that the Velo Bellas (http://www.velobella.org/blog/) in town told me about last week. Called the “Bunny Hop” because it used to take place on Easter, the race was a 1km loop in Suitland, MD. The weater.com people tell me that it’s currently 83 degrees-F with 60% humidity. Yeah, that feels about right. (Just imagine what July and August feel like here!)

 

The women’s Cat 4 race (those are the beginners like me) started at 9:30am. With a little help from my Velo Bella ladies, I was ready to go.

 

Ready, set…

 

 

The course was pretty flat with the pain coming from cross-winds rather than hills. Listening to some good coaching advice, I tried my best to stay at the front part of the group, without getting too far to the front. My goal was the have the group help me with the hard work.

 

Well, so goes the best laid plans….

 

 

At first I was feeling OK – not great, but not terrible either. I was working hard just to keep up. But, too soon after the start, I began to fall back from the main group. This might have been a Cat 4 race, but these ladies were a helluva lot more powerful than me! “Oh crap” is the G-rated version of the thought that started going through my head. I kept fighting, and after a few laps remembered to drink a little water. At some point, the leaders passed me. As a newbie, my ego could handle being lapped once. After another 10 laps or so, getting lapped a second and third time didn’t feel very good.

 

After a few laps I started to get nauseous. That was probably a bad sign. Thank goodness I had an awesome cheering section screaming my name – a combination of Bellas and family (my husband Jamie and his sister Nicolette). They all kept me going! Thanks guys!

 

 

After a few laps I stopped feeling nauseous, because instead I started to get light-headed. I definitely didn’t have enough sugar running through my blood, but it was too late to do anything about it by then. The laps kept coming and coming, my legs kept struggling and struggling, and my awesome family and friends just keep cheering for me.

 

 

I ultimately ended up forfeiting before the end because I was too light-headed to finish safely. Jamie has been telling me all day how awesome I did out there, and that’s why I’m so lucky to have him in my cheering section.

 

In the time since beginning this blog post, I’ve already had several meals and a 1.5 hour nap to make up for the calories and energy spent on the course. My hips and legs are exhausted, and the one question everyone keeps asking me today is, “Would I race again?” Not this week, but one day… maybe...