This year was the first ever Tour of California. It started in San Francisco, worked it's way down the California coast and ended in Redondo Beach. I cannot begin to explain how excited I was. Everyday I'd get to work and open a window on my computer with a live video feed of the race and real-time reports (one of the many advantages of a dual monitor setup). As the weekend neared I was like a kid who couldn't wait to go to Disney Land that weekend. In all my excitement, I forgot that Elizabeth was not interested in the event and was coming simply because she loved me. That Thursday, when we were praying for each other in our Growth Group, someone prayed for Elizabeth, "that she would have a good time at the race", at that moment, the Heaven's parted and I had an epiphany, "Why in the world am I dragging her to the race?!" I started praying for a friend to go to LA with, picked up the phone and called all the guys I knew who rode. I left a lot of messages, got a lot of, "I'd love to go, but...." and by the end of Friday I was starting to get dejected. I knew God would provide someone to go to LA with, I just didn't want it to be Elizabeth. Saturday evening, as we were volunteering at our church's toddler ministry, the phone rang, it was my neighbor. He was someone I'd seen in the parking lot and occasionaly shared ride experiences with but we didn't really know each other. He said he'd like to go. I was stoked!!!! We had a great time! We spoke about everything under the sun. I now consider him a good friend of mine. We don't communicate a lot but when we meet up, we start right where we left off. Rick, I am truly blessed for having had the opportunity to spend time with you.
The picture above is a collage of different pictures I took at the race. Rick and I walked the 7.5 mile course during the race. The backdrop is the Time-Trial bike of American Dave Zabriskie of Team CSC, he crashed on it during the Team Time-Trial event at the 2005 Tour de France and lost the Yellow jersey. The sequence at the top was at the start when the gun was fired and the peleton (main pack of cyclists) started rolling. The picture on the bike's top-tube was the best shot I had of the Golden jersey wearer, American Floyd Landis of Team Phonak, who went on to win the entire Tour. I've watched the finish of stage races on TV but nothing compares to being there in person. As the riders turn onto the final straight and the sprinter's get into position, it is an adrenaline rush. The picture at the bottom shows Team T-mobile leading their star sprinter, German Olaf Pollack, to the line.
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