February 28th, 2008

Last week, most of the world’s top pro cyclists made a rare visit to the United States, including current world champion Paolo Bettini, and former world champions Mario Cipollini and (my favorite) Tom Boonen (pictured here taking a stage 3 win with “Cipo” in his wake). They rode 650 miles from Palo Alto to my home town of Pasadena.

Though I’d like to pretend it was just to see me, they were all here to compete in the 2008 Amgen Tour of California. This eight-day stage race, first held in 2006, just keeps growing in popularity. This year drew the best peloton so far, and to top it off, they decided to end at the Rose Bowl.

For those of you not into cycling, let me give you a small example of how it felt to have these guys riding where I could see them with my own eyes: Imagine your favorite celebrity, one you’ve long wanted to meet, and then imagine having known for weeks in advance that today, when you open your front door, they’ll be walking right past your house. I could barely contain my excitement!

As the hostess with the mostest, I felt it was my duty to volunteer and do my part to ensure their experience in the City of Roses went well. Originally, I was scheduled to work Anti-Doping, which is the equivalent to having a backstage pass, but some crazy lady screwed it up for me the day before by showing up in the showers. Since it was males only, my Ninja handled that job, and I directed other volunteers instead.

No complaints though. We attended the last two stages, met a ton of pro cyclists, had a great time at the finish, and even got to hang with security afterward to meet more of our heroes (even Hincapie!) once the press conference was over. Now, I can hardly wait until next year!

Entry Filed under: Atomic Bombshell, My Other Half