Tour of Missouri - Stage 6
So this is the end...this is the end of the Tour and the end of what's being called a dynasty. Today was one of the most amazing days of my life for quite a few reasons, and I know it will stay with me for a long, long time.This morning started off not quite as bright and early as the rest. We had planned to leave at 9am, however, we wound up simply meeting downstairs for a long breakfast at 9am with quite a bit of fun and laughter. Being the overachiever I am (and securing my jobs for the Tour of California, Georgia, and US Pros for next year, I was prepared as always. I had a small breakfast before the rest of my group reached the dining room and by the time they did, I had already pulled the car to the front of the hotel and was ready to pack Virginia's bags when she brought them down. After a second breakfast (everyone elses' first), we headed out for downtown St. Louis and the end of this year's Tour of Missouri.We arrived downtown around 11am. By the time we got there, Hospitality had looked like we'd already been there for hours. Pretty much everything was set up, give or take a few auction items, etc. One thing we noticed when walking up was that Hospitality was placed right in front of a water fountain across from Union Station. When the wind blew, the water was sprayed over the tent and onto the folks (at that time of day, spraying us!) walking in front. That soon had to be addressed! We had word from the caterer that the water was causing condensation on the inside of the tent that was leaking. Another two hours later, he threatened that if the fountains weren't turned off, that they were going to pack up and leave. (The fountains were later turned off around 3pm.) We had a few meetings take place before Hospitality opened and the race began. The two things being addressed were the awards ceremony and, most importantly, the tribute taking place afterwards.The race started in it's usual ceremonial order. It was really hard to notice the race with all the craziness at Hospitality. Again, we'd had a line forming over an hour before we planned to open at noon. We opened 15 minutes early to accomodate the special day. A few of us had special jobs on the day so our time at Hospitality check in was less than normal. Ryan was handling the caravan rides for special VIPs. Each VIP and their guests got one lap ride in one of three VIP vehicles. I was a runner for the day. I didn't have much running around to do during the beginning of the race so, for the most part, I could take it easy, just merely helping out with check in. My main job would come at the end of the race. I took a break midday to run to the car to get a new card for my camera. On the way, I saw Jered, one of the Disco workers. I'd met him earlier this week so I said hi and he handed me a packet of Discovery rider's cards. I told him I'd intended to buy a Discovery hat, but they'd sold out earlier in the week (they're selling all of Disco's gear this week). He told me he'd gotten more hats and even gave me one for free! I happily wore it all day, along with my favorite Discovery t-shirt. About halfway into the race, I got a great visit from my cousin, her husband, and their 6 month old baby Madison. It was really neat to take some time and see them. I even got them into Hospitality to enjoy the race. With one lap to go, I made my way over to the announcer's stage and was able to watch the end of the race from there. My job was to wait for the official race results to come in from Phoenix Timing and quicly run it over to Virginia at the Awards Stage. I watched the final sprint and was ready to do my job, but I knew something was wrong when Chris Aronholt went running onto the course as local rider Brad Huff caught the barriers and did some terrifying arcobatics a few meters from the line. There was a major hush everywhere! Even the results took a bit longer to come by. But when Brad crossed the line, I got the results from Stephanie and ran them over to Awards. Once I handed the results off to Virginia, I began helping where I could set up for Awards, like set aside the champaign, hand out the jerseys to their presenters, and make sure Bearemy the Build a Bear didn't trip backstage. I watched the whole thing from backstage. But it didn't take me long to realized what I was seeing...When George stepped up on the podium, it hit me. This was the last time I'll ever see a Discovery man on the top step, or anywhere in the race for that matter. After the top three were presented, George was asked to remain on stage. He was soon joined by folks like Sean Petty, Alex Steada, Kevin Livingston, Johan Bruyneel and others in a tribute to an American dynasty. (The biggest applause of the day was no doubt saved for Johan.) These were men who created American cycling starting with folks like Sean being instrumental in taking Americans to race in Europe. (This is when it really hit me, and I started crying backstage...and struggled to regain myself for about an hour aftewards.) They were soon joined by the rest of the Discovery riders and crew. This was the most memorable part of the day for me. I know I'll never forget seeing my hero on an American stage with the team he built, no matter whether it was the men who came before or after him. I hope the other people realize what they saw today and know what it really means to the sport to see the era of 711, Motorola, US Postal, and Discovery go out on top. Each man on stage was given an amazing painting displaying the whole era of these men, from Alex Steada winning all five jerseys in one day of the Tour, to Contidor's recent victory. When the Discovery team exited the stage, the filed out of the green room area back to their bus. I took advantage of this!!! I grabbed Angie's sharpie (since she'd borrowed mine earlier this week) and made my own opening in the fence. I stood there waiting for a second for Johan to walk out and asked him to sign my hat. (I already have his autograph, but this'll be the last time I'll have the chance to see him in person.)Things quickly quieted down and it didn't take long to break down Hospitality. A small group of us sat at one of the round tables and opened a few bottles of the Missouri Wine. I even had a tiny, half glass! One by one, others joined us and we cleaned out whatever was left over of the Michelob Ultra (sponsor plug!) (I stuck with water.) We toasted eachother and laughed at eachother for a few hours. A lot of talk was about how incredibally successful this event was. The crowds were amazing!!! I really can't wait to see how the numbers compare to California and Georgia. Around 7pm, we finally decided to part ways and go to our hotels, only to rejoin a few hours later at the Wrap Up Party!Jim Felt of Felt Bicycles took part in helping to rent a new restaurant/club in town, Fifteen. The team dinner took place upstairs, a buffet was set up downstairs, and the bar was located in the back. We all enoyed the best food we'd had all week and quickly glided through two bottles of Chardonay. (There were only about eight of us, so no real dare there.) More and more folks soon arrived at Fifteen and the party took shape. At first it was mostly staff and volunteers there, then one by one, riders began to show up. Around 10:30, the Discovery team showed up and it seemed like the party picked back up a notch. There're a few things I've noticed about Discovery at after parties. 1) Where ever the noise/music is, George isn't. 2) Where ever Benjamin Noval is, Contidor is close by (and vise versa). 3) Popovich is the life of the party!!! The man never stops dancing! So the shuttle service back to the hotel was ending at midnight. Around 11:45, I said good bye to most of my friends, snapped a few pictures, and made my one, last, daring attempt...I asked Johan for one last picture. And I got my wish.Tomorrow afternoon I leave St. Louis and fly home. I leave behind one amazing week. From Kansas City chills, to Branson nights, to Irish Bars, and seeing my hero for the last time in person, ever. (I'll never forget him tapping me on the shoulder asking me to hold Lance's first ever Trek Madone when Lance won the sprint into Rome in the Tour de Georgia.)Thanks for reading and following along with my journey through the Tour of Missouri, the first of many to come.Sadly signing off,JC
ps. Ok, I admit, I cried over halfway through this report...
So this is the end...this is the end of the Tour and the end of what's being called a dynasty. Today was one of the most amazing days of my life for quite a few reasons, and I know it will stay with me for a long, long time.This morning started off not quite as bright and early as the rest. We had planned to leave at 9am, however, we wound up simply meeting downstairs for a long breakfast at 9am with quite a bit of fun and laughter. Being the overachiever I am (and securing my jobs for the Tour of California, Georgia, and US Pros for next year, I was prepared as always. I had a small breakfast before the rest of my group reached the dining room and by the time they did, I had already pulled the car to the front of the hotel and was ready to pack Virginia's bags when she brought them down. After a second breakfast (everyone elses' first), we headed out for downtown St. Louis and the end of this year's Tour of Missouri.We arrived downtown around 11am. By the time we got there, Hospitality had looked like we'd already been there for hours. Pretty much everything was set up, give or take a few auction items, etc. One thing we noticed when walking up was that Hospitality was placed right in front of a water fountain across from Union Station. When the wind blew, the water was sprayed over the tent and onto the folks (at that time of day, spraying us!) walking in front. That soon had to be addressed! We had word from the caterer that the water was causing condensation on the inside of the tent that was leaking. Another two hours later, he threatened that if the fountains weren't turned off, that they were going to pack up and leave. (The fountains were later turned off around 3pm.) We had a few meetings take place before Hospitality opened and the race began. The two things being addressed were the awards ceremony and, most importantly, the tribute taking place afterwards.The race started in it's usual ceremonial order. It was really hard to notice the race with all the craziness at Hospitality. Again, we'd had a line forming over an hour before we planned to open at noon. We opened 15 minutes early to accomodate the special day. A few of us had special jobs on the day so our time at Hospitality check in was less than normal. Ryan was handling the caravan rides for special VIPs. Each VIP and their guests got one lap ride in one of three VIP vehicles. I was a runner for the day. I didn't have much running around to do during the beginning of the race so, for the most part, I could take it easy, just merely helping out with check in. My main job would come at the end of the race. I took a break midday to run to the car to get a new card for my camera. On the way, I saw Jered, one of the Disco workers. I'd met him earlier this week so I said hi and he handed me a packet of Discovery rider's cards. I told him I'd intended to buy a Discovery hat, but they'd sold out earlier in the week (they're selling all of Disco's gear this week). He told me he'd gotten more hats and even gave me one for free! I happily wore it all day, along with my favorite Discovery t-shirt. About halfway into the race, I got a great visit from my cousin, her husband, and their 6 month old baby Madison. It was really neat to take some time and see them. I even got them into Hospitality to enjoy the race. With one lap to go, I made my way over to the announcer's stage and was able to watch the end of the race from there. My job was to wait for the official race results to come in from Phoenix Timing and quicly run it over to Virginia at the Awards Stage. I watched the final sprint and was ready to do my job, but I knew something was wrong when Chris Aronholt went running onto the course as local rider Brad Huff caught the barriers and did some terrifying arcobatics a few meters from the line. There was a major hush everywhere! Even the results took a bit longer to come by. But when Brad crossed the line, I got the results from Stephanie and ran them over to Awards. Once I handed the results off to Virginia, I began helping where I could set up for Awards, like set aside the champaign, hand out the jerseys to their presenters, and make sure Bearemy the Build a Bear didn't trip backstage. I watched the whole thing from backstage. But it didn't take me long to realized what I was seeing...When George stepped up on the podium, it hit me. This was the last time I'll ever see a Discovery man on the top step, or anywhere in the race for that matter. After the top three were presented, George was asked to remain on stage. He was soon joined by folks like Sean Petty, Alex Steada, Kevin Livingston, Johan Bruyneel and others in a tribute to an American dynasty. (The biggest applause of the day was no doubt saved for Johan.) These were men who created American cycling starting with folks like Sean being instrumental in taking Americans to race in Europe. (This is when it really hit me, and I started crying backstage...and struggled to regain myself for about an hour aftewards.) They were soon joined by the rest of the Discovery riders and crew. This was the most memorable part of the day for me. I know I'll never forget seeing my hero on an American stage with the team he built, no matter whether it was the men who came before or after him. I hope the other people realize what they saw today and know what it really means to the sport to see the era of 711, Motorola, US Postal, and Discovery go out on top. Each man on stage was given an amazing painting displaying the whole era of these men, from Alex Steada winning all five jerseys in one day of the Tour, to Contidor's recent victory. When the Discovery team exited the stage, the filed out of the green room area back to their bus. I took advantage of this!!! I grabbed Angie's sharpie (since she'd borrowed mine earlier this week) and made my own opening in the fence. I stood there waiting for a second for Johan to walk out and asked him to sign my hat. (I already have his autograph, but this'll be the last time I'll have the chance to see him in person.)Things quickly quieted down and it didn't take long to break down Hospitality. A small group of us sat at one of the round tables and opened a few bottles of the Missouri Wine. I even had a tiny, half glass! One by one, others joined us and we cleaned out whatever was left over of the Michelob Ultra (sponsor plug!) (I stuck with water.) We toasted eachother and laughed at eachother for a few hours. A lot of talk was about how incredibally successful this event was. The crowds were amazing!!! I really can't wait to see how the numbers compare to California and Georgia. Around 7pm, we finally decided to part ways and go to our hotels, only to rejoin a few hours later at the Wrap Up Party!Jim Felt of Felt Bicycles took part in helping to rent a new restaurant/club in town, Fifteen. The team dinner took place upstairs, a buffet was set up downstairs, and the bar was located in the back. We all enoyed the best food we'd had all week and quickly glided through two bottles of Chardonay. (There were only about eight of us, so no real dare there.) More and more folks soon arrived at Fifteen and the party took shape. At first it was mostly staff and volunteers there, then one by one, riders began to show up. Around 10:30, the Discovery team showed up and it seemed like the party picked back up a notch. There're a few things I've noticed about Discovery at after parties. 1) Where ever the noise/music is, George isn't. 2) Where ever Benjamin Noval is, Contidor is close by (and vise versa). 3) Popovich is the life of the party!!! The man never stops dancing! So the shuttle service back to the hotel was ending at midnight. Around 11:45, I said good bye to most of my friends, snapped a few pictures, and made my one, last, daring attempt...I asked Johan for one last picture. And I got my wish.Tomorrow afternoon I leave St. Louis and fly home. I leave behind one amazing week. From Kansas City chills, to Branson nights, to Irish Bars, and seeing my hero for the last time in person, ever. (I'll never forget him tapping me on the shoulder asking me to hold Lance's first ever Trek Madone when Lance won the sprint into Rome in the Tour de Georgia.)Thanks for reading and following along with my journey through the Tour of Missouri, the first of many to come.Sadly signing off,JC
ps. Ok, I admit, I cried over halfway through this report...
posted by JC Gillespie at 11:40 PM
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