Racing In Our Own Backyard
March 2nd, 2009
When no one was watching, Mick slipped out the back door and headed up to Solvang to watch the time trial stage of the fourth Tour of California (yes, Mick has been to all four). About a million people came out to watch last year’s tour stages and this year it was madness as the total topped 2 million. Mick staked out a space early on Ballard Canyon Road, the only real hill on this stage, where he watched along with “Big Hair Superfan”(!) and his mate Mike Powell, who was shooting for Sports Illustrated. His Lanceship looked very strong as did Floyd, and Mark Cavendish (the fastest man on the road in the world right now). This race is now pretty much the the fourth biggest road race in the world after the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia and the Vuelta a Espanã. Despite all this, it seems that most Californians don’t even know it’s going on. Oh well, one race at a time.