Friday, May 21, 2010

Tour of California....and my 200th post Giveaway!!

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!!

20 comments:

  1. Cheri, you are so cute. Maybe you could have taught Lance to Scrapbook. I bet he would like Basic Grey! XOXO

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  2. Amgen tour was here today. Big Bear was the end point for this leg. I didn't go to see it . . . not up for competing with 25,000 other folks to observe, but i'm told Lance has dropped out due to an accident yesterday. He didn't look great in the photo i saw.

    I've been "blabbing on" for over 300 posts now, since Jan 2009. But i have about half as many followers, so, your conversation is much more interesting than mine! ;)

    Congrats on your 200.

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  3. LOL Thats too cute. We have a London to Brighton Cycle race here in England that is also HUGE that goes right past the end of my road too! LOL Its a pain if you want to cross the road to the shops on the other side though

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  4. Cheri,
    I am so impressed! You actually got your husband to go and watch with you. Wow! And you've been rambling for 200 posts now - Congratulations! Hope there are 200 more to come.

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  5. My sister and I rode our tandem to see the Tour de Georgia go by a few years ago. We were about an hour ahead of the pack, but people were sitting in front of their houses when we went by. They looked confused, like, "Where are the rest? And aren't you supposed to be men? And on a single bike? And young? And thin?"

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  6. How fun! And Troy was a good sport. In Athens, there is a race called Twilight Criterium. It is so fun to watch!

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  7. @ Kimberly: You know he would totally love to scrapbook...if he could find the time.
    @Kathryn: There were surprisingly few people where we sat to watch them go by. The finish line in downtown Sacramento? A MUCH different story. lol!
    @Georgina: I guess if you just plan that all you will be doing is the bike race that weekend it's all good. Lower expectations, kwim? lol!
    @ Keepin' afloat: "got" my husband to go is incorrect. "dragged him kicking and screaming" is much more accurate.
    @Bragger: There were several cyclists that came cruisin' by before the actual RACE came by. Every time there was a bike...any bike...the lookie-loos would all get up with cameras in position only to be disapppointed that it wasn't a racer. No tandem bike, though. lol!

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  8. I love your blog. You make me laugh, I love the way you write. You are my blogging idol. One of these days I'll meet you.

    As for the comment about knocking Lance over - ironic you write that and then he does fall and has to get stitches on his face...hmmmm....did you have something to do with that?

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  9. Love this post, Cheri!! And congrats on 200 rambling posts!
    How awesome is that!
    Big hugs!
    B xx

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  10. That sounds like a great race!
    ".. can you see Lance waving at me? Yeah. Me, neither!..priceless!!
    B xx

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  11. Hi Cherie,
    Congratulations on your 200th post! Keep 'em coming. You truly were the reason that lol (laugh out loud) was invented!

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  12. You and your husband look very cute with those caps on the head. Great pictures of the cycling event!
    Congrats on your 200th post!

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  13. NICE LEGS!!! WOOOOO HOOOOO!!! (just try to guess who I am!!! ;) )

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  15. I'm impressed you've kept it down to 200 posts. As much as you ramble on at work I thought it would be more like 2000 ;)

    BTW the cycling fan behind you and Troy, where does he have his hands???

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  16. jasonhaspeopleskillsMay 24, 2010 at 1:26 PM

    200 of these damn things? No wonder you never actually work. You ARE just a scheduler, after all. Kidding! :-) Congrats friend. Keep 'em coming, the true stories of your life are far better than most of the made up stuff on TV!

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  17. This is your VBFITWWW- I could use a $25 gift certificate to Amazon. Of course, if I get it people will say that the contest was fixed. I'm willing for your reputation to be ruined in this way.

    Did you spot any Huffies amongst the bicycles speeding by? With a basket? With the "wicked witch theme" playing in the background?

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  18. That sounds like an exciting few minutes!

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  19. Thanks Cheri I needed a good belly laugh today. Troy is really my hero LOL
    *heart u*

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  20. I am glad you went out and did it, I don't think I could have crawled out of bed to do it. You are the queen.

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