Amgen Tour of California- Stage 4 finish, Clovis California

It was the most beautiful day in a long time and I got to spend the afternoon being awed by professional cyclists.

The riders started Stage 4 in Merced and made the 4+ hour trek by bike through the snowy hills of Oakhurst and Mariposa, and then zoomed into town at crazy speeds up to 60 miles an hour. I was able to watch with the thousands of others on a big screen as the peloton fought to catch up to the three leaders (who had a 5 minute lead but blew it at the end) and see the town I live in shown in such glory- never knew Fresno and Clovis looked so good on TV :)

I positioned my self half way down the last 600 yards and got a great spot on the rail. I waited i anticipation and then felt the huge gust of wind as a hundred or more cyclists speed past me inches away from my face- nearly ripping the camera from my hands (well not that close but it was just a little guard rail protecting my tootsies from getting rolled over which the event workers said had happened before).

I almost caught the main group of sprinters on video as they made their mad dash to the finish line but they came so fast I only caught a little of them and but got all of the second group of riders who had positioned their teams sprinters before they got to the final mile sprint.

Cavendish of Team Columbia-Highroad won the stage but he only won by a tire tread- it was unbelievable. I thought only horse races had photo finishes! Otherwise the overall race leaders have remained the same with Lance Armstrong in 4th. Who by the way I almost touched!!! He cooled off by riding down Live Strong Alley after the race but of course I couldn't get my camera out fast enough to get a snap shot of him :(

For more on the Tour of California visit http://www.amgentourofcalifornia.com/homepage.html