During early May, there is a professional bicycle race, the Tour de California, which follows a route from Sacramento to the coastal towns of Central California, through Santa Barbara, and on through San Diego. The Tour is patterned after the Tour de France, with flat runs, mountain runs, time trials, etc, and it lasts several days.
I had arranged to have lunch with a friend at a favorite spot in Montecito. The night before, I realized that the Tour would go right past that restaurant, and make getting there rather difficult, with closed roads and added traffic. In a quick phone call, we changed the location of our lunch. I arrived a few minutes early, and asked if I could sit on the patio and wait for my friend — the owner suggested that I take the front corner table, as the cyclists would be riding right past! I had misinterpreted the route, and picked a restaurant that I thought would be out of the way!
As the race began near the beach, and the policemen blocked the roads — my friend had not yet arrived. There were several team support cars that drove by.
I realized that my friend’s car was across the street — maybe they’ll let her through (she’s in the first car visible behind the CHP patrol car across the street). And then the bicycles began to come through.
That seemed like a small group — I later learned that there had been an early breakaway, and the bulk of the riders were still on their way. There was a gap that seemed to be several minutes long. It was then that I realized that my friend was in the first car that didn’t get through before the racers came — there she is in the car next to the CHP car!
The patrolman finally explained to her that the rest of the race was soon on its way, that they would go through very quickly, and then she’d be able to go. She commented that that was good, because she was meeting a friend (me) for lunch across the intersection. His response: “Oh dear, I hope she’s not eating in front of you!”
More team cars went through.
And then the race whooshed past,
followed by a fleet of ambulances.
And the race had gone by — it’s finally lunchtime!
The race continued, and the breakaway group was never reeled in — they were the winners for that stage of the days-long race. The racers passed the intersection in just a few seconds, with a large whooshing sound as they displaced the air and drafted each other. And we laughed about having the good fortune to accidentally watch the Tour de California!
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For those of you who follow me both here and on WordPress, this was posted on WP this morning. I have duplicated it here for those who may not follow on WP. The format is a bit different -- at least all the photos transferred in this direction! I'll continue to post on both sites for a while.
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