wow.

Wow. I left work at about 3:30 this afternoon catch the end of stage one of the Tour of Missouri. I wasn’t certain what to expect in terms of attendance and parking, but it seems that the word definitely made it out and this was a very successful beginning to the first major professional stage race ever in the Midwest. After landing a parking space, I headed down to Ward Parkway on foot and was lucky enough to find a street-side spot about 50 yards beyond the finish line.

At the end of the stage (85 mi.), there were three circuits through the Plaza. I snuck into place just a few minutes before the peloton passed through for the third time. After passing by, they did the final circuit, and then just coasted by me one final time after the finish. Wow! You could feel the energy in the air…in the riders…and in the crowd…and I just loved that WHOOOOSH WHOOOSH WHOOOOOSH sound as the riders passed by. Well done, Governor Blunt and the Missouri Tourism Bureau.

Ivan Dominguez of Cuba came away with the stage win for Toyota-United. Okay…so Lance did not lead today’s peloton, although this was a swan song ride for the Discovery Channel Team. I do believe that there will be a trip to France for the Tour at some point in our future...and at the very least, you can bet that we'll make every effort to be along the course next time the Tour of Missouri comes through KC!