ToC - Stage 8: Rancho Bernardo to Escondido - 97 miles

Today is the last day, WOOT! Although Palomar Pass could make the overall leader nervous, it's doubtful that he will lose it today. The leader will be a strong time trialist and climber so today he will feel confident that his team will take him across the line with the trophy. Will it be Levi, again? Or will Floyd Landis bounce back from his suspension and show them he SHOULD be the victor of the '06 Tour de France? Today is the day and I'm sure I will be happy to see the finish by now and ready for the Tour "after party"!! Bring it on, wine, whiskey and song!

ToC - Stage 7: Santa Clarita to Pasadena - 89 miles

Can Big George hold them off AGAIN and repeat his breakaway victory over Rory Sutherland? I hope so, I'm always rooting for Georgie.

ToC - Stage 6: Solvang Time Trial - 15 miles

Solvang is a neat Danish knock off town, kind of like Helen, GA.

Frank (in Red) & Andy Schleck (middle) with Jens Voigt (on left) warming up for the TT

Thanks for reading race fans because today is THE day! This is the real "Race of truth", unlike the Prologue. Today is the day that the overall leader should really be crowned. It's not to say that someone couldn't spoil the victor in the following Stages, but it is very unlikely. This is the same course that they have used for the last few years and will be sure not to disappoint the masses.

Since my dad still had to ask, "What do you do for the Tour." I thought I should explain further. As a Course Marshal the ten people in the van get dropped off at strategic points along each course. There are eight vans and we all leap frog to two or three different sections of the course. When we get dropped off, most of the time there is a cop there or other folks to help block the road and make sure the riders know which direction to go. The turns are the most fun because more people show up there because the riders typically have to slow down a bit. I learned that this job is about lessons in human nature. People want to be where ever they are currently NOT. They think they'll get a better spot to take a picture of Lance and bounce around crossing the road numerous times. It gets annoying when the caravan of motorcycles, cars and then riders come through and people still want to cross. It's dangerous and I tried to warn everyone, "Pick a spot and stick it. Put your dog and children on leashes and no one will get hurt. Thank you." Basically, people suck. At least the arrogant, ignorant and just plain stupid seem to be.

Today's one and only drop was actually a cut through road that people would try and get around the other road closures and get back to town. Fortunately I was there to stop them. So it was actually a good spot to be and I was able to do my duty. Oh boy... So the race? Well, I was hoping for Dave Z to pull it off, but Levi beat him by just 8 seconds. There was a tough climb in the middle that really put a hurt on some. Lance doesn't seem to be putting to much extra effort into this race which I know is by design. From Solvang we had a fairly long transfer south and a rather uneventful evening, as I recall now....

ToC - Stage 5: Visalia to Paso Robles - 134 miles

I'd rather be flying this, than where I am truth be told. This brought back memories of watching them in S. Florida many years ago.

We had enough time to stop at Stillwaters Vineyards and sample some of their fine wine. Thank goodness for only 2 drops today.

Looks like yesterday's Stage with Cavendish and Boonen going 1, 2. I'm a fan of the Cav!

Today the peloton will be racing for wine! Well, they will be heading towards one of the famous California cities that boasts of their suptle grape and award winning wines. Stage 5 is the longest of all ToC Stages and should prove to be a chance for Tom "Tornado Tom" Boonen to race his Specialized (bicycle made in California) across the finish line first. There are a few mole hils before the finish, but nothing like what he tackles at Paris Roubaix.

Yet again, my pre-race prediction was close to truth. I guess I need to go to Vegas and bet on my odds in cycling! So what to report today??? I guess the scenery. Cows, lots of cows. Land O'Lakes has many farms around Visalia and they smelled like.... But the rolling hills without trees seems like the most distinguishable thing today. But when we got close to Paso Robles, it turned to smaller hills and beautiful scenery, and great wine! Our second drop today was at the finish and I got to see the leadout trains for Cerevelo and Columbia head into town. Unfortunately I didn't get to see the actual finish, but I did get to see it just now on Versus. So after the race I went for a (dreaded) run and then out to dinner with my team. I'm glad to be in Fat Tire Amber Ale country, I love that beer! Oh, Silverhorse Wine gave us bottles of their wine in our rooms, pretty cool! I'll be taking them back home with me, or maybe my photographer friend will help me drink them.... Ciao!

ToC - Stage 4: Merced to Clovis - 115 miles

Neat "old" building in downtown Merced
Home on the range....

I have been impressed by the vegetation and scenery in this part of CA. Looks like GREAT cycling country, very Euroesque. I think I might have to come back WITH my bike, next time!

Something you never want to see, but here is Kim Kirchen (Columbia-Highroad) heading to the hospital. I've heard just a broken collarbone. Hey, I've got one of those! :(

Today's Stage, on paper, looks like it will be exciting! But compared to Le Tour de France, this whole race is pretty boring and predictable. Mind you, I said, COMPARED. Today's Stage will yet again have a breakaway go off and the leader (if he's really an overall contender) will just ride tempo and hope that another team will bring them back before the end. If a true contender is NOT wearing yellow, then today will be very active to try and shake whomever it is off their pedestal. Today's climbing Stage will probably decide who rides into Escondido with the polka dot jersey for best climber. We'll see!

Damn, I'm good! My pre-race report (above) was correct! Go here for the full race report for this Stage, but I wasn't far off. Today we had to leave the Stage start early to do some recon on connecting roads. Basically, we took two different routes to see if teams behind us could get around the peloton on them. The video is of an almost pig trail we took to see if it would help our teammates. Not sure if anyone went this way, but we had fun speeding through and checking out the countryside. Our first drop was in the small, quaint town of Mariposa. I continually have places like this change my mind of what I think of CA. It was too small for me, granted, but the surrounding area just speaks to me. If I were to live out here, I'd pic this general area to live. Somewhere east of San Fran/San Jose, close to the mountains, but with a little bit of country feel to it. The second drop was closer to the finish, but we weren't able to get to the finish to see anything this time. When I told the people around me I was from Gawja, they didn't believe me since I don't have a southern accent. But when I started talking about ya'll and over yonder, they knew I was raised in the South. Yeah c'mon! Ok, it's off to dinner at the Astana hotel next door. Ohhhhhhh, maybe I'll see Lancipants...... Whatever. Oh, I talked with local to ATL John Murphy last night at their hotel. Unfortunately he dropped out today. He said he was feeling the cumulative effects of the previous days. Damn, that sucks, he's a good kid and future sprinting star I hope.

ToC - Stage 3: San Jose to Modesto - 104 miles

The hills come early in this Stage, and like most of this race it won't have any affect to the overall race. BUT, an unknown group of 15 could roll off the front and stay away to the finish putting in a 30 minute deficit to the rest and leave the rest with their tails between their legs. It happened in the Tour de Georgia a few years ago, but the true leaders were able to bring it back by the time they got to Brasstown. I'd like to bet on a breakaway group for today's Stage, but we'll see!

The view of drop #2 near Modesto. Boring, flat cow country.

My pre-race report was wrong again, dynamic! San Jose was the least appealing Stage start. It appeared that they forgot it was coming to town and put it together at the last minute. Most towns roll out the red carpet for this event, but SJ didn't. Today's two drops were both uneventful, other than the rain, for the FOURTH day in a row.... A breakaway of 4 held them off until the last few kilometers and the new Cerevelo TestTeam were able to bring Thor "The God of Thunder" Hushovd to the line first! We got to the finish just in time to see the last turn and he had a pefectly orchestrated leadout train bring him to the line in front of Oscar Freire and Mark Renshaw. We stuck around for some pictures then headed back to the hotel where I am finally able to get free wifi.

Robert Gesink, best young rider; Levi Leipheimer, overall; Francisco Mancebo, king of the mountains & sprinter points leader; Brad White, other/feel good (cancer jersey)

THOR!

My good friend and cycling partner, Corinne, has been in town since late Saturday for "work" and following the Tour. I saw her briefly yesterday at the finish, but today we went stalking! After catching me up on that morning's escapade at the start (she kissed Thor on the cheek and got many other auto/photographs), we headed to where all of the teams were staying. To try and make a long story short, she got Tom Boonen, Dave Zabriskie and Andy Schleck's 'graphs. I met Andy after he finished 10th on Brasstown at the TdGeorgia in '04. He was so HAPPY to have placed so high and I just remembered how cool it was that a 19 year old had done so well and was excited. I flagged him down in the lobby and talked to him for a few minutes. He was very gracious and cool to talk with. He placed 2nd at last year's Giro and 16th at Le Tour while in support of his brother, Frank, and overall winner Carlos Sastre. I will bet a lot of money that Andy wins Le Tour in the next three years, the boy has a LOT of tallent. I'll post a picture of Andy and I when Corinne emails me them. So we hung out and had dinner there and got to talk to a few others like Victor Hugo Pena where she got a sweet ass picture with him. Tomorrow's weather looks mucho better! Ciao

Corinne and I on course near the finish.
Andy Schleck, future Tour de France winner, just wait!

ToC - Stage 2: Sausalito to Santa Cruz - 116 miles

Part of the caravan along Highway 1

Today the Tour will be traveling across the Golden Gate Bridge! I haven't seen this icon since I was 15, traveling on my family's 5 week tour out West. We came up with an acronym for this trip, FFF. Affectionately known as "Forced Family Fun". I can imagine that some of the cyclists picture this trip through California about the same! But they get paid for it and they may not be as inthused because their goals are later in the season. The ToC is one of the early season races and guys like Lance are not targeting this race to win, but for training.

Today turned out to be a lot different than expected with a long breakaway being caught by Levi and him taking over yellow. It was pretty impressive to watch on Versus later in the evening, he's taking the bull by the horns and making this a race. Although I don't care for him, I think it's cool he is going to try and make it three in a row for the overall. We stayed in the same hotel and I passed him in the hall going to breakfast. I just said, "Good job Levi.", he said, "Thanks man.", while typing away on his Blackberry. I'm glad I have my iPod, it helps pass the time and drowned out some of the noise in the van..... I'm tired, it's late.

ToC - Stage 1: Davis to Santa Rosa - 107 miles

This is the van the ten of us are riding around in all week. One big happy family! Well, as long as one guy will shut the heck up. I'm keeping my mouth closed and not rocking the boat....

We stayed in Sacramento again for the start today in Davis. Today's stage will most likely end up in a 'bunch sprint' with little or no change to the overall. Santa Rosa is the hometown of team Astana's Levi Leipheimer, whom has won the overall ToC for the last two years. He would love to pull into town wearing the yellow jersey, again. Levi and Lance are teammate this year again on Astana and The Boss (Lance) says he'll be working for Levi to win the overall for a third time. We'll see how it pans out.

As you can see from my 'pre-race' report it shows why cycling is such a dynamic sport, you never know what will happen! Francisco Mancebo took off at mile 5 and traded different "leaches" during the Stage, but in the end, he came up with the goods! Rock Racing is an interesting team fo' shizzle. They bring the bling, and know how to back it up. Today, my team had three 'drops' along the course. We made all of them, thankfully to TomTom (TT). When we got to SR, we hit Chevy's Tex Mex and then the hay. With a 4am wakeup call, we all needed the rest.

ToC - Prologue: Sacramento - 2.4 miles

A view of the course with the State Capitol in background.
A Garmin-Slipstream rider, I can't remember who... These were the only pictures I took all day, too busy otherwise.

For the non-cycling enthusiast, I will try and explain a few things as I hope to shed some light on why cycling is so exciting. Today's Stage is an individual time trial. Meaning, each rider goes out on the 2.4 mile course through the streets of Sacramento FULL GAS. It's the "race of truth", the race against the clock. These short prologues do not typically decide who will win the overall, but they do establish the pecking order. Sprinters and specialists against the clock will be the front runners, but they may not be able to hold the pace once the road turns up. So today should be exciting to see each rider head out on their own and see how they stack up to the rest of the competition.

Above is what I wrote before leaving for ToC. So if you see a short blurb from any future updates, it's because I set them to automatically post. Hopefully I have time, and don't feel too tired to update each day.

Today was not a typical day as a Course Marshal because today we just stood in one spot and did crowd control. It was fairly simple as most people were courteous, but the debate came between whether or not people were allowed to cross the road or not. The local county mounty said no, which I didn't disagree with, but as the old saying goes, "Why did the chicken cross the road?". If anyone looked at the course online, there was a down and back section then it opened up a little on the surrounding streets and then circled back. I was on the section 'back' from the tight U-turn around. So of course people either wanted to be in the middle of the median or on the far opposite side. Of course no one listens to the police or some dude holding a flag and blowing a whistle. We finally came to a consensus that people could cross the road, as long as no one was coming. Duh?!? It was all good, until Lance came out, of course. I shouldn't really say that, but the people were in such a tizzy to see him on the 'down' and 'back' section that watching them run around like chickens with their heads cut off was quite funny. Hmmm, I think I've done the same thing at other races I've seen him at..... I guess the pot shouldn't call the kettle black!

It was a long day but pretty cool. I think I scared John Murphy, a local Atlanta rider, when I yelled his name when he was warming up. He rides for the OUCH p/b Maxxis team and a good kid, fast too. I also ran into another friend that is out here for a few days from ATL. Small world. Tomorrow we check out of this hotel and won't stay in the same one for two nights straight until we reach San Diego. Living out of a suitcase, I love it....! Oh, I guess I should mention that Fabian 'Spartacus' Cancellara (Swiss on team Saxo Bank) won the Prologue and Lance came in 10th. I didn't know that myself until I got back to the hotel. It's just like when we followed the Tour in '04, you actually know more when you are at home than when you are actually there. But it's definitely not the same experience! I'm pretty glad to be here. Til next time, ciao.

Tour of California

Click on the jersey to go to the Tour's official website

The Tour of California is now the premier cycling event in the US, especially because the Tour de Georgia did not get sponsorship this year and is no longer on the schedule. So this year one of my cycling teammates posted a note on our message board asking for a last minute volunteer. They had a cancellation and needed another Course Marshal so I accepted! It's a "paid" position, although not a lot, but enough that it covers most of my expenses. I'm not sure what the details are quite yet, but I have heard from others that you are there to make sure the peloton is safe as well as the spectators. I believe I will have my own vehicle and will "leap frog" to different points along each Stage and help navigate the rolling circus! I head out tomorrow for Sacramento and the Tour begins on Saturday there. I will try to post pictures and commentary, but not sure how often or if I will be able to at all.

This is going to be fun, stay tuned!