This morning we loaded the luggage at 5:30 am....ready to roll out to Sausalito by 6. We were idling in the parking lot as everyone finished putting on rain gear and hooking up radios etc. when a fellow moto rolled up and said...James has a flat tire.....great I thought, just what I wanted to do at 6 in the morning....but as the profile says....that is what I do.
After finding a small piece of debris in the rear tire and making the repair, we got on the 101 and headed to S town. I have ridden many miles in my life but never have I ridden in rain that hard for that long a period of time!
We were scheduled to have a meeting at 7:15 and we got into town to stop for gas at 7:17. After a fill up, we went to the start and tried to find the meeting...wasn't in the usual place? Finally located everyone in Spinnaker's restuarant on the water...warm, dry....with complimentary coffee and bagels...nice! We were late but excused. The meeting detailed the treachery of the 2 KOM's for the day and our photographer assignments.
Back to the bikes to get ready to roll out, I found a fuse had blown from the previous day. Leon had an extra so I powered the GPS back up and was a happy man!
We rolled out ahead of the neutral start and positioned ourselves to shoot the front of the peleton going across the Golden Gate...Doug kidded with me that its going to be us and TV...I said yeah right....us and 10 other photo freakin bikes! But you know what...we had it all to ourselves...everyone else went up on the hill and shot from the Golden Gate park.
So....those photo's you see from the front of the group going across....Doug got em!
The day continued as we made our way down the coast.....pouring rain...then the sun would come out....then rain again...whatcha gonna do. We hooked a left up Tunitas Creek Rd off Hwy 1 into some of the most beautiful Redwoods I have ever seen....look for some great photos of this in the mags coming up. Lots of tree debris going up and on the descent...the crowds were also very good.
Back down on the coast we pulled over to shoot a vast expance of ocean and green grass with grazing cattle. On the radio came news of a photo motor down with riders....but not just any rider.....Lance. I think this is one thing we fear the most is taking someone down, but the road and weather conditions were not in our favor. Apparently the moto got tangled in some mud wash and slid out and Lance was there. I am sure more will be posted on what happened later. I am good friends with the guy involved.... he is a great guy....a great moto driver....thank goodness he and his photographer are ok as well as Lance and the others involved.
After we got the news, not 2 minutes later another crash happened involving a Lexus of a spectator on the side of the road....not real clear what caused it but the Lexus got bent in the crash and bikes were all over the road! After that got sorted out the group got back together and things settled a bit.
The next KOM up Bonnie Dunes Rd. was tight and Levi got on the crank! We shot from the front and went up and over uneventful....except for the hail, and rain! I had so much hail on my lap and legs, it looked like slush at one point!
Into Santa Cruz, the crowds were huge and alive...and the sun came out which felt great!
Staying in San Jose tonight and getting ready to go out for dinner....
San Jose to Modesto tomorrow....the weather is looking up!
Thanks for tuning in.
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1 comment:
Thanks for helping with the plug, Chris. I never would have been on the road that fast without you! I didn't even know about some of the adventures you had at ATOC.
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