Bikers

Today the Amgen Tour of California, a bike race (only in it's second year) finished it's second of seven days, in Sacramento. The finish line was on L and 11th, right next to the Capitol, so of course it was the topic of conversation at work for the day. Practically everyone was out of the office to see the final minutes and cheer on the bikers, including me.

I wanted to see what was going on. I had never seen a bike race before, loved the fact that it was right next door, and who can pass up a chance to be outside for an hour with her boss waiting for and watching bikers? Not a bad deal.

Now, let me admit, I know nothing about biking other than how to. Well, maybe a little more. I know the tour de' France is the most important bike race around, that the winner of the previous one is still in debate (don't do drugs!!!), biking is actually a team event, and lance armstrong and greg lemond are two of the best, ever (not just best Americans). I also know that lance armstrong dated sheryl crow, but that's not biking related. That's pretty much all I know about biking. I don't know who to cheer for, I don't know anything about the design of bikes, etc. etc. etc. So today I went out there just to cheer for the bikers and have fun.

My boss and I were trying to get a place close to the ending line, when someone mentioned they were going to get a spot by a corner, so they could watch the bikers take a turn. My boss and I looked at each other and said, what a great idea. So we copied this man and also found a spot by a turn. After waiting a watching cop cars, motocyclists and other important people drive by, we finally knew something was happing when we heard the helicopter nearby. Then, the volunteers at the curve started frantically waving their bright orange flags, telling the bikers where to go, and the crowd started cheering. Then, we saw the bikers turn.

Now I hate to say this, because it sounds cliche and corny, but watching those bikers was, well, mesmorizing. I never thought I would say that about bikers, or actually about anything, but seriously, they were moving so fast, so close together, so smoothly, so in sync, with so many colors, it really was incredible. They had to pass my point four times (once around plus three laps), and each time I couldn't get enough. I tried to watch the front of the pack, but it all just ended up one big blur. I am sure that if there had been 1000's of bikers, I would have gotten tired of them, but as it was, I loved watching them and wish they could have gone around one more time. It was pretty darn cool....and makes me want to go biking. I might just have to take a trip around the river one of these weekends.