Tour of California…Day 1 Prologue!!!

Approaching the finish line, Team Colavita/Sutter Home is cheered on by the thousands of fans on the sidelines.

Wow! What an amazing day. Today marked the first day of the Amgen Tour of California. In the morning, I left the hotel feeling excited but I really had no idea what was in store for me. 

We got to the Prologue at about 11:30 and already the place was packed. Although rain had been predicted, the sun was shining and it wasn’t too bad out. Thousands of spectators filled the streets of Sacramento; everyone was enjoying the Lifestyle Festival and the anticipation of the start of the Tour of California. 

I couldn’t believe how many bicyclists were at the event. Before joining Sutter Home, I had no idea what a huge production the Tour of California was, and I could tell I was getting the cycling fever.  

After checking out the Lifestyle Festival, Wendy and I went into the VIP section where we surveyed the finish line with a glass of Sutter Home Chardonnay in hand.

Wendy-getting a celebratory glass of wine to kick off the Prologue

I started to get really excited when I saw our Colavita/Sutter Home cyclists warming up on the road. It was then that I also realized how hard it was going to be to take pictures of the guys since they were riding by so fast!

One of the Colavita/Sutter Home Riders warming up.

Tyler rode by while warming up but then swung back around to say hi to Wendy and me. What a great guy!

Tom, who also works at Sutter Home, wrote messages to Team Colavita/Sutter Home on the pavement at the finish line.

After checking out the VIP area, we headed over to where Team Colavita/Sutter Home was gearing up for the biggest race in California! 

Here is Sebastian Alexandre, the Director Sportif of Team Colavita/Sutter Home.

Sebastian Haedo getting warmed up.

Look at that helmet with Elvis sideburns

That’s me… with the guys as they warm up. 

Now this is where I had all the fun!

Once the team was ready to race, I got to ride in the car with Sebastian Alexandre, the Director Sportif…behind the cyclists as they did the prologue! It was quite amazing to see how fast our Colavita/Sutter Home team went as we zipped around the course right behind them.

 Sebastian Haedo getting some final pointers from Director Sportif, Sebastian Alexandre