Monday, February 23, 2009

Tour of California

The largest bicycling race in the USA was held this past week in several locations in California with the final stage of racing here in San Diego County. A lot of the route includes many miles of roads that we are very familiar with due to camping, hiking, and motorcycling. My buddy John Edwards and I decided at the last minute to go check it out up close and personal by hauling our bikes to within several miles of the start, ride to the start in Rancho Bernardo then get back on the bikes and ride to the finish in Escondido. It seems that we were not the only San Diegans who had that idea because the estimate was that 300,000 people watched some part of the race live. Saying that there were a lot people doesn't quite convey how crowded it was. My guess is that anyone who had ever ridden a bicycle decided to come be a part of the action. That being said, the energy, enthusiasm and overall excitement was simply way over the top. It was a BLAST!!









We got see many of the riders up close including Lance Armstrong and the eventual winner Levi Leipheimer. Right before the start all the Asanta Team came right next to me as evidenced by these pictures of Lance and Levi.
















It was a fun day also because John was kind enough to loan me his super deluxe Merlin racing bike that weighs only 16 lbs. That really helped me get up some of the hills around Escondido. Here are a few more pics of this very fun day.







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