Home -- the long way

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Geo: 39.2235, -106

After a longer-than-necessary (but ever so hearty) breakfast at the DoubleTree, we walked down to the start area. None of the team buses were in yet, so we hit the merchandise trailer (again) for another "Hincapie Retirement Party" shirt. Picked up another couple of cowbells (I have a genuine collection going, at this point -- maybe 20 or so?), and then back to wait for the team buses.

We realized we didn't have our autograph flag with us -- a Colorado flag, on which we got Christian Vandevelde and Tom Danielson's signatures last year -- so I went back to to the hotel to grab it. I thought for sure that would have made the teams show up, but no such luck.

They did eventually roll in, though, and the 2 of us split up to try to get autographs. Dejo had no luck with the RadioShack bus, but I did manage to catch Joe Dombrowski -- a young rider with Bontrager Livestrong. I think we'll hear his name a lot in coming years.
I was waiting outside the Omega-Pharma QuickStep RV (yes....a rented RV) to try to get an autograph from last year's winner, Levi Leipheimer, but we had to leave before he came out.

Breckenridge had the most comprehensive information about the various closures and events of any city we'd visited, which was very much appreciated. As such, we knew that we'd have until about 10:25 to get onto the road that would take us to Fairplay. We did so (with not much time to spare, I think), and headed up Hoosier Pass. In all my years of living in Colorado, I'm not sure that I'd ever been over Hoosier. The crowds were good there -- rivaling Independence Pass, I think.

Our friends Andrew & Karen were waiting for us near the sprint point in Fairplay, so we met them there. The field whooshed by in a matter of a few minutes, and then it was, "Huh. That was cool...........Now what?" It was decided that lunch might be nice, and Andrew suggested a good place in Johnson Village, about 20 minutes down the road.

Or 30. Or so. We actually ended up back near Buena Vista, were we'd passed thru a couple of days prior. But it was pretty yummy food.

Since we were relatively close to home, we'd decided to "camp" in our own bed. Heavenly.

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Photos

Omega-Pharma QuickStep's RV
While it seems a little sad, compared to the big tour buses that other teams had, it meant there were less crowds around it.

Now THAT's a cowbell collection!
We saw this gal on Independence Pass last year, and talked to her a bit about her contraption.

Wish I had that water bottle
I saw it get thrown (on the other side of the road, of course), but didn't realize it was George Hincapie's until I was going thru the pictures to put up on this blog. Sigh.

Jasmine, enjoying some fresh air
I wasn't quick enough to get a shot of Marley also sticking her nose out.