I guess the acid test for any plan is the first day that plan has to be implemented. Stage One of a tour always provides that for the routing and sign crew.
Van organization is challenged by actually needing to get supplies out in a timely way. Old legs are stretched getting in and out of trucks. Directionality is challenged by an entirely new course and set of turns.
After a long lay-off from the thrust and cut of a major bike race, I was thrust into collecting local race notification signs from the course, and was set out all by myself due to a prior pick-up clustershag. I was then cut by those same signs I was charged with collecting. Stupid staples. (and true to form, by the end of the day I had re-earned my previous tour nickname).
This was all compounded by the fact that the GPS that I was relying on (since I lost my co-driver in the clustershag) crapped out about 50 or so miles into the stage. At one point, it showed that I was traveling ENE at 165mph...by the time I caught it, my van's virtual location was somewhere east of Lake Erie. Needless to say, this situation was never resolved; I pressed on--and I can assure you, nearly every sign got collected.
I swear I got every sign, boss!
At the end of the stage, everything went off without a hitch, and we're always really hoping that it looks that way on TV. If it looks like there were no errors to the viewer at home, than we all did our jobs to perfection. Sadly, I can't actually tell you who won the stage, we were too busy getting our blimp put away, and setting up for Stage Two.
That's the blimp...HTC powered through!
I even got to trackstand this sweet Pennyfarthing on the way to dinner.
(while on the phone)
All photos by Turbo Bushnell...
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