It's 3:45 AM. I am at the start waiting for the start crew to show so we can begin our build. We were up till vey late last night. A group of 14 of us took over a local pizza place and I am afraid they may never be the same! A tremendous bunch of people who work their asses off all day and then let it rip at night. You don't dare think about the long days. Just set the alarm and it is "Showtime". More about the crew later this week.
It rained through most of yesterday's build and start. The rain stayed away for most of the race. Once we hit Davis (great town and I hope someday a host city for the race), it started again and it was a very wet and cold finish in SAC. The Governator was there. Nothing major to report from the stage, but it was awesome to see Boonen win. The guy is a magnet. At team parking in the morning, there will be 30-40 media and fans pressing ever closer to him. Bettini has to push his way through the crowd. World championship kit and no one even sees him! Boonen is far and away the rock star of this race. Rock was well behaved and had a good day on the road.
I have waited for today's stage since last Spring. Many of you know this stage has had some unique issues to deal with. Closing remote roads for the race seems easy, but when it is the only road available to the residents, rumors and irrational fears start to rule people's judgement. I hope the race is uneventful, as we head towards Mt Hamilton. Managing the caravan on this stage is going to require all the creativity our Tech Director can muster. Chuck is a genius and the best there is so I know it will go well today.
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Eric,
Great job on Stage 3. Those people who had issues with the race traveling the rural route over Mt. Hamilton needn't have worked themselves into such a lather. The superb organization and execution on race day went off without a hitch. Driving back to San Jose, one hour after the race convoy had passed, there was no evidence anything unusual had taken place on the mountain that day. There was no paint on the road, no spectator garbage of any kind and the mountain returned to blissful peace and quiet.
The woman who runs the Lick Observatory gift shop said she wished the race came over the summit every year. She loved it.
Well done.
::Michael
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