I can't think of a snazzy title...so this is what you get

Sacramento….came out to see some cycling today!

Greetings from sunny..err…I mean cool California!
The folks here have been getting some much needed rain lately, but today the sun came out as did the huge crowds to enjoy downtown Sacramento! Both sides of the streets were lined with folks from all over the world….what a great way to start 2009!
There is a “Lance Effect” just in case you were wondering….but he wasn’t the only story….Landis got huge crowd approval as he made his way around the course along with others.

As I sat roadside for most of the Prologue today, Doug was working the horseshoe corner and Mike, a local cycling enthusiast and I talked about the race and the area as the time trial went on. Meeting new folks from the area and being able to find out what their interest are is an enjoyable part of my job….the world is a big place…get out and enjoy it!

Last night we had an all staff meeting that concluded our preliminary organizational meetings, and the take away was “don’t screw up”…the world is watching! This race has gotten huge in a short time as you can see from the all-star line up. We have on the road this week…4 TV bikes and 10 photo bikes as well as nearly 40 team cars, police, medical, and moto-marshal staff totaling 100 vehicles in the envelope.

My photographer for the week is Doug Pensinger from Getty Images. We have worked this race together since its inception and I look forward to this year as well. The challenges for us both will of course be the predicted weather and new routes with the familiarity of the past a memory. Even though we had shot about every vantage point of Hwy 1….I will miss having that road to enjoy the nice wide sweepers utilizing both lanes whilst gazing out at the Pacific.

The bike I am riding this week is an orange R1200 GS. We rode up to A&S BMW this morning which is about 15 miles from our hotel to visit their dealership. I bought a new rain suit as my old one was about 14 years old. Tomorrow…it will get a test for sure!

Always good to work with Walt Conte…our Australian who comes to the states to get his cycling fix. Walt drives Graham Watson at Tour Down Under as well as here in California.

We have 2 lads from Great Britain here with us on moto’s this week as well…one on the photo team with us and the other working on marshal team 3. Jason and Phil had dinner with us tonight and we got to know each other better. Both of these guys are fantastic motorcyclist with gobs of experience.

My lids are getting heavy…tomorrow.