Great race, fantastic crowds - but if you follow mainstream media, virtually NOTHING. Even the NY Times, which is pretty good @ covering major bike races - NADA. Not even a blip in their short items or the G.C. results on the stats page.

And TV coverage? It was fine - except for those idiotic 'we have the Phonak Team Manager on this barely audible cellphone link' moments. But ESPN 2? That's the channel for women's pro bowling and lumberjack competitions. In fact the only reason I Tivo'd the race was because I was alerted to it here. Otherwise I would have read about it in next month's Velo News. They really have to find a better way to get mass media exposure for this great event.

Maybe the crowds that thronged the course routes - this may be the best attended sporting event in CA since the 1984 Olympics - know something the media doesn't. That was very encouraging. Let's hope this race continues to thrive - sure beats the hell out of racing in Flanders in 40º*wet April weather (just shoot me with that crap). What a great venue for a bike race with world class competition. Who knows? Maybe smart locales (with weather that doesn't SUCK) will help put a fork in this ******** 'Euro Classic' idiocy yet (cue obligatory Euro rant). Even if it had been rainy it wouldn't have been 40º and the riders wouldn't be on deadly Euro cobble roads. Can't beat those baby-ass smooth 4 lane CA mtn highways, eh?


They may all be crazy in California, but God bless 'em, they do love their cycling : ).