The team bus area is a great place to (a) get an up-close look at bikes and (b) catch a glimpse of your favorite riders. My main goal for 2012 was to see Tom Boonen, who I hadn't seen in person before. As luck would have it, when the Omega Pharma-QuickStep bus rolled in, Bonnen was sitting right in the front seat.
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| Tom Boonen at the front of the bus. |
I love going to races and I have such a large amount of respect for how fast these guys are, how skilled they are, and how much hard work they put in. As a rider myself, I feel my own small connection with the pros. After all, I love to ride my bike just like they do. At the same time, I try to be realistic and keep a healthy distance. I'll never ride as fast as them and I have no idea what it's like to feel the pressure they must feel from their teams and their fans. I don't know what it's like to have some flag-waving moron run uncomfortably close beside me while I'm riding at my limit up Mont Ventoux. I don't know what it's like to finish a sprint and immediately be surrounded by a group of reporters who want me to explain why I didn't win. I don't know what it's like to show up for a long, hard race and not be able to take one step out of the bus before the media and the fans all want a piece of me.
When I'm out by the buses, part of me feels a bit uncomfortable. Can't I just let these guys do their jobs? This, along with my own version of social phobia or whatever you may call it, is why I can't ask riders for an autograph or ask them to take a picture with me. It just feels weird. After all, these guys are people just like me and what can I really do with a picture or an autograph, anyway? As a result, I just sort of stand at a distance and observe. But how much better is that, really? I'm just sort of standing there silent like a weirdo watching these guys get ready for work. There's nothing normal about that, either. The pros shouldn't be made to feel like animals at a zoo.
I'm not sure what is the proper thing to do in the team bus area, so I mostly do what humans do best- judge. I try to get a feel for how the riders are as people. I know it's unfair and impossible to do from 5 minutes of 1 day of 1 year of an entire life, but that's what I do. Here are the things that have stood out to me from my limited experience.
Tom Boonen- Boonen took time to sign autographs and take pictures. He always had a smile on his face and the fact that he was sitting at the front of the bus says something to me. He knew what was coming and he wasn't going to hide from it. I was impressed with how nice he is considering how huge of a star he is.
Levi Leipheimer- Leipheimer played a big part in getting the race to Santa Rosa, so he had a lot of supporters outside the bus. He genuinely seemed to appreciate that. He comes across very well in interviews and in person I haven't seen any evidence that all of that is fake.
Jens Voigt- Very nice and also funny. Last year in Tahoe I saw him try to show a little girl a picture of his own daughter on his phone. He signed quite a few autographs and seemed to make everyone laugh as he was doing it.
Dave Zabriskie- I think Dave is uncomfortable with the attention. I don't say that to put him down because I know I would feel the same way. Both this year and last year it seemed like he was staying on the bus as long as possible. This year his kids were outside the bus and he had a nice interaction with them before he left to start the stage.
Tom Danielson- One of the nicest riders I've seen. He doesn't just sign an autograph and move to the next one; he tries to make conversation with each person as he does it. I almost felt comfortable saying hi to him. He's that good.
Jonathan Vaughters- He's not as popular with the fans as I would have thought. He seems like a nice guy, but people give him his space for whatever reason.
Bob Roll- He gets as much attention as any rider. He takes a ton of pictures and makes a lot of people smile.
Chris Horner- He took a picture with my wife, so he'll always be a good guy in my book. I've seen a ton of interviews with him on the internet (which are great, obviously), but haven't seen much of him in person.
That's it for my limited experience. There are a couple guys I would say mostly negative things about, but I'm not sure that's fair and nobody likes an anonymous internet hater.
On to the race itself...
Stage 1
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| Start Line in Santa Rosa |
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| This should be the team car. |
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| Tom Boonen's bike with special California bar tape. |
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| Tom Danielson signing with a smile. |
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| The beach welcomes the Tour of California. |
The start in Santa Rosa.
Lap 2 in Santa Rosa.
The breakaway.
The peloton.
Stage 2
Stage 2 was my first in-person feed zone experience. Here's what my wife and I came away with:
We got 3 feed sacks (mine had a gel and some Shot Bloks left in it) and a total of 15 bottles (7 different teams). I got a lot of Omega Pharma-QuickStep bottles and I'd like to believe one belonged to Tom Boonen, but I'll never know for sure. One of the breakaway riders threw his feed sack right at my feet and an Omega Pharma-QuickStep rider threw a bottle in my direction. We found most of the bottles from searching the area after the peloton was gone. Most of the stuff we saw was the same kind of stuff you or I might eat on a ride: Clif Bars, gels, and Fig Newtons. We also found a Nutella and banana sandwich wrapped in foil, which I ended up eating. There was also a caffeine pill in my Colombia Coldeportes bag.
In the end it was a fun time. I think a perfect race-viewing experience would be to see the team bus area, a climb, and the feed zone. We were able to see all 3 in just 2 days. I'm hoping my schedule will allow me to see some action later this year in Utah and Colorado.
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| The feed zone. |
The breakaway.
The peloton.
hello.
ReplyDeleteare an Italian collector
is there anyone of you who can help me in collecting feed sacks and bottles?