AMGEN Tour of California!

This world class event - is in it's 4th year. It is the most professional cycling race in the United States. The race took place from February 14-22. Cycling enthusiasts were able to watch the race live on the web at www.amgentourofcalifornia.com. They were also able to track riders by GPS-derived data, listen to insider race commentary and view detailed information about the race and its 136 exciting riders.

Richard and I love to travel. And sometimes just a weekend away is enough to fulfill that travel “Need.” Every year for the past four we have been following the “Tour of California” bicycle race.

As you might guess with my job I do follow the race and “work” many of these days. But for this particular weekend Richard and I enjoyed being spectators and following along with the riders and crew.

Yep, we are Leipheimer fans. We did notice that Lance Armstrong had joined the race this year. But we did not wain our enthusiasm for Levi.

I took more than 800 photos and 40 minutes of video on the tour.

We actually attended the opening night gala in Sacramento (a perk from the job of sorts) and there we were introduced to the teams and insightful information on the ride itself. We were able to mix and mingle meeting riders, team crew and coaches as well as many of the sponsors and supporters of the sport. Here is a photo of my favorite team is Rock Racing...

We were there early the first day of the race on stage one in SANTA ROSA, CALIF. – There were record crowds, once again, on hand for Stage 1 of the 2009 Amgen Tour of California to watch the world’s top cyclists travel from Davis to Santa Rosa, culminating with a climactic finish in downtown Santa Rosa. It rained that day, at points it rained pretty hard.

But it culminated with the biggest victory to date in Rock Racing’s three-year history was delivered in a huge way Sunday at the Amgen Tour of California. And then it was back to Loomis and repack to get back on the "Tour of California" Monday...for work this time. http://www.tourofcalifornia.com/

Richard being the more technical of the two watched the race via the Tour Tracker, an immersive Web application built using the Adobe Flash Platform and Adobe LiveCycle®, that incorporates live video, audio, and real-time data streams of the event, delivered in the browser with Adobe Flash Player or via a downloadable application powered by Adobe® AIR®, the Tour Tracker ensures fans that they won’t miss a moment of the race.

About the Amgen Tour of CaliforniaThe largest cycling event in America, the Amgen Tour of California is a Tour de France-style cycling road race, presented by AEG, that challenges the world’s top professional cycling teams to compete along a demanding course. Building on last year's third-annual stage race, which attracted 1.6 million spectators, the 2009 Amgen Tour of California will be expanded to cover more than 750 miles over nine days from February 14-22, 2009.