Monday 8 September 2014

Tour of Alberta stage 5 spectating

I thought the prologue spot we staked out on the last turn was some great viewing of the Tour of Alberta, until I got an email that I couldn't believe at first.  Erik... Do you and a friend want to ride in the Team Canada car with coach Gotd Fraser on the last day, which is 11 laps of a pure downtown urban course in Edmonton?  Hell yeah!

Very memorable. Gord is funny. I broke the ice with the story of him validating my life pursuits in cycling by saying "nice pull man" once in Tucson on the Shootout like 7 years ago. From there on in we got the multi display of driving (including a very thorough display of Nissan traction control systems) on the wet course with right corners, while handing bottles, talking to other teams,  talking to riders (protocol: fold in your mirrors so you can drive closer... yes that close), opening gum, and taking notes on a clipboard of which riders are in the break while also helping draft a rider back up who's two feet off your bumper at 45kph. It's all awesome.  I felt bad at one point leading up not bringing Cindy, but I realized about 1km in it was the right call for her motion sickness.  We saw the shelled riders, saw the crashed riders and blood, the mechanical assistance, the help between teams, and the ever important support car pee break. 

3 laps to go. 

Feed. 

Hill is what cracked the peloton as usual. 

Ha! (It's a cutout board you put your head in). 

The weather driving back was pretty awful. Despite doing 130kph in a sports car that I've had within spitting distance of 300kph and can stop short due to it's weight, I'm being passed by jalopy trucks pulling trailers in the rain while tailgating cars in front of them. Idiots don't know enough about physics to realize they aren't exempt from it. Geez. 

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