OK, I know I know… I slacked on this blogging thing. Well hang in there and I will try to catch you up to speed on what happened. Happened that is in California. See I am so far behind on entries there has been another Tour in the US, the Spring Classics are now over and Floyd has won at least………well, just hang on.

So California, big state on the left coast. Way cool place, the folks at AMGEN and Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), and of course Medalist Sports really know how to put on an event. This is more than just seven stages of cycling it is an event to entertain and educate. Much more on that later.

Saturday 02.18.06 - So here we are now on the eve of Stage 1 of the FIRST EVER Amgen Tour of California (ATOC) you will see that acronym more as it is so much easier to type than its full name. So we talked about some of the supplies it takes to pull this thing off. Now it is time to unload the truck and built this beast. The Prologue is a different build in that it is usually just the finish crew on site and all of our stuff. (Fancy term for items previously mentioned and contents of the truck)

So we cruise down the 101 listening to Phantom Planet and California - http://music.yahoo.com/track/2004232 (Will, great team song) to the Embarcadero and Pier 15 to review the site and determine were the start ramp will go, see what I mean how many times do you think the finish crew is going to use a start ramp??? and how the fence, truss and extras are going to be placed in the morning.

Sure Larry and Chuck made a great build guide, thanks fellas. But we wanted to see the site first hand ….Its all about being prepared. Later that night after yet another dinner at Sizzlin compliments of Union Bank of CA. It was an early crash as the next day would be a 5:00am build if I recall correctly. Ahhh the tour begins. But not before my friend Donna schmoozes with her neighbor, and fellow alumni from Lancaster, PA. Seems the local High School there in Lancaster had a calendar made of “Where are the graduates now” and you know who was included in the calendar.

He may have been Mr. April …….. OOPS wrong blog. Or maybe that was a bit of early luck for another tour. Donna got some one on one time with Floyd and gave a calendar to him and got a nice souvenir for herself. ………Racer Chaser!

The Prologue – Whew what an early morning! We arrived on site well before the streets had been rolled out and lights turned on. We less than quietly made our presence know once Clarkie arrived with the Truss and Fence. I had meet Clark yesterday and couldn’t place the name Sheenan. It wasn’t until after building the truss that it hit me. MAN THIS IS CLARK SHEEHAN of the former Coors Light, Saturn, Montgomery Bell, Subaru Montgomery, US Postal Service, Colorado Cyclist,and 7 UP cycling teams. How cool would that be to work with this guy? OK now it was either too early in the AM or Donna’s racer chaser shadow had just rubbed off on me. So I got him to sign my Hat, T-Shirt, Socks, Jeans, Jacket, and left arm which still hasn’t been completely washed. Thank goodness he worked the Tour of Georgia – it needed some touch up… Just kidding. It was a great honor having Clark and Chris from the Orange guy events on my team. Check them out at http://www.orangeguy.biz

Speaking of one and only what a double whammy Chris Aronhalt – Executive Director of Medalist Sports showed up this morning to lend a hand not accidentally but purely on purpose. OK, I know you think, he will hang out in the truck, stay warm, observe from afar and then jump out and look all important. You know sort of like the dolphin.

Well, not ATOC Chris, he was there this day and every other morning with his game on. Chris slung fence, Chris tied banners quite the zip tie-er I might add, Chris bolted the truss, yes even with the left handed socket, (he’s right handed) he did it all. Thanks Chris for being such a team player. Well we got ‘r done and were able to sit back and enjoy the huge crowds of downtown.



Well the race was fast and the awards presentation was about to start when all of a sudden you a radio call rings out. All Finish crew to the Awards stage ASAP. Seems we were about to have a visitor. I wasn’t sure who as it was only 12:50 according to the local clock. Yet others in the tower must have known it was time for something else. Or perhaps someone else.
Look very closely inside the clock tower.

Yep, you guessed ARNOLD was there. The Governor arrived in Secret Service style with 5 Black Suburbans creating their own race caravan, with a different sort of leader. He gave out some words of wisdom as well us some golden jerseys. Go ahead and laugh you girly man, all you want about hand placements, because he knows you are lauffing and soon HE WILL BE BACK.





Yes I want a suit like this. You know Hoakenson wants one too.



TTFN.............Bob