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AToC Likes and Dislikes
Posted by Bruce Hildenbrand on Feb 26, 2008 10:06:00 PM
Feb 28, 2008 3:00 PM
Cathy
says:
Cathy
says:
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?
Feb 29, 2008 12:15 AM
Bruce Hildenbrand
says:
Bruce Hildenbrand
says:
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!
Mar 7, 2008 12:00 PM
Rae
says:
Rae
says:
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.