Who is going to be checking out the race? Im taking the 21st off and heading up Sierra Rd for the race and then back down town for the festivities.

I'll be at the Prologue and Sierra Road again with my big flag

I'll be marshaling at prologue, look a guy with a blue and gold messenger bag. Not sure if I will be on Sierra road or not.

I'll be on Sierra Rd., near the top, in my AV kit.

I'll be working the volunteer registration for the finish in San Jose. Hopefully I can get up to Sierra before they close the road. If not, I'll be at the finish line in downtown.

yup, ill be on top of Sierra also.

Had a great time last year - and im gonna remember fresh batteries this time!

I'll be at the Prologue, possibly hanging out flyers for the MS Society about the Waves to Wine (MS150) ride.

Another volunteer course marshal at the Prologue... I have no idea where I'll be

We're needing volunteers for the Stage 5 - ITT here in Solvang on the 23rd. It's a perfect day to view - a FRIDAY! Better yet, make it a l-o-n-g weekend and head to Santa Barbara, just 34 miles south on Sat. morning and watch the start of Stage 6. Savor the awesome S.B. Mediterranean-like atmosphere and then head back to the Bay area in time for work on Monday. A perfect three day weekend.

is it just me or Prologue starts later this year. I remember last time I had to drive to SF to make it to registration table on time. Now from email it seems like check in time is 10 am, so I can park at union city and take a BART there, and still be almost an hour early.

First rider starts at 1pm - I think they were done by that time last year.

Accuweather.com is forecasting typical California winter weather for all of next week (cloudy, windy, and chance of rain). Are you folks going to be real fans and still show up to support the racers?

Same here!

I'm the guy with no helmet! at last year's race.

I'm the guy on the horse behind you guys... j/k!!

I've never been to a race... do they let you ride the course before and after the race? That's cool if they do...

The finish line for Stage 2 is a block from my office, so I'll be taking Tuesday afternoon off.

Depends on the stage. For the long road stages, the have a rolling closure. Cars are blocked from the road for some amount of time before and after the peloton passes. How long is based on road and traffic conditions. They will try to minimize closures in urban areas, but narrow rural roads like Sierra Rd. will be closed to cars for several hours.

In rural areas, bikes are allowed on the course until the lead police escort arrives, about 15 minutes ahead of the racers. As soon as the last racer passes, you're free to bike on the course again, but the road will probably be open to cars soon after.

Who was that cowboy on the top?

He was (is?) the owner of the property along that stretch of road.

Is anyone going to Winters to see the race? I hope to be on Main Street...provided I can find a place to park.

I'll be attending Stage 4 here in Seaside. Cant wait! It will be my first bike race I get to watch in person.

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I saw the end of Stage 2 today in Sacramento. Took me fifteen minutes or so from my place to ride my bike to the state capitol where the stage ended.

Finish loop was 3+ laps around the capitol building downtown, finishing on the street on the north side of the capitol.

Lots of people there. I cruised around and was going to pay $10 for a Jelly Belly musette bag and didn't after they had no change for a twenty. A few yards further down the vendor/sponsor row I got a free one from another stand.

I was on the south side of the capitol and got to see the peloton go by four times. After the race I was talking to one of the motorcycle riding Mavic mechanics (which team was that?) and he was amazed at the number of people on the course (for the whole event). He mentioned the crowd in Davis as "amazing" and "bikes all over the place". He was surpised when I told him that the police cars there have big bicycle logos on their cars and that Bicycling Magazine raves about that place.

I didn't get too many photos and the only decent ones are below: (1) Finish Line, (2) Looking back to the finish line (right to left was the race path), (3) a big screen there, (4) the Toyota-United team had some similarly dressed spokespeople handing out team logo and roster emblazoned metal bells to ring in exchange for name and email address, so I dutifully lined up to get one. Note the bells near the girl's arm here......


Sacramento Stage 2 Finish Line
Beyond the Finish Line
Big Screen
Toyota-United Team Bell Giveaway

Mavic, Shimano and SRAM often provide neutral support at races. The yellow Mavic guys have been at it for a very long time, and since you mentioned it, a former sppt mgr for Mavic was a fellow that used to manage the ASUCD Bike Barn (student run bike shop) on the UC Davis campus.

You folks are sure lucky you get to play hooky from work and go check out these stages as they come through your towns. Like Christopher Walken said on SNL, "..I need more cowbell!..." (keep those pics coming!) Thanks for sharing.

I added a few photos of the Mavic vehicles to that flikr set. Click on one of the links in my post above to see them.