Hey how bout some more ATOC tales? ATOC you ask? With all well-oiled machines there has to be acronyms, so here you go, Amgen Tour of California (ATOC).

Well, it is day two in the fabulous state of California and time to get this party started. The crew gathers in the morning for Inventory duty. Literally, we need to unpack a 24foot box truck that was driven from Georgia to California the previous week. Thanks Dolphin and Magnum, or for you readers that would be Will and Elliott. All the supplies on board will be distributed to the following crews. Elliott and the Start crew, Rob Bushnell and the Routing crew – ROUTING and SOUND GUYS ROCK ! Dan and the Expo guys, and my crew the Finish. The following is a mere sample of the items that we needed to make this ATOC a success and in no order of importance. Yes, I know I likely left some things out; these are ones that I remember.

Please note the following disclaimers and quotes first:
Quantities may settle during shipping and decrease with each city. Not all items were acquired by legal means. Every attempt was made to adhere to OSHA safety guidelines. Elliot and the Start crew has it. Chris said not to. Remember that you owe us. Yes, those belong to Medalist. Jimmy is the MAN ! No I do not recall seeing that item in San Francisco, it must still be in the warehouse in Georgia. Get with Larry on that one. You need how many? Easy on the Zip Ties we gotta make them last all tour.

1,500 trash bags – 30 to a box you do the math / 40 Trash cans / 20 Buckets – I have no idea what they were for, but thanks Home Depot / 120 Ratchet straps / 50 rolls of duct tape / A few hundred feet of rope / 160 cans of White Spray paint – for KOM, and K to go / 5 ladders / 10 EZ Up tents / 10 miles of extension cord / 40 Tripods – For Road Signs indicating KOM, Feed, etc… / 100 + Orange Traffic cones / Leaf blower / Power Saws, drills, / 2 Onsite job boxes / 10 Brooms (4 made it home safely) / Empty Gas cans – I have no idea about these however I do recall at the end of the race loading a full one onto the truck ?? / 1 – Time Trial ramp – Nice ramp Chris, to bad UCI didn’t allow the ATOC decal / 30 Grand Prix sings – still looking for 2 that didn’t make it home / Zip ties – over 40,000 if I do the math correctly / 4 coffins / Approx. 30 pieces of Coreplast – For truss work and meters to go signs / 88 banners /

Finish Crew only: 2 cases of Cheddar Cheese Combos / 2 cases of Clif Shots / 1 – Large box of Advil caplets / Various Key chains (You know what I mean)

OK, I am tired now so let me stop before I hurt myself. I leave you with a few pictures that slightly match the above tales. More details on the people, places, and pictures another day.

Well here is my official attempt at blog entry. Bare w/ me, as I get wordy w/ my descriptions and stories. Yeah some say I always have a story to blab. Well, its true, life is full of stories. As my friend, PJ says there has to be a sermon in there somewhere.

First let me say a HUGE THANK YOU TO MY WIFE, NYOKIA, AND DAUGHTERS KIRSTYN & ASHTON. For allowing me to participate in such activities. Nyokia had know idea what seeing that first Tour DeTrump would eventually cause.

HONEY THANK YOU YOU’RE THE BEST !!!

To my kiddies, Kirstyn sorry I missed part of your birthday day, glad we got to celebrate before I left. Ashton, see those 16 days were not that long after all.



After a few days in Chicago participating in annual kickoff meetings and social gatherings – see a bit of fun from the Chicago Auto. Yes, it is truly a gigantic Auto Show. Gotta love a 4 door Dodge Superbee. Ron, I found a few team car possibilities. Also, why would one want mini financial assistance? If you needed help, why not go big? What amazed me was the frequent use of the word HYBRID. Oh, for the love let it go….. Dig for oil in Alaska and move the owls to Oklahoma. Save the bats from H*&# and build the windmills in VA. Oh, sorry wrong blog.
Then Ford speaks of the H word and then creates a monster of a truck called the Super Chief, lets just say I don’t think of hybrid on this one. Seems it is modeled after the Santa Fee - Super Chief Locomotive that ran in the Midwest. I spent a mesmerizing 3hrs there and could have stayed for more. But didn’t want to dare miss the 10:40 train back to Glenview as that would be one looooong cab ride from downtown Chicago. Gee, I could have taken one of those Dodge’s for a real test drive had I missed the train.

Now it was time to travel west, gotta love those mountains. No not our Appalachians, I mean the real mountains.

Arrived in San Francisco safely after adding an hour onto the travel time due to a 500mph head wind. The pilot mentioned something about the jet stream for anyone traveling west that day. These guys were less than amused when we arrived so late and their phazers were not working properly. I presume the Engerizer bunny had it's share of jet fumes that day and was no longer jumping about.

Found my way thru baggage claim, moved onto the host hotel to meet the team, collect all the necessities for the week – Clothes, Manuals, Credentials, Vehicle, and the next assignment. Ran into an old pal Brooke from Dupont days. These events are often like a family reunion; we caught up and ended up working close during the week. These events are like family reunions surrounding the bike. You do not see faces for a year or more, then suddenly they appear and you feel at home. Speaking of running into folks yeah ran into these fellas later that afternoon. Therefore, I took advantage of the down time, as I knew the next few days would never allow for this encounter. No, that is not Tommy Firebaugh in the middle!

That’s all for now…………

Testing 1,2,3...
Trying this with two hands now, and a picture.