Friday started like every other day in California so far. We woke up and went for a ride. Instead today, we headed over to Solvang to watch the amateur and pro TT. The ride started with seven minutes of warm-up, then an hour climb. Not a pansy east coast ride, just a straight hill with nothing but five miles of climbing. Once over the hill, Tom and I bombed down 154 and towards Solvang. As we arrived in town, coming towards me was a familiar looking jersey, and as we passed opposite directions, I realized that Lexi from the club back home was out here. It's always great to see a familiar face. Walking around the town looking for free schwag, I noticed one of the USCF officials from back home was walking towards me. Again, a familiar face. We chatted for a couple of minutes, compared differences between home and here, then parted ways.
Having been to the Tour in France, walking around Solvang was so much better. Being the Tour de France, it attracts such a large number of people. Getting near the riders was impossible in France, but in Cali it was great. We saw Tyler Hamilton, Levi, Lance and a number of other athletes. While the pro's were great, we didnt' get nearly the same access to them as we did to the amateurs. Maybe it was the fact that they weren't pro's (yet) or perhaps it was that they were friends, but we got to hang out in all the inner areas early on.
Gary went off 24th, out of 30 riders. The amateurs got the same pro deal, from weighing the bikes, to checking position, to getting the name call out while staging in the start ramp. As the TT is a large loop, once Gary took off, we really didn't know how he was doing. With riders started to cross the line, we could guesstimate what a decent time was but couldn't be sure. Well faster then any previously posted time, Gary's teammate Cooke came flying around the final turn. Cooke started a minute ahead of Gary, so we anticipated him at any moment. No sooner then you could think this then Gary came tearing around. He nearly caught his minute guy by the line. His final time was 33:45, good enough for the WIN! Cooke came in second about a minute down. Being teammates, this was a fantastic result for them.
Following the amateur race, the pros took to the course. Everyone knows that Levi, DZ and the other top names, but Gary's time on the same course would have put him ahead of 1/3 of the pro field. Awesome job good buddy.
Once the races were over, the podiums done, Tom and I hit the road and headed home. By the end of the day, we had logged nearly 70 miles, 6700 feet of climbing, Gary took a win, and we saw one of the best pro races of the year.
Oh, then we went drinking and dinner. Those stories are for another blog. Good times were had by all, and the stories rolled the entire next day.
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