Amgen ToC Prologue

My flight from Europe landed at SFO around 12:30pm today, so I jumped in my car and hightailed it up to Sacramento to catch some of the prologue time trial around the state capitol. I hit minimal traffic and found an easy parking spot near the courthouse. I had my bike in the back of the car, so I popped on my shoes and pedalled over. The first thing I saw was the Team Columbia / High Road tent. I cruised right up and there was Big George warming up for the TT. Sweet!

Next up was the Astana tent, which was mobbed with people trying to get a glimpse of Mr. Livestrong himself. I had my bike with me so I couldn't really fight into the crowd, but I did get a blurry shot from afar of LA working on the trainer.

The SaxoBank trailer had some pretty good riders milling about -- The Schleck brothers, Jens Voight, JJ Haedo, Jason McCartney and Fabian Cancellara (below, warming up). Even with the loss of Carlos Sastre this year, Bjarne Riis has put together a damn fine team. I'm guessing they will give Astana a run for their money in the team GC.

Next up, the BMC trailer. Since I ride a black and white BMC with DT Swiss wheels, I get pretty fired up when I see the back of a truck that looks like this. Holy smokes! Bumped into Charlie Livermore from EPTC outside the team truck and said hello.

I was heading over to the Garmin-Chipotle-Slipstream-WhateverThey'reCalled.com area when I saw the formerly moustachioed one, Dave Zabriskie, heading off to his start time. He ended up taking third in the TT, which is probably because my aura rubbed off on him as he rode past me.

Meanwhile, over at the team van, Christian VDV was warming up for his ride. From the schedule posted on the door, he's two minutes after DZ.

Having spent enough time ogling $15,000 bikes and watching dudes ride stationary trainers, I figured it was time to see some actual cycling.

The guys I saw fly by at 30mph were: Andy Schleck, Tyler Farrar, Big George, Dave Z, VDV, Lance(!), and Tyler Hamilton sporting the "love it or hate it" Rock Racing kit (for the record, I love it).

Lance

Andy Schleck. Look out for the brothers Schleck in the TdF this year. These guys are strong!

I had to get rolling up to Tahoe to meet my family, but as I was leaving down one of the backstreets I turned a corner and nearly ran into Tom Boonen. Naturally I followed him back to the Quick Step truck where he was having a quick photo op with a clearly stoked little Belgian kid. That's the biggest smile-to-face size ratio on that kid I think I've ever seen.

Tomorrow is Stage 1 from Davis to Santa Rosa and the forecast calls for heavy rain (heavy pain?). It should be miserable.