Pro Cycling - Day 2

With the start of Stage 3 of the US Pro Cycling Challenge being held here in Gunnison, we were up and at them early to check out the organized chaos of a bike race.  The first thing we saw when we walked up was the start line.  Off to the left at the back of the picture is a podium where announcements are made, riders sign in and such.

We then headed for Hwy 50 where the team buses and support vehicles were being parked.  This allowed us good looks at the bikes each team was riding.  Here is Team Jelly Belly.

BMC team bus of Tour de France winner Cadel Evans and teammate George Hincapie.  People (cycling groupies LOL) stood outside their "team" buses in hopes of getting autographs, pictures, etc.

Radio Shack's team bus - Stage 2 winner Levi Leipheimer  We got this picture when the bus first parked.  Trust me, this bus had a lot of people around it  when we left to go to the start line.

Each team has a support vehicle that follows the team leader that provides them drinks, a mechanic, and replacement wheels and bikes.  In addition, there are neutral support vehicles (Mavic) that stays with the riders in case a tire or even a bike is needed and the team support vehicle is no where near to assist.

We decided to head for the start line and claim our spot waiting for the race to begin.  But first, the riders all have to make a trip to the podium to sign in.  This gave us an opportunity to watch all the riders ride their bikes past us and up to the podium where the "famous" ones were announced.  We noticed how relaxed they all appeared and how well they handled their bikes as they had to weave in and around people, cars, etc.  A few of the riders we recognized from our days of following cycling.

Freddie Rodriguez - he had retired from cycling and was working with mentoring some young Columbian riders and decided to come out of retirement and ride this race.  Obviously, he never lost his fitness.

 George Hincapie

 Cadel Evans - 2011 Tour de France winner

Levi Leipheimer - Stage 2 winner of US Pro Cycling Challenge  I saw Levi riding up and didn't realize that John hadn't noticed him so John only got a picture of his back when I finally said "there's Levi".  

A few of the riders would stop and sign autographs.  A young woman standing next to us had three of them stop to sign her book (I wonder why LOL).  

Soon it was 10 a.m. and it was time for these guys to get to work.  They had two monster climbs (12,000+ elevation each) and 130 miles before getting to Aspen.  Here they are as they start off.

Once they leave the start, they ride in a neutral zone for about three miles before the real racing begins.  The motorcycle in front of them paces them for the three miles.  Once the riders left the gate, it was pretty much all over for us so we headed home.  

The turn out for the start in Gunnison was awesome as there were people everywhere.  In watching the race on our phones, there were so many people on the two mountain passes that it looked like we were seeing the mountain passes during the Tour de France.  Amazing . . . as these people had to spend the night on the pass as they closed both passes last night at 6 p.m.  The interest/participation of the public has been phenomenal.  The organizers should be very happy.

So here we were tied to the phones watching the race this afternoon when during the last three miles of the race, the video gets dropped on both phones.  Nooooooo!  Dang, we missed the exciting finish - George Hincapie won Stage 3 and a young rider, Teejay Van Garderen, gets to wear the yellow jersey as overall race leader tomorrow.  

Once the race viewing was done, John set about de-nesting us on the outside as we leave Gunnison tomorrow.  It has been fun and we have really enjoyed our time here but we are ready to move it on down the road.