Tour of California - Stage 4 Merced to Clovis

We are big cycling fans! Kevin has been cycling for years and we can both remember the day that Greg LeMond was the first American to win the Tour de France! (For instance, I was in a cafeteria eating breakfast at the University of Oregon for a Summer Architecture Academy.) Of course we watched as Lance Armstrong won every single one of his seven Tour de France titles. So, needless to say, we were very excited when we heard that the 2009 Tour of California was going to be coming to Clovis! Right here in our own backyard (so to speak)! Kevin signed up to be a volunteer and was assigned to be a Course Marshal. (His mom, Carol, did as well.) He would have loved to be on the course as motorcycle support, but you have to have done it for a while and be "invited", so maybe another time in the future.

Kevin's office is a block from where the race was taking place, so I was getting calls from him periodically throughout the day. First it was that everything was being set up all around Old Town Clovis, and then it was that there were helicopters flying overhead all over the place, then it was updates as he watched the live feed of the race on the internet. He was beside himself with excitement! The largest stage race in the United States was happening right outside his window!

I got the girls out of school early and we drove to Clovis. We parked at Kevin's work and went up to his office just in time to see a crash on the live feed. One of the victims of the crash was Floyd Landis. He is on the Ouch Team and I thought it was ironic to see Floyd Landis walking around with road rash all over his arms and legs with the word OUCH emblazened all over his clothing!

We walked out to Clovis Avenue between Seventh and Eighth and sat on some grass. It would be another hour and a half before the cyclists would arrive in Clovis. Kevin and Carol checked in with the volunteer supervisor and then took their stations on opposite sides of Clovis Avenue. We walked around and saw the race progress on the Jumbotron and then the girls hung out on the curb. Speaking of Clovis Avenue, it was pretty cool that the City of Clovis changed the signs on Clovis Avenue to read The Tour of California.

Just before 3:30pm the traffic on Clovis Avenue thinned as they closed off the street. There were official cars, photo motorcycles, a fire truck, and lots of California Highway Patrol driving up and down the street. There were people running out into the road to write things on the ground in yellow chalk. Then we could see the helicopters. We knew that when we saw the helicopters that the riders were very close.

It was almost 4:00pm when the peloton came into view. It was an amazing sight to see all those riders, so close together and moving so fast, as they screamed down Clovis Avenue. There was no way that we could even remotely pick out any specific riders, so we just held down the button on the camera and took as many photos as we could! In fifteen seconds it was over, they were gone around the corner. (Kevin's boss described the experience of seeing the peloton speed by as the most exciting fifteen seconds he has ever experienced!)

We all turned and ran to the next block west where the finish line was on Pollasky Avenue. There was no way we were going to be able to see anything, so I threw the girls up on a wall so they could see over everyone's heads. I had the big camera and held it up to get some shots, and Amanda took photos from the wall.

When we were done we walked back over to where Kevin was, and as it turns out, we should have stayed there. We didn't know it, but the racers, after crossing the finish line, turned and rode through the parking lot past the spot where we had been standing to watch the race. Since we had both cameras, Kevin could only take photos with his phone. As Lance Armstrong went by him, Kevin said to his mom, "It's Lance Armstrong!" and Lance looked over at them. Cool! Floyd Landis went by as well.

After the racers had all gone by we went over to where the racers trailers were to see if we could get any photos. Kevin talked to one of the motorcycle marshals and the girls went over to see the Jelly Belly car. We could tell where Lance Armstrong's trailer was, as there were a ton of people crowded around with their cameras up in the air. I was too short to get a photo of anything other than the backs of people's heads, so Kevin took the camera to try to get some photos of Lance Armstrong. In the meantime I helped the girls to get up to the barricade to get an autograph from Lance. Right as they got the barricade, Lance turned and got in his car and was driven away. Bummer!

We went over to Floyd Landis' trailer, but he had already left. We asked how he was, seeing as he had crashed earlier, and they said it was really nice of us to ask and said that he was alright. We went around to the Quick Step team trailer and Amanda got an autograph from Tom Boonen, a Belgian who won the World Championship title in 2005. We also got a signed poster from Tom Fowler, a rider on the Canadian Cervelo team.

While we were in line to get that poster, we saw a commotion down at the end of the parking lot. Kevin went down and when I saw him start running I knew it was someone important. We all went down and it was Levi Leipheimer, the captain of the Astana team! He has been in the Tour de France (on Lance Armstrong's team), and he has won the Tour of California twice and he is in the lead this year as well. The girls got an autograph and then they got a photo with him! Amanda was jumping up and down with excitement to have the autographs!

Mark Cavendish of the Columbia Team won the stage by the way. Tom Boonen placed second. Levi Leipheimer is still in first place over all. Lance is in fourth. It was so cool to be there and see all these great cyclists! We had so much fun!

See all the Tour of California - Stage 4 pics HERE.