Tour of Missour - Stage 2

Stage 2...not much to say except "See Tour de Georgia, stage 3 into Chattanooga...Score: Peloton - 0, Breakaway - 1, Sponsors - -1, Getting to see maybe one last Disco win, priceless...". I'll explain...First off, We started this morning EARLY! My crew and I (including Client Servies Director Virginia, Amy, and myself) were to meet in the lobby at 7:30am to hit the road for a four hour trek to Springfield, today's stage finish, passing through Clinton but completely bypassing the start...because our job is really at the finish. So I did all of my packing last night and this morning, by 6:45, I was ready to roll! I rolled my luggage out to the lobby knowing I was early and totally took advantage of the time by grabbing breakfast in the hotel restaurant. (I don't recommend an $18 buffet...breakfast can't really be THAT important!) After a small helping of eggs, bacon, and cereal, I then headed out to the lobby to start tracking out route for the day to get us to Springfield quickly and easily. So around 7:05, I was all ready and about to head out to pull the car up to the front of the hotel. ("Fire lane? No way...I've got 'Tour of Missouri' official stickers...read the badge (aka, Credentials), I'm wit the Tour." Just kidding.) On my way out the door, I got a call from Virginia asking if I was ready...HA! Was I ready?! Earlier than la Directeur herself...and a lot less stressed. Virginia usually stays a little strung out before these races. People start calling her with goofy questions or major problems as early as 5am. That's actually why they brought me in to help her out. She's always done everything on her own, including driving to the starts, finishes, and doing this while on her blackberry and computer at the same time. Apparently I'm doing a good job...because on the trip down to Springfield today, she was eventually pretty laid back and we listened to some great music and chatted.So along with the "stickers" and the "badge", one thing that comes with the Tour is poor driving habits. Let's just say I turned our 4 hour trip into something around 3.5 hours, with one stop for gas and coffee (which made the other two in the car kinda nautious all day...thank goodness I don't drink it too terribly often.) Once in Springfield, Amy and I immediately set to our routine of putting up two sponsors banners in the VIP tent, preparing the silent auction, and preparing VIP check-in. We were done setting up in ample time to watch a bit of the race that was already going on on the flat screens all over the VIP tent. We watched plenty of action at the beginning of the race...ATTACK! Brought back...ATTACK! Brought back...WOW! This one stuck! "And they're off to the races!" Early news was that one of the hometown boys (or home state boys) Dan Smatz (sp?) was out of the race after hitting an armadillo on the open road...he was taken to the hospital. So the action got started and around noon, the Hospitality tent opened up. The action at the tent was considerably slower today, whcih I guess was a good thing...since Virginia was a little sickish and I'd had a migraine since we'd arrived. (But like I told Virginia, "It takes a HECK of a lot to get me down when I'm around a bike race. Especially THIS race!" After today, she believes me!) But it was almost a little boring today...in fact, the only thing that gave us any entertainment was the fake VIP passes coming in. Yesterday, we had two but admitted the folks anyway. Today, we had NINE! The people with the fake passes said they were part of Felt, but after talking to Mr. Felt himself tonight...NO MORE FELT FAKES! The last two people who tried to get in on the fake passes today obviously noticed that we knew something was up! They tried to back off at the last minute when I finally said "Well, sure, we'll let you in. There're no more good spots to see the race anyway..." They looked quite guilty walking into the tent. Right before the breakaway hit the circuits, I'd run to get a few jerseys for Virginia to have signed...and I was the last person to be able to cross the street to get back to my anxiously awaiting camera. So the circuit laps were short today and only two of them. When the break came through, they were being followed, as usual by a helocopter, allowing us back at the finish line to see their progress along the route. We had a clear view of the chopper the whole time, so I knew just when the group would be coming back around. The break finsihed the circuits before the peloton even touched the circuits!!! The word is that, like in Georgia when the break was going 28mph and the peloton was going 18mph, today's break was also going 28mph putting them ahead of schedule while the peloton rode a ginger 15mph...pittiful. I was happy with the results of the race. The breakaway gave us quite a show and I'm happy for George to finish his run with such a great team in such a wonderful way. But at the same time, folks're really upset with the racers. I've heard a lot of folks tonight say "It sucks that they just don't care!" But it's not the whole peloton that doesn't care...a lot of it goes back to Toyota United. I can't believe that Ivan Domingez didn't want to try to keep the jersey...it's almost pathetic. A good show is what keeps sponsors coming back year after year, and with shows like what we saw in Georgia and what we saw today, how do we show them what world class racing they get out of their investment?! Hopefully these guys will realize what an amazing thing they're doing and they'll start racing tomorrow. A pretty cool thing about today was that I did get to see a familiar face. After watching the break finish, Shawn (from Bookoo) turned up!!! We watched a bit of the podium together before I had to go help handle something. Totally cool to see a familiar face so far from home.So after the race was over, we took down our portion of Hospitality slowly so we could avoid the afternoon traffic as we headed down to Branson, the site of the Time Trial (MY FAV!). The teams and most executive staff are staying at the Hilton at The Landing. Our hotel, however, is down a more interesting route...On our way to the Welk Resort Hotel. If you've ever been to Pigeon Forge, TN, you know what we saw...and then some!!! Including "The Riverboat Motel"...which is an actually riverboat...but also a hotel!!! Also was the Titanic exhibit which is a slightly smaller scale of the Titan herself, housing about 400 artifacts, completely with an iceberg for an entrance!!! (I'm hoping to get pictures tomorrow!) Well, we finally found the Welk Resort and...well, it's not the Hilton...let's just leave it at that. After having dinner with Angie and the podium girls and Ryan tonight, we returned to yet another Irish Pub (right next to/under the Hilton) to join the owners and other staff (a "whos who" of cycling...Kevin Livingstone, Sean Petty...) Virginia expressed her "opinion" about the Welk where Sean and Darach (one of our friendly Irishmen) are actually staying as well. The rest of the night, everyone at the two tables were cracking jokes about the Welk...something tells me a prank may be in the making...Revenge? No...justice? Maybe. So we joined everyone else in drinks. I, as I have been all week with no problem, was the DD so I just sat around talking to the others. For the most part, we were always outside on the patio when...the highlight of my night...of all people, I noticed Johan Bruyneel inside. For those of you who really, really know me and my passion for cycling, you know that one name will sum it up...my hero himself. Ok, so I get a little intimidated and nervous around the guy...so I've only been able to talk to him one or twice, but just being near "the man" is good enough for me. It's really rare to see him even walking around the hotel (which I've already seen a few times this week), and seeing him out at a bar...unheard of to me!!! So I took the opportunity to go inside and order a glass of water. (He was drinking some mix drink...gosh, I wish I knew what...) I stayed inside for a bit talking to friends...only feet away...I actually noticed eye contact twice!!! Good, solid eye contact!!! Then I made my way down the line of folks and was caught by John Kelly, sitting right next to where Johan was standing. I was so nervous knowing I was standing shoulder to shoulder, back to back with Johan, my hero, my favorite rider of all time! Luckily for me, when I'm nervous, I can usually play things a lot cooler than I can most other times. So I talked to John for a minute, giving him enough time to crack a small joke "Wishing Johan would fix my phone...it won't send text messages. Obviously his is texting pretty damn well right now..." I laughed and John and I walked back outside to where the others were. Wheew...I was done...but I couldn't help looking inside all night and even went in for one more glass of water. the rest of the night, I just sat outside listening to old stories of the Motorola team (which is pretty damn neat! These guys have actually been there! They were part of it!)So my night ended a few minutes ago. We left the bar and Virginia and I made our 6 mile trek back to the Welk. So I guess this is where I'll end tonight's post...cause tomorrow's another busy day, although 8am, not quite as early a start for us! Tomorrow is the ITT starting at the Landing in Branson. I can't wait to show yall pictures of the starting area. I think the street, if it's really a street, is mostly bricked. And the landscape around here is crazy, lots of BIG hills...I almost feel like I'm in the mountains...I'll be at the start in Branson which is where everything, Hospitality, Expo, etc, will be.More to come tomorrow!Your girl in the Ozarks,JC