crazy story from today...
I decided to go on an epic bike ride today, somewhere totally new (well, almost).
I took BART to daly city, then rode down HWY 1 through pacifica to half moon bay, then over HWY 92 to san mateo, then up skyline (Hwy 35) to milbrea to catch BART again.
The ride was indeed epic. The weather was perfect, traffic not too bad, legs felt good. I got one flat, but fixed it quick and was on my way. I stopped for lunch at a beachside cafe in half-moon bay and had a great lunch, and then continued on over the mountain. After about halfway along skyline I noticed a bunch of guys in blue behind me, they steadily gained, I didn't think much of it. As they passed I noticed that they not only all had the same blue jerseys, they also had the exact same bikes. I looked again at the jerseys and they were from the pro team Quickstep. I quickly realized they were here for the Tour of California (which starts sunday) and were out for a training ride. I was tired, but stepped up the pace to catch up with them. I rode behind them for a while, and got dropped on a hill. While riding a ways back their team car pulled up beside me and the driver started hollering "go go! catch up!" so I hammered again and caught them (they were going UBER slow). By chance they were going the way I was going and so I rode with them for another 10 miles or so. They were all speaking french and spanish. One guy was wearing all white with the world champion stripes on his jersey. Turns out he is Paolo Bettini, the current world champion of cycling! (he was a total sprinter, very short with HUGE quads).
So, I ended up not heading straight for the BART station, but just cruising with the pack until we reached their hotel. In the parking lot were trucks for ALL the major teams (Lotto, Discovery, CSC, etc...). I wasn't sure what to do, so I cruised around the parking lot once hoping to see some big names, but no one was around so I just sort of hung out for a minute. Then I saw this photographer who had been driving along with the pack and he was talking with some of the guys about a route and he called me over. We all looked at a map and talked about good routes (well, I just sort of went mmm hmmm a lot because I didn't know the area well). But I did know the area where the first stage is taking place (sausalito to Santa Rosa) so I told them about coleman valley road and what a crazy climb it is.
Before leaving their mechanic gave me a water bottle and I got a picture with a couple of the guys (Bram Tankink and someone else who I am not sure of his name). They were super nice and just totally regular dudes (except for the huge quads and calves).
I rode off to BART and then home (after stopping for a Brazillian Tri-Tip Sandwich).
This ride definitely goes on the top 5 best rides ever list.
A ride with the Quickstep Pro Team
