Tour of Utah Stage Two

I managed to get a few pictures today. Austin was up early and ready to go since his GF was coming along. We found the camera and the walkie talkies and he even cleaned out the Jeep. This pic is of the race before they turn to go up the short climb to the top of Little Mountain.

Right after this picture two girls with panniers rolled up from Parleys. They asked which way to Salt Lake. They were finishing their tour from Banf, Canada. They managed to finish their journey in style by riding through an NRC race! They were excited when we told them. They didn't seem to fully understand what we were saying but the word Chipotle got them excited. We passed them down Emigration and they were whooping and hollering with joy. It was cool.

No, I'm not in the car. I thought Austin took a picture of me in front of it but I cannot find it. He is the responsible one in the family and he wouldn't let me sneak into the car. I do have a really cool picture coming of Brandi, Ashley and me with RYAN TREBON! Brandi recognized him-not sure how she can do this when he was wearing jeans and a T-shirt- (stalker?) but I'm glad she did. He was really nice and hopefully some of his cyclocross awesomeness will rub off on me.

Ashley and Michelle got to be Vitamin Water girls for the day. They preceded the race caravan with swag and Vitamin water from the crowd. They did such a good job that they were asked back for Saturday's stage. I'm sure I'll see her fly by hanging out the back of the truck while I'm standing on some hot road making motorists angry.

Oh, by the way. . . there was a bike race today! Here are the current standings so far:
1 Blake Caldwell, Garmin/Chipotle
07:37:40
2 Darren Lill, BMC Pro Cycling
00:00:04
3 Jason Donald, Garmin/Chipotle
00:00:18
4 Jeffry Louder, BMC Pro Cycling
00:00:24
5 Brent Brookwalter, BMC Pro Cycling
6 Glen Chadwick, Team Type 1
7 Phil Zajicek, Team Health Net
8 Cesar Grajales, Rock Racing
9 Tyler Hamilton, Rock Racing
10 Oscar Rivera, Rock Racing
00:00:28

Cool to see local Jeff Louder in there. Tomorrow night is the downtown crit. I'm so excited! Crits are my favorite, both to race and to watch.

At the finish line today (and in the canyon)it was nice to see some teammates. It was especially nice to see Chase back out on his bike. He said he'll get his wires off his jaw on Tuesday and that he's looking forward to a years worth of plastic surgery-ick! He seems to be in good spirits. He is an awesome kid and I have no doubt that he'll come back stronger than ever.

On the drive home tonight I saw something interesting. A Chipotle kit on a bike pulled up next to me at a stoplight. At first I just figured it was a local rider but then I looked closer. The first thing I noticed was that this guy was riding on 3500 S. in West Valley! I don't usually even dare drive my car on that road let alone ride my bike on it. I noticed that he had not just the kit but socks and was riding the Team Felt. This guy didn't look tired enough to have just finished Stage 2 and he was a little stockier than most of the guys in the pro peleton. Finally I just had to roll down my window and ask what the H he was doing. Turns out he is part of the staff for Chipotle and was just out for a ride. I gave him some advice about a better route to take West and he agreed 3500 S. sucked. I hope the rest of his ride was nicer.

Well, time to go watch some Olympics then off to bed and up for an early bike ride. Sanpete road race is coming up quickly!