I'm not a fan of cycling. I own a bike, but it is an Electra Cruiser (red...like ruby slippers...with a basket on the front. So what?) so I hardly think that qualifies as "cycling". Plus don't you have to actually get ON the bike to cycle? Yeah.
But when I heard that the first route of the
Amgen Tour of California would be cruising by less than one mile from my house I was a little giddy. I was sure I would be catching a glimpse of Lance. That would be Lance Armstrong for those who don't know him personally *cough-cough* like I do. You've heard of him, right?
Anyway, I was in the middle of a string of night shifts but I had it all figured out. I could sleep 5 hours, get up and go sit on the curb and wait for Lance to wave at me, then go back home for an hour nap before work. Yay!
I drug my poor husband out for the fun, as well. Doesn't he look thrilled?
Whatever. He was having fun. I told him so. I also told him that this was a chance for me to have my 15 minutes of fame. "What if I jumped out in front of the herd of cyclists? And knocked someone over? I could be famous! The video would totally go viral on Youtube!" All he had to say about this plan was to make sure I knocked out Lance. If I was going for fame then I better go big.
I would never do that. I'm all talk. A "rule-follower" if you will. Just the idea of it all made me sweat like I had actually done something wrong. My 15 minutes of fame will not take place on this day.
We waited about 40 minutes and finally heard the helicopter overhead. It was the sign we had been waiting for! The helicopter was filming the entire event for
Versus and we knew the riders were close. So I hopped up off the curb and got my camera ready. Here is the breakout bunch (sounds like a boy band):
And approximately one minute behind them came the rest of the riders:
Can you see Lance? Waving at me? Yeah. Me, neither. I guess he was just too busy and focused to see me as he went speeding by about 30 mph with the rest of the bunch.
And it was over. Just like that. 40 minutes of waiting to see 2 minutes of riders....and about 10 minutes of support vehicles. People...look at the amount of money strapped to the roofs of those cars!!
My plan worked perfectly. I was back home just in time for a 1 hour nap. And I got to witness a cycling event that is now the most popular in the United States right in my own backyard. Almost literally! It was pretty exciting. I think the jury is still out for my husband.
And speaking of exciting...THIS IS MY 200TH POST!! Who knew I could blab on and on about nothing for this long. Well, besides just about anyone who knows me personally? So in honor of this delightful occassion I'm giving away a $25.00 gift certificate to Amazon.com. All you have to do is leave a comment. Any comment. About anything. Well, anything that isn't R rated. Or above. That's really a lot of TMI that I don't want to know about.
Entries close on Friday, May 28th. Thanks for your support and interest in my blog about nothing in particular. And good luck!!