Tour of California February 2009

For Christmas, I bought my dad a dinner with the riders in the Amgen Tour of California. 2009 is Lance Armstrong's return year, and there was a lot of hype about him riding in a domestic race. My dad and I bike on the weekends (definitely nowhere near a TOC rider level) and he and my mom watch cycling on tv, so they were very excited about attending the race. In fact, I think my mom was almost more excited at seeing the announcers than the cyclists, which, as my dad said, was because you see more of them on tv than you do the cyclists!






We flew to Sacramento for the first race, the prologue time trial. It was cold, but luckily the rain held off until after the race. It was interesting to wander through all the booths and events before the race, and of course, during a time trial you are guaranteed to see every cyclist. I was surprised at the turnout; the news later said it was the best Sacramento had ever had for the tournament. I even got to see Kevin Johnson, KJ of the Phoenix Suns!!

At dinner we had our photos taken with a few of the more pleasant cyclists, even a few who didn't speak English! Thanks to team Saxobank and Ivan Basso for posing with me and my dad in photos!

The Coast of Northern California

My parents and I traveled to Sacramento for the Tour of California. We arrived a day before the race to scope things out and decided to drive out to the coast. Even with the rain, it was a beautiful drive.

Super Bowl XVIII: Cardinals vs. Steelers

After a long and stressful season, the Cardinals entered the playoffs as the No. 1 seed in the NFC West. Even at #1, they were not favored to win any of their matchups. Yet, in a nailbiter, they defeated the Atlanta Falcons. Hope began to appear on the horizon. The next week they dispatched Carolina, at Carolina, in bad weather. People in Phoenix could barely contain their excitement, yet we had so many reasons to doubt, and then, in the NFC Championship, the Cardinals dominated the Eagles. The town went crazy, people were in shock, waiting for ice to coat the I-10, the Cardinals were headed to the Superbowl, led by Larry Fitzgerald & co.





The Cardinals played a good game, but a few huge errors, and the Steelers' coverage of Larry Fitzgerald, lost us the game. But we made it there, and hopefully we will again next year!

There was a lone Steelers fan at the Super Bowl party. Luckily he left at halftime, so we didn't have to watch the celebration at the end of the game.