Don't Blink

I love watching bike races with people who don't understand them. Tuesday afternoon the Tour of California came to, I mean through, Davis. The route that day started in Santa Rosa, then through Napa Valley, past Lake Berryessa, into the valley, through Davis and onto Sacramento. The eta in Davis was between 12:30 - 2:30pm, yes, a two hour window. I ended up watching the race at F & Covell, about a block from my house, a great corner since after they made the turn they climbed the highest point in Davis, the railroad over-crossing. I found a spot amongst other spectators and we wiled away our time chatting. Most didn't have a clue about the race or bike racing in general, so I got to play expert from time to time. Down the street we could see that the elementary school kids were let out to watch, they were very enthusiastic whenever the cops or race vehicles went through but their energy began to wane. Fortunately at about this time the final group of cops and Highway Patrol came through confirming everything was ready and right behind them was the solo rider. He only had about a 7 minute lean on the rest of the peleton, so as he made the turn onto Covell we returned to socializing. A few around me started making jokes about how fast it was and some mumbles were heard about the length of time waiting versus time spent watching. Soon another wave of cop motorcycles went through, more cheering erupted down the street and then they came into view. It is a rush, a quick one but a definite rush watching 130 riders bunched so tightly together that one wrong move can send the whole peleton to the ground. They spin by within seconds but the sound comes first and lasts until they are out of sight. Then they are gone. The crowd around me looks around a bit, but I no longer hear comments about the wait. It was worth the wait.