Tour of California 2009...stay tuned

All I'm sayin' is my plane ticket is shootin' me over to the left coast for the much anticipated return of the Tour of California. This is the 4th year of the TOC, and with Lance staging a return to cycling....my bet is California is ready to forget about the economy for a while!
This year we will enjoy new countryside as the tour takes on new cities and venues...as well as a 9 day stretch!
So...I invite you to tune in as Feb 14th draws near...and read a little about life on and off the moto....

Clarksville to Shelby Final Stage

Well I told the boyz to be safe and I motored over to put in some $4.96 premium before meeting David, Joe and Nita. We were meeting at the Cracker to enjoy an egg and catch up on the last...oh...30 years! David and I were childhood friends from first grade until sixth or seventh grade when he and his family moved away. We had talked only a few times since then and I had been prompted to get in touch.

After a few emails and realizing the proximity of my traveling through the area where David and his mom and dad live...we arranged to meet this morning to catch up and see one another. Wow what a great visit! We lingered over breakfast and hit the high spots for nearly two hours. It sure was good to see them and share some stories and a few laughs. We made a pact not to go 30 more years, but to try and catch up again soon.

I got on the road around 10am and cut a path through Nashville and into Knoxville. The GS was still showing a fuel range of 100 miles, but my butt's range was much less! I whipped in to visit old Shelby buddy shoe store Dave and get gas. He was at his other store at the Gatlinburg exit on the way home another 30 miles. So I got gas there and stopped in for a quick visit. He is lathering up to get a new GS and my showing up after a 2600 mile week decked out with road grime only did more to perpetuate the yearning.

After a quick phone call to wifey, I asked if she would be interested in meeting me in downtown Hendersonville for dinner. She was ready to get out of the house and agreed. We enjoyed a nice outing at Square 1 Bistro and then headed for home arriving about 7:15.

Well, this blog is in the books...I hope you have enjoyed traveling with me this go round. This is a first time deal and I have really enjoyed it. My apologies to Dono for having to fall asleep every night to the sound of my keyboard. Many thanks to Jonathan Devich for a great week of photography, as well as Alex's contributions from the photo world.

Stay tuned for the next foto moto week....have a great rest of the year!

Chris

Stage 7 St. Lewey

Ok, we wake up, look outside and the Mavic tent has been blown away and it is raining sideways! This is what we were expecting...hurry, flip on the radar and see where this bad boy is! Whoa, just about gone and it is only 8 am! We didn't have to pull out until 11...just in time for the clouds to break, whoo-hoo!

After a 30 mile ride into St. Louis, we parked the bikes and figured we had time to hit the Hard Rock at Union Station for a quick burger. Chuck decided to clip off the "park loop" because at 7 am it was pretty much under water. The circuit went from a 14 mile loop to a 10 mile loop, 5 times around.

I remember last year the Star Spangled Banner was played with electric guitar...I remember because it didn't sound so great. Apparently I am the only one who thought that because guess what...they did it again.

The circuit was wide and plenty of room for passes. We hung out in the field shooting off the side and front for a while then we started looking for parking decks and places of interest. We worked back alleys cutting through and criss crossed streets to shoot the break and main field until the last lap. Jono sez....finish line James...Tour of Missouri is in the books.

After dropping him off at the line for the last time of the week we said our goodbyes and I started looking for Walt. We had to return the Buell on loan from Gateway HD. Dropped that at their display tent...motored over through caravan deviation and dropped off radios and vest then on to the hotel to retreive luggage and start heading toward Nashville.

This is always a bitter sweet moment because you don't know when you will see all the folks you have been with again. It is sweet knowing you have flirted with danger all week and managed to stay safe and keep your rider safe. The emotions for me run pretty high I must say. These guys are all just great folks and you hate to see everybody go, but you must return to reality. I have been on the road 9 days to this point, and I miss my wifey. It is time to go.

We got out around 5:15pm....Stevo, Deano, Dono, and myself. Frank's wife came up with a trailer to ferry him back home...he has to be at work Monday morning.
The ride to Clarksville, TN was gorgeous....full moon very little wind and very little traffic! We jibbered on the radio's and enjoyed some long periods of silence occasionally reminding ourselves how beautiful the evening was. We rolled into the Hampton about 10pm, had a night cap and a few laughs in the parking lot before hitting the hay....great day!

Stage 6 Hermann to St. Charles

My headlight went out on the way to Hermann...nothing the local parts store couldn't handle! I walked in to buy a bulb and those guys were so happy to see me....kinda reminded me of the Darlin's on the Andy Griffith show. The weather was nice, little breeze and quite a few folks stirring around early on, and the crowds increased by show time. The countryside was more of the same and this was our last day on the road...tomorrow is lapping St. Louis. Jono's creativity was being challenged as the race was pretty much decided. We took advantage of several scenic's that you can see if you check out www.cyclingnews.com all in all the day went by without too much drama.
This photo shows Eric Wolberg of Symmetrics out in front of the peleton....Eric rode in the Shelby Crit that happened for several years. Monroe Tire helped with some lap money and gave away a few sets of tires over the years...Eric won the last event and took away a set of tires! Funny story...after he won and we talked...he said, Chris, I really don't need tires now, can I cash in later? So this year just before Tour of California...some 4 years later we got Eric hooked up! We had a chance to talk after today's stage and I think he is 41 now and riding like a bull! The dude is strong and always in the mix!

Well, Ike is bringing wind and rain, but the night was clear enough to walk into the cobblestone streets of downtown St. Charles for a little pub action. Dinner was ok, but the conversation about the week and being on the road was better. I think we are all anticipating the last day and the ride home...but more importantly, is Ike hanging out or moving on?

Stage 5 St. James to Jefferson City...HOT!

Ok so we thought we were going to get rained on all week...not so grasshoppa! But Ike is pushing up some humidity that has warmed up ole Missouri just let me tell ya!

A 2pm start today threw us out of the routine so I offered a tour through the country over to the start. I spoke with the Super 8 concierge this morning and he advised me on a route that offered up some curves and would take us about 10 miles out of the way over to St. James. Thinking that only a few would be up for the little excursion, everyone was bored hanging out at the hotel...we had about 20 motors in tow. I took the guys word that the loop was nice and he was right....it had some very nice twisties and the scenery was beautiful.

The race got underway and we had the opportunity to put some very nice scenics behind us early on. The peloton was very cooperative today and gave us plenty of road to work with...unlike yesterday as they were all over the place.

Even with the breeze off the moto, the humidity felt like 200%....the riding suit usually does a great job with ventilation, but today...it didn't have a chance. All you can do is drink lots of water and eat a snack when you can. Between Sara in the broom wagon, Jamey driving VIP, and our technical director, Chuck....we have been able to keep a bottle of water pretty much all the time. Jamey handed off a baggie of trail mix yesterday and that was like getting a filet!

The town of Taos, population 290 something....of all the towns we have rolled through...this town was jacked up and ready to see some bike racing today! The folks had pots and pans, pans filled with rocks, kazoo's....you name it they were making noise....and everybody looked extremely happy! I gotta tell you, the folks here in Missouri are some of the nicest people you will ever meet...they sure have made us feel welcome in many respects.

We rolled into the state capitol, Jefferson City around 5:30 tonight. As usual, we hung just off the front of the race down to the wire. The Capitol building was directly in front of us coming into town, and off to the left Jono spotted a parking garage. I flipped up the next side street and we soon found our way to the top of the deck in time for the group to come by. What a neat perspective that I am sure you will see soon.

Boy van Poppel of Rabobank pulled off the win after a day of hard racing and the fine folks of Jeff City were in numbers to bring the show to town!

Stage 4 Lebanon to Rolla WFO!

A quick 50 miler this morning to Lebanon via 44 east from Springfield got us to the start with time to spare. The usual morning moto ritual was concluded with a presentation of Moto Support t-shirts that Walt (our Aussie), Alex (Virginia boy), Don (resident Shelby homey) and myself designed for distribution among the ranks. I hope you can read the shirt ok....but it contains the top ten most asked moto questions that we get no matter what town or state. It is funny how folks always have the same questions! But it is a joy to talk with and explain what we are doing and a little about what's going on.

Funny story about Walt Conte....our Australian motofoto. This week he is carrying the race photographer John Pierce who is from England. They are out in front of the race package Tuesday looking for a scenic. Nothing at the moment was really inspiring so John suggested Walt move ahead a bit and stop at the next store for a quick snack. Moving along at 50mph or so, John said that there position was pretty good to move out, but Walt thought he said speed up to move out! So Walt was like... alright dude, thinking you want to go fast....so he wacked the throttle open and put the Buell Ulysses up to some multiple of the speed limit! By this time John's camera's had begun levitating and his helmet started to pull off his head as the wind velocity increased!

John very quickly found a new scenic and suggested they pull off. After some discussion of what just happened, they both got a good laugh as did we all after hearing the story!

The race today started after a 4.2 mile neutral start....when the flagged dropped it was on....the average speed for the first 50k....31 mph! Jono and I were out front a couple miles in the beginning scanning the countryside for a scenic. The race radio was full of chatter documenting the action...the attacks were coming right and left. Jonathan found a neat spot off the road out in a field. By the time he got back to the bike we were out the envelope and had to work the GS pretty good to get back in the caravan(I hate it when that happens...having to speed and all). As we approached the field of riders we were second in line to go through. After getting permission from the Comm, we started in but the group was shoulder to shoulder! We were behind Greg Peart with his video guy and followed them in. Both sides of the road had zero shoulder and it was roughly 50-60 feet straight down..no guard rails! The riders were all around us and we were rolling pretty fast....Greg got an opening and took off and I followed only to be shut down as a large group moved back over to enjoy the vacuum draft the moto can create in the right moment. We started up a slight hill and the guys really started bunching up and we were right there in the middle of the heat. After what seemed like camping in there for 3 days I finally got a break and accelerated out. Alot of attacks were happening throughout the day, check out one of Jono's shots while we were in the group of Marco Pinotti-Team Columbia as he issues an attack.

During the next 15 minutes we entered the military base of Ft Leonard just south of Gospel Missouri. Just about the whole base stood roadside to greet us in uniform...man what a sight! We took a hard right up behind them through the grass up to an Abrams tank display...Jono shot the race going by framing it up with the tank and all the service men....cool. As we pulled out we stopped in the road and took a great picture you will probably see in cycling news of the guys smilin' for the camera!

Rolling back up to get through the group, Alex and Casey as well as TV were stuck behind the group...again! Finally we got through but it took some time...some days are like that.

The day was fast, the peleton tight, the attacks continuous....a great day of racing....I'm hungry!

All the moto's were invited to a barbecue and chair massage upon arrival in Rolla. The fine folks at Stahlman Powersports, Fairground Chevrolet and Rolla ToMO LOC all collaborated to cook up hotdogs, hamburgers and all the fixin's for us! What a great time as we all enjoyed food and drink right there at the finish! And to top it off....how about a massage! Yep, three therapist showed up with their chairs and gave us all a nice rub down! I will never forget Rolla and the hospitality for the moto's!

Man I'm full!

Stage 3 Time Trialing on Missouri's Autobahn

I know you have been worried if I got the laundry done....well yes and no. Yes it's done, but I didn't do it. Found this cool little laundry place and the nice lady had it finished in a little over an hour....think I can make it home with a few to spare!

Time trials days during a stage race are sometimes welcomed in that we usually have a shorter day and not so many things are happening at once. For most of the motor marshals, the day is spent providing visibility out front of the rider about a football field away. For the photo guys, we are picking spots and shooting stationary. Today was really no different as we finished up around 2pm. The course layout here in Branson utilizes what seems to be a relatively new stretch of 4 lane interstate highway that is wide, smooth and steep! Which means when the boys are rolling down these hills, they are tapping into 60 plus mph....the Ozark mountain setting really is beautiful....and according to the riders...one of the hardest time trial courses out there.

My day started with thinking of breakfast! In continuing with finding the mom and pop establishments, I headed out a little earlier this morning into Historic Branson near the start to find The Shack Cafe...tried out the French toast and it hit the spot. The lady that waited my table had worked there 30 years. I asked her if the summer had been busy and she said so-so, but starting next week the "blue hairs" started coming in! Now I thought that was funny considering this lady was covering up some "blue" herself. She told me they come from mid-September to the end of November. Branson apparently started it's transformation in the 70's and turned up the wick in the 90's.

Don't know if you have ever heard of Lambert's Cafe...but http://www.throwedrolls.com/ check this place out if you ever get out to the Ozarks. Just got back from dinner....little fried chicken....slaw....greens....big ole fat yeast roll with butter and sorghum (molasses) professionally drizzled in the middle! Most all the motors gathered around the table there early this evening and enjoyed the chow. The talk was minimal....everybody was too busy stuffing their faces! But when the conversation got going, it was about the impending weather....looks like we are going to have a California repeat....wet for the next four to five days....we will see.

From the the sound of this writing, my focus has turned to food rather than bike racing and motofoto....but you know...a man's gotta eat right? In the a.m. we head to Lebanon for the start of a 100 miler to Rolla. We will be rolling through Swedeborg, Gospel, Devils Elbow, and Doolittle on the way. I will find something of interest in one of these towns to tell you about tomorrow. Thanks for tuning in....