The hardest part of any tour, really is just getting there. After that, the days in the race blend together--one start looks sadly like another, one finish just like the day before. The work is the same, too. Wake up early, hit the road, put up (or take down) signs. The variation is limited.
Getting there, on the other hand--that's tough. The Amgen Tour of California calls the west coast home...Our crew is 8, and a mix of east and west coasties. Us easterly brothers had early wake ups (except Keith) of 4am or so and flights that departed at 7am. Our westerly bros had fairly normal days, except that they drove to Sacramento in the middle of it
My trip started out well enough, I was plenty early to Newark, and found the lounge with an hour to spare. Aside from some catering-related delays we made Salt Lake City with about 30 minutes to spare, and happily, my bag made the trip to the new gate too, which meant that I had clean skivvies in Sacramento. It did preclude getting food, sadly, which is why I just ate for the first time at 8pm California time
There's a palpable sense of anticipation here, helped along by the fact that the race has laid siege to this Holiday Inn (thank god I'm on the executive level...oh the masses), so you have a large gathering of like-minded individuals all in the same place. It's like a bizarro furry convention except that the idols being worshipped are typically skinny euro dudes with shaved legs and skin-tight clothing. Also, they don't seem to be staying at this hotel.
I did see Sherwen (FYI: @paulsherwen) and Liggett (FYI: @philliggett ) here earlier, so I can confirm that cycling royalty are in the house.
It seems like the day's travel has worn out the R&S crew, half are in bed, and some are driving cars around this part of California looking for parking. Tomorrow promises to be an excellent day of packing and repacking crap in vans, and then driving. Welcome to the tour!
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