Tour of California 2008

I spent Sunday and Monday checking out the best cycling in North America. (That's Dave Zabriskie in the stars and stripes up there during the prologue time trial in Palo Alto on Sunday.) We're blessed in the Bay Area for hosting the first half of the Tour of California before it moves south to sunnier places. The prologue is always on Sunday and Stage 1 on President's Day so I get to spend the long weekend being a groupie.

I love the Tour of California not only because it signals the beginning of cycling season, but because it lets you get up close and personal with international stars. The best thing about being a cycling fan is that the riders are generally so nice. They seem to really appreciate the fans and are sometimes a little in awe that anyone actually follows their sport here in the US. This weekend we talked to Chris Horner, Tommy Danielson and Tyler Hamilton (SA asked him point blank if he was going to race and he sadly shook his head). Bobby Julich even thanked us for coming out to the race when we randomly saw him on the corner of University and Alma hours after the prologue was over.

Tommy D. was nice enough to pose for me:

You can check out the rest of my pics from the Tour in my Flickr set here.

Thanks for coming out, guys.