You can catch my “up close and personal” style of photos from the Palo Alto Prologue of the 2008 Amgen Tour of California at www.velogal.smugmug.com. It was just great to see so many of the Discovery guys with the Astana team. I was given an Astana cap and team credential and several welcome hugs from the guys. I have to say that my Iron Man, Eki, is a real class act. Thank you, Eki, for everything...And Chechu is just the best...

It was pretty laid-back around the team parking area at the hotel. The crowds of fans around the team area have steadily dwindled, around not only Astana, but all the other teams, too. The Rock Racing area was on the other side of the hotel from the rest of the team parking, and they had quite a crowd. Their wrenches are so totally hip and cool.. but then everybody around Michael Ball is. The contrast between Rock Racing and Slipstream is fascinating to observe, and so typified by their kits.

Also on race day, the fans packed the street to get autographs from Tyler Hamilton, Santiago Botero and Oscar Sevilla. Rock Racing had a big, shiny black Rolls Royce and a little gal who repeated, like a recording, “ Please stand away from the car, please stand away from the car”.. They also had a huge bodyguard in a black suit and sunglasses, with a hip hair style...Of course, their barbed wire protest kits generated a ton of interest and the three guys were signing posters like mad. . “Whatcha gonna do when they come for you - Bad Boys, Bad Boys” Hell - design an edgy crucifixion kit overnight and let the banned riders sign posters. Great publicity - Love it... So did the fans.

The Astana guys look real good, but they are all so disappointed about the Tour exclusion. It makes no logical sense at all. Look at how many teams since 1996 have been nailed for some kind of doping offense and still rode in the Tour the next year.. Think Festina history. Think last Tour’s Rabobank and the formerly T-Mobile team - are they excluded this year? What’s that you say? You think that that ASO knows damn well that Johan has another winning team and this is the way to stop him? You say you think that there is Revenge in the ASO cold money hearts and beady ASO eyes? I’ll be darned - who would’ve ever thunk it....

Velogal rides again, sort of. While I won't be covering the Amgen Tour of California as media this year, my buddy, Frank Scioscia asked me to give a heads-up about local AToC events. Please volunteer for the Palo Alto Prologue - they need your help!

CHARITY CHALLENGE - BID ON THE EXPERIENCE OF A LIFETIME TO RACE AGAINST THE PROS

The 2008 AMGEN Tour of California Prologue's Charity Challenge on February 17, 2008
PALO ALTO - Ever wonder how fast the riders of the Tour de France, Olympics and Tour of California really are? Ever wonder how you might stack up against Levi Leipheimer, George Hincapie and Fabian Cancellara? This is your once-in-a-lifetime chance to test your speed against some of the world’s greatest cyclists. This is more than a backstage pass to the Pro Tour – it’s a chance to experience first hand the excitement of riding a major prologue. You will ride the Palo Alto/Stanford prologue course just moments before 130 of the top cycling professionals in the world officially kick-off the 2008 Amgen Tour of California.

Imagine your name announced by the same famous voices that will be providing the live race coverage, a photo of you in the official start house, thousands of fans (and pros) cheering you down the start ramp and on until you reach the finish and look up to see your time posted on the big screen … or perhaps even the leader board?

In this short 2 mile race of truth you will race individually against the clock. Not only will you test yourself, but you can challenge your friends, go head to head against the Mayor, Stanford’s Vice Provost and other local celebrities and afterwards watch as the world’s best pros challenge your time.
· Close quarters with the pros as you and they prepare for the race.
· Official UCI timing and officiating
· Official prologue course closed just for you
· Your name announced to the roaring crowds
· Professional photography of you leaving the start house
· Professional photography of you blasting across the finish line
· Your time announced and posted on the Video Screen
· Awards stage recognition of the fastest man, fastest woman and the largest donor

This is a priceless opportunity for every cycling fan, enthusiast and weekend warrior. Lasting only a few short moments, it will be remembered for a lifetime.

Space is limited – so the 25 highest donations made to the Palo Alto Recreation Foundation (call 1-800-341-0310 to place your bid for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity) between now and Feb 15 th at 12 noon (pst) will earn a spot to test this course. Minimum bid is $500. Then, the official ranking will be updated and posted daily. Official bidding will start soon, so check back.
Note: All donations to this event will be handled through the Palo Alto Recreation foundation, a 501 (c)(3) organization, and are tax deductible.

For those who wish to have professional coaching advice, or a fitting on your TT bike for optimum speed, consult Dan Smith in Menlo Park at Sportvelo (650)324-BIKE (2453): http://www.sportvelo.com
Need to buy a TT bike like the pro’s use? Contact Jeff at Palo Alto Bicycles 171 University Ave, Palo Alto - (650) 328-7411.
For more information about the Prologue course, check out http://www.paloaltostanfordprologue.com


But wait, there's more!

WEBCOR SAN JOSE KING-OF-THE-MOUNTAIN RIDE
The Webcor San Jose King-of-the-Mountain Ride, Saturday, Feb. 16, kicks off a week of South Bay cycling events, culminating in the Amgen Tour of California Modesto-to-San Jose Stage 3 finish Wednesday, February 20, at San Jose City Hall.

A pre-ride to the 2008 Amgen Tour of California, the WEBCOR San Jose King-Of-The-Mountain Ride will feature a tortuous ascent up Sierra Road. Riding like seasoned professionals up the breathtaking Sierra hill, the best and the hardiest cyclists will compete for honor of being King-of-the-Mountain.
Registration Site https://www.sportsbaseonline.com/Item.aspx?item_id=2076

THE RIDE

Participants will gather at City Hall on Saturday, February 16 for an overview of the morning. The ride will start at 10 a.m., with Police motorcycles leading a rolling closure north and east to the base of the Sierra Road climb.

At that point, cyclists will cross a timing pad to activate timing chips and began the Sierra Road ascent: a 3.7-mile, 1830-foot climb, with an average gradient of 10 percent.
Below is a graph illustrating the Sierra Road portion only of the ride, indicating overall elevation gain and gradient change over distance.

The ride officially ends at the Sierra Hill summit, with riders invited to continue back to City Hall. The total ride is approximately 26 miles.

Riders will reconvene at San Jose City Hall for a post ride celebration including lunch and prizes.

NEW FOR 2008!
SunPower PedalOn AWARDS
Honoring cycling club and company teams, the SunPower PedalOn Awards is a play on the cycling term “peloton,” the large main group in a road bicycle race. Riders in a group save energy by riding close to other riders. Cycling clubs and company teams will be recognized for best (top 5) times and most participants. While winning cycling clubs and company teams will both receive commemorative trophies, the cycling club with the best time and the one with the most participants will each win a Specialized Allez Elite Compact bike-a $1,200 value. When registering, please be sure to enter your Team Name, otherwise you will not be entered into this category.

THE MATTSON TECHNOLOGY CEO CHALLENGE
The Mattson Technology CEO Challenge is a competition where Silicon Valley corporate leaders and elected officials will vie for the honor of being the “CEO King-of-the-Mountain.” Participants will receive a Mattson Technology CEO Challenge jersey and an invitation to the Mattson Technology luncheon, Wed., Feb. 20, in San Jose City Hall Rotunda overlooking the Amgen Tour of California Stage 3 finish line. The male and female CEO cyclist with the fastest Webcor King-of-the-Mountain time each will be presented with a commemorative award and a $500 gift certificate donated by Undiscovered Country Tours—a premium cycling tour specialist—on the podium at the Wednesday, February 20, Amgen Tour of California stage finish line at San Jose City Hall.

PARKING
For information and location of Downtown Parking Facilities, please visit, sjdowntownparking.com. The Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition will provide on-site free guarded bike parking for the pre- and post-ride events.

THE BENEFICIARY
Over the past 20 years, the rate of overweight children has tripled, and today obesity related illnesses like diabetes are affecting children at a rapidly increasing rate and at earlier ages. According to a study released by the California Department of Health Services, physical inactivity, obesity, and overweight cost the state of California an estimated $12.7 billion a year in medical care. Proceeds from the King-of-the-Mountain Ride will benefit Fit for Learning. Fit for Learning is a program-provided by the Santa Clara County Office of Education (SCCOE) in cooperation with Healthy Silicon Valley-that addresses the crisis of childhood obesity and is a multi-faceted initiative that will increase physical activity and encourage healthy nutrition among elementary school students in Santa Clara County. Fit for Learning addresses the environment at every level: the classroom, the school, the district and community. For more information, visit www.fitforlearning.org.

TITLE SPONSOR
Webcor Builders is the largest general contractor in the Bay Area and the 10th largest concrete contractor in the nation. Over thirty-five years of serving clients such as Oracle, eBay, Lucasfilm, and the California Academy of Sciences has secured Webcor's position as a leading builder of large-scale, high-profile projects. In line with the company’s leadership position is its community outreach. Webcor Builders works hard to make a difference in the community by donating time and talents to non-profit organizations, especially those that benefit children and families. Plus, through the Webcor Cycling Team, Webcor Builders hopes to demonstrate to youth the importance of teamwork and a way to become true champions. The combination of these two strategic endeavors made the Webcor San Jose King-of-the-Mountain Ride a perfect match for Webcor Builders.

EVENT PRODUCER
The WEBCOR San Jose King-of-the-Mountain Ride is being produced by the City of San Jose, Silicon Valley Leadership Group, San Jose Sports Authority and Blue Wolf Events, a comprehensive event management and production company, specializing in cycling events. For almost 15 years BlueWolf has been managing and producing all kinds of events in all kinds of locations through all four seasons.
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Mark Shimahara, cycling photographer par excellence, is in full swing on YouTube with his great cycling interviews. This interview of Levi as after Stage 7 of the Amgen Tour of California. Click on the Link to go to his YouTube site, Bikedreams, and see the other interviews of 2007 Amgen Tour of California riders.

This unbelievable, idiotic power struggle between the ASO and the UCI reminds me of an old saying that my dear, departed Grannie used to use. “Cutting off your nose to spite your face,” she would say. Seems to me that is exactly what those two powerful organizations are doing. And all the pro cycling teams are caught right in the middle. Damned if you do, and damned if you don’t...

As if all the media frenzy and distortion about doping isn’t enough to turn off sponsors, the ASO and UCI seem determined to finish the job. What the Hell are the teams supposed to do, whose sponsors are putting up the big bucks to see their names at races like Paris-Nice? Teams whose budgets depend on sponsor bucks, and who are fielding two or more teams just so they can participate in all the races. Which do you choose - what form of team destruction? A strong sanction by UCI or being excluded form the Tour de France? Great choice - do you want your right or left nuggie cut off?

This is all so ludicrous - It’s hard to believe this is happening - The two entities who make the biggest bucks off from the backs of riders and teams seem hell-bent on destroying their reason for existing. And while the furor goes on in Europe, right now in America, the Tour of Georgia is searching frantically for a title sponsor, and the inaugural US Open Cycling Championships is searching for sponsor bucks - both these races are scheduled for next month! And the Discovery Pro Cycling Team is searching for a new sponsor for 2008. Great publicity timing for would-be sponsors to see the Powers That Be in Cycling acting like asses in this self-destructive corporate ego/power struggle among the Cycling Giants.

Photo is one that I took from the Stage 2 Start in Santa Rosa of the Amgen Tour of California. Ivan Basso, Paolo Bettini and Fabian Cancellara are rolling out for the long haul to the Sacramento finish line.

I shot this pic of Phil Ligget and Paul Sherwin at the Bulldog Cafe in Solvang the morning of the Amgen Tour of California Stage 5 Time Trial. Paul was really full of P&V that morning. The little coffeshop was just packed with people - the line was out the door with people waiting for their morning jolt. They were incredibly busy.

But Paul wanted to go behind the counter and have me take his picture there. The staff behind the counter was just going nuts with all the orders, so it could have complicated things quite a bit. Phil said, “Wait just a minute - what’s that you want to do, Paul?” Paul told him that he wanted to go behind the counter for a picture. “Nonsense,” said Phil with a laugh, and that squelched the idea right there. Paul has the greatest sense of humor and can be really funny. We bantered back and forth about being “wicked”, and I’ll leave the story at that... Phil and I commiserated about not making a damn dime off from the Tour de France for Dummies book. He told me it’s always like that.

So George is recovering from his wrist surgery - I’m still amazed at his hundred mile ride on a broken wrist. He wins my Hero of the Amgen Tour of California Award.

I’m starting the usual meetings with the planning for two races: the 17th Annual Sea Otter Classic, and the 33rd Annual SugarCRM Cat’s Hill Classic. The Sea Otter this year is from April 12-15, 2007, and the Cat’s Hill Crit is moving a week back to May 5, 2007. The Cat’s Hill, the Grand Dame of California crits, has traditionally been held on the Saturday before Mother’s Day, but this year we are switching back to one week earlier, Saturday, May 5th. It takes a humongous amount of work by a lot of dedicated people to get these two events up and running. So here we go....

I like this image that I took of Levi Leipheimer and JJ Haedo on the Podium after Stage 4 of the Amgen Tour of California. It clearly shows that in cycling, guys can be rivals, but they don’t have to be enemies. Unlike some other sports, there is a true camaraderie among cyclists. They may be competitors, but they all know that they depend on each other during the race for safety and for support, no matter what team they are on.

Levi was the Golden Boy of the ToC, but Discovery had to work their fannies off for him. It must have been really a bonding thing to have Ivan Basso riding his rear off for Levi. Jason McCartney was just fantastic, showing what he can do in the future. And Tony Cruz must feel like crap about touching Ivan’s wheel and bringing George Hincapie down with him.

Can you believe that George finished all those miles left in that stage with a broken wrist? Holy Crap - he must have been in such pain with all the bouncing around the bike does on the uneven pavement. Will he be out for Paris-Roubaix? How could he be able stand the constant bouncing around on the pavé (cobbles) with his wrist still in the healing mode? If he rides, that is.... What absolute bummer, crappy luck for him... Hang Tough, George....

OMG - What a nail-biter finish for today's Stage 6 of the Amgen Tour of California. A hold-your-breath chase led by Discovery Pro Cycling Team, who gathered up Health Net and T-Mobile to assist them. Only one lap of the circuit left and the DC guys closed the gap. Everybody was thinkin' Hushovd or Bettini, and out of nowhere came JJ Haedo to take the sprint. JJ wasn't wearing his green jersey, so was able to sneak up the side. Was that on purpose - a clever CSC strategy? Whatever - it worked... JJ really motored.

I watched and listened on the Tour Tracker - Robbie Ventura and his side-kick Joe did a great job commentating. Love the Google map tracking....

So Levi Leipheimer stays in Yellow, but he must have been pretty worried there at the end. Those guys were haulin A - they were just thundering around the circuit and O'Grady gave his all with the good fight. That guy has guts and legs to go with it...

What a race...

The Levi Leipheimer Look at the Start House in the Stage 5 Time Trial of the Amgen Tour of California. Levi looked like he would have ridden or run barefoot over hot coals to get the win. I have several shots of him there, and every one of them shows this same do-or-die- trying look. This guy is totally awesome. It was interesting that he said the same thing that Lance used to say - that what motivated him was the thought of facing the rest of the team at dinner that night if he failed. He just couldn’t let his team down after how hard they are working for him. Every one of those guys on the team are riding their hearts out for Levi..

Jason McCartney was absolutely outstanding with his hard work during the stage from Sacramento to San Jose, and then he turns in another outstanding performance to come in third in the TT... I have watched him mature into the consummate rider since his first training camp in Solvang, where he came up to me and shyly asked, almost in a whisper, if he could borrow my car to go to the grocery store. I really like this guy - he is gonna go far....

So I reluctantly left the Tour of California and headed back to San Jose yesterday after the race ended. Had an obligation here and you do what you gotta do, right? I’ll be watching on the Tour Tracker today, for sure.

I’ll also put up a few shots in the gallery. I switched to the Mozilla browser, and unfortunately, the upload for images on Smugmug is much slower than the one for IE, and the pics don’t upload in the order that I select, so I have to go back in and rearrange all the gallery pics... It is a slow, time-consuming process to go through a thousand images and select the right ones, crop and color correct, and then sit and wait for the slow upload. Obviously, my Dinosaur DSL Earthlink connection plays a big part in all this...

And I want to say thanks to all the people who came up and said hi to me. I'm always surprised at how many folks read this blog and view the smugmug gallery, and who recognize me. Thanks to the gal in Buono Tavola in San Luis Obispo for saying hello. Cycling fans are just the greatest people one could ever meet...

Attended the Floyd Landis Town Meeting in San Jose last night - it was well attended and the presentation by Michael Henson was compelling. There is no way that a thoughtful, fair-minded, intelligent person could look at the mish-mash of crap that the Chatenay Malabry Cesspool calls lab reports and still say that it was a scientific, accurate report of his results. Over-writes, redactions, unreadable numbers and bar codes, plus numbers so far out of the Bell Curve that they should be thrown out. Violations of WADA’s own flimsy procedures are rampant in the copies of the actual reports that were shown in the excellent, but brief, Power-Point presentation.

So it should be clear in the May hearing what is the right and fair thing to do. The right thing for accurate and trustworthy lab science and for all the powerless riders. Yes, powerless, because the UCI, which purports to be a union for the riders, is one of the accusers. Yes, the fair and right thing is clear.

BUT... the panel is from a group of people who have been pre-selected (and paid) by the CAS or UCI, or whoever runs the show. Yes, Floyd’s team gets to select one (I think it is one), but it’s from that same panel. They are not uninvolved panel members. They are in the same Mafia as the accusers - they are sworn to confidentiality and are prohibited against speaking out on behalf of the riders, even if they think the process or the decision is wrong and unfair. This is so grossly unfair and unjust - it is a farce, just like the Dick Pound show.

We all need to speak out right now and lend our support, not just for Floyd, but for the next innocent rider who is flicked with inept, erroneous results that can ruin his career. Go to www.floydlandis.com to see how and where your letters can help. And please take the time to snail mail - it has more impact on the governmental bureaucracy than emails do.

Oh yes, Amgen Tour of California Stage 3 that ended in San Jose with a thundering field sprint: I am putting up a handful of images of the final few meters.... the look on Levi Leipheimer’s face says it all... The guy never gives up. www.velogal.smugmug.com

The Stage 2 of the Amgen Tour of California 2007 in Sacramento saw Floyd Landis at the finish. Yeah, I know JJ Haedo turned on his big engine and powered ahead of the field sprint. You can read about it in a hundred places, but I was excited to see Floyd Landis making his presence known in Sacramento. He was looking sharp in a pin-stripe suit, and was signing autographs like crazy - the fans were lovin’ him!

I caught a few shots of Floyd when I first arrived, way before the race did. I was walking down the course from where I parked, and saw a couple of sharp-dressed men, who looked like corporate guys on their way to a meeting at the Capitol. Wow - it was Floyd and did he look good... Floyd is gonna have a Town Hall meeting tonight (Wednesday, the 21st) at the Tied House at 65 North San Pedro Street, from 6 to 9. A $35 donation will get you in the door and help with Floyd Fairness Fund. And you can see more shots of Floyd by clinking on the Link to my Smugmug gallery.

I hear that Arnie Baker has some new documents that show that the “typo” in the Chatenay-Malabry Cesspool of errors paperwork is not a typo at all, but clearly some other rider’s result. Not only does this mean that screw-ups in testing have occurred (big surprise), but that some other Tour rider must be sweating bigtime right now. Some other rider did a dumb testosterone trick and is silently sitting by, letting Floyd take the rap and ruination? Is that what this means? If so, this other guy needs to get nailed.... Let’s see if the LNDD and UCI and WADA and USADA do anything at all with this info.. Or they also silently sitting by, ignoring the errors and injustice, and letting Floyd get nailed.. Any bets?

I skipped the start in Stockton this morning, and drove home last night to get some stuff done, like this blog. I put up a big Stage 2 gallery in my www.velogal.smugmug.com gallery. Saul Raisin was also at the finish line and rode across it, just like he’s gonna do for real in a couple of years. Go Saul!

Levi Leipheimer took the prologue TT win by just a hair, but that's enough to let him ride victorious into his home town of Santa Rosa tomorrow. If you take a look at the images of Levi in my Smugmug gallery, you'll see a determination on his face that was unstoppable. Great day for Levi and great day for the Discovery Team.

It was just great in San Francisco and the crowd was huge... I ran into so many of my cycling friends that it was just like class reunion time. Anthony of cycling.tv tapped me on the shoulder and gave me a hug as I was talking with Odessa Gunn, who also hugged me. She, of course, was ecstatic over Levi's win. Lots of folks came up and thanked me for this blog and my smugmug gallery - that was really nice to hear, and I thank you all for reading.

I got caught in the most horrible traffic jam after the race ended - I was trying to figure out what I did last year to have missed the traffic. I guess I stayed pretty late hob-nobbing around, and missed the jam-up...

I took tons of photos, but I'm too fried to put up more than a few... More prologue images next week...