The 3rd annual Amgen Tour of California is in the books. The people from
Amgen were conspicuously absent from the race, but reports are that they are
happy and looking to continue sponsorship. Let's hope so. Here are some
random thoughts about the race.
Things I liked:
All the aggressive riding. It was full-on from day one first with the BMC Team
sending guys up the road on stages 1 and 2 and then with attacks by the likes
of George Hincapie, Robert Gesink, Dominique Rollin, that Hincapie guy again,
Michael Creed, Tom Zirbel, that Hincapie guy again, etc, etc.
The non-Pro Tour teams showing themselves in front of their bigger brothers.
These lesser weights (in UCI classification only?) didn't just hide out at the
back of the pack waiting for another beating, they raced side-by-side to the
finish.
Podium girls. Hats off to Michael Ball and Rock Racing for bringing some
much-needed feminine touches to the main stage.
Mount Hamilton. This bump helped create one of the most selective finishes
in the history of the AToC. When combined with Sierra Road this made for a
very exciting stage.
Mario Cipollini. Cipo is in his second career as a bike racer and has admitted
that he is playing with house money. But, ride he did and he was in there when
he needed to be. Bravo!
Levi's time trial ride. Guys like David Millar, Christian Vandevelde, Tom
Zirbel and Ben Jacques-Maynes rode extremely well in Solvang, but Leipheimer
delivered the knock-out punch to anyone else's hopes to win the AToC. Yeah,
he was expected to do well, but not that well. It was a drubbing.
Things I didn't like:
The AToC organizers bumping three riders from Rock Racing from starting. I
have still not seen the supposed letter from the UCI stating that there are
active doping investigations on Santiago, Oscar and Tyler. Anybody else seen
any news on the alleged open doping investigations?
Mother Nature. Maybe it was payback for kicking out the three Rock Racing
riders, but why penalize all the other racers and spectators with so much
rain? I was starting to gather a few animals, two-by-two.
Media parking. Hey, I am a journalist. I am doing a job at the AToC. Please
give me a place to park my car and don't trap me in some parking garage with
one attendant to take cash so I have to spend an hour waiting in line to leave
after the race.
Technical manual. Is it so hard to put a graphic showing the press room on
the map of the finish area?
Bruce
Active Expert: Bruce Hildenbrand
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Cathy
Things I liked: seeing my friend Bruce every day and chatting about cycling with him non-stop! As well as noting that he is always in a good humor and seems to know almost everything about almost everything.
I also liked the pizza party I hosted on Friday night and the interesting mix of people that showed up. Lots of laughs, good food and wine, a chance to introduce my husband to my friends in my "other life". Next year my friend Bruce needs to bring P & P to the party to make it a real happening event! And it remains Invitation Only!!
Will I see you in Georgia?
Bruce Hildenbrand
Cathy, yeah that was a great party at the Kalyra Winery(where Sandra Oh worked in the movie Sideways) Definitely, the best of the AToC gatherings I attended! I don't know if I will be in Georgia. I am scheduled to be in Atlanta to announce a race a few weeks later, but I am announcing the Sea Otter Classic which overlaps with Tour de Georgia so it might be a stretch. Too many things to do, not enough time in which to do them!
Rae
I have to second (third?) the comment about parking: not only for the press (when I volunteered in SLO, I was positioned at a spot that got a lot of inquiries about press parking, but not even the people in charge of the volunteers could tell me where to send you), but also for fans -- if I wasn't at the finish quite early, as an out of towner it was purely a guessing game and dumb luck to find parking without getting into gridlocked traffic. San Jose was the worst. A few towns did a good job of putting maps, the info about lots, shuttles etc up on the web well in advance, but it was needed for every city, & some signs on the ground would have been immensely helpful.
The announcers were great at the starts & finishes, too.
I hear you on those last two, Bruce. I felt like a mouse in a maze looking for cheese that didn't exist in some cities--especially Sacramento and San Jose.
But I'd also add a few more things to the list of Things I Liked:
1. Local media coverage at each of the stages. Everywhere I went, locals seemed to be sporting maps and rider lists ripped out of their local paper. There were ample local TV reporters, too (Though KCAL out of the Santa Clarita area was still claiming Mark Cavendish won Stage 6 later that night). I talked with a few reporters from towns where the AToC passed through, and they said they were promoting the heck out of the race. Just goes to show, if you try hard enough (mainstream media, I'm talking to you), there's more to report than just cycling's doping woes.
2. Rider access. Even after several long, wet, grueling stages, the riders were still interacting with fans before and after races--taking pictures, signing autographs and answering questions. Hats off to the American teams like Jelly Belly, Kelly Benefit Strategies, Bissell, BMC and Health Net, which seemed especially open and courteous. You could basically watch their entire pre-race routine each day. What other sport lets you do that?
3. The many fans who stood in the rain to see some great cycling. There were more people at the finish of Stage 7 than at a San Diego Padres game on a cloudy day.