The world comes to a (near) screeching halt for three weeks each summer during the Tour. There are nightly episodes of snuggling together and following along to see who is going to win the sought after yellow jersey; how the Schleck brothers, Cadel Evans, Alberto Contador, Levi Leipheimer, George Hincapie and Tom Danielson are going to fare. We cringe at the crashes and admire the stamina, training, discipline and endurance involved in professional cycling. I've already made note of the fact that the start of the Tour next year coincides with our family holiday (which is always June 30th)~ so, we may have some scheduling challenges!
Needless to say, we were pretty excited when we learned that Colorado was going to be hosting the 2011 USA Pro Cycling Challenge, right in our own backyard (so to speak!). We had hoped to be among those crazed fans who followed along all week long, camping at the side of the road during the mountain stages, cameras and cowbells in hand!
That part of our plan didn't work out, but we did enjoy 'making a day' of the Golden to Denver stage. We camped out in the park for the morning and enjoyed being among the hoards of fans who gathered together for the excitement of the final stage! We were close enough that we could almost reach out and touch the finish line. Riders came zipping past within inches of our noses!, going so fast that we couldn't even tell who it was we were cheering for (there are advantages to watching these things on television!)
