Stan’s Obligatory Blog

2/26/2006

Tour of California

Filed under: — stan @ 7:46 pm

On Sunday afternoon, I took Lucinda down to Redondo Beach to see the last stage of the Tour of California bicycle race. It was a perfect winter beach day, warm and sunny.

This was actually the first time I’ve ever been to an actual professional bicycle race. It was nice. The crowd it drew and the riders in the race were all impressive. The race itself was pretty exciting, with an early breakaway that lasted nearly the whole distance before being caught on the last lap. Lucinda liked watching it, and I got to tell her stories about my bike racing days while we were watching. We also got to see a BMX stunt show, and wander around near the beach. It was a very fun afternoon.

And on a related note, I had found out recently that my old bike racing friend Ray is the founder and manager of the Navigators Insurance Pro Cycling Team and that he was going to be at the race. Lucinda and I had spent a good bit of the afternoon looking for the team camps without luck, but at the end of the race, we saw the Navigators team car go by and we just followed it to their camp. After the prizes were awarded, we found Ray. It was fun to visit with him and reminisce about the days when we were young, strong, and fearless. And Lucinda got an official Navigators cycling cap. So this was a special treat to top off a very nice afternoon.

cycling

One Response to “Tour of California”

  1. Steve Ryan Says:

    Glad you got to see some of the race. I was a course marshal for the time trial and saw the road race finish in San Jose. I saw Lemond, Hinault, Bauer, Hampsten, and others race the Coors Classic one year, but this field was much stronger overall.

    Funny how public awareness of cycling varies. The day I course marshaled I stopped in a mall near home with my “volunteer” shirt on and two different people asked me about the race. As you saw, the crowds were good.

    On the other hand, I spoke to two brothers-in-law this weekend, one in San Diego and one in Newport Beach. Neither had heard of the race. I hope they can promote this event even better in future years.

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