Santa Rosa 2012

Though we’ve obviously hosted stages of the Tour in the past – in 2006 (Stage 1 Finish), 2007 (Stage 1 Finish and Stage 2 Start), 2008 (Stage 1 Finish and Stage 2 Start), 2009 (Stage 1 Finish), and 2010 (Stage 2 Finish) to be exact – and though we’d never personally witnessed what went into hosting an overall start (we were too darn busy!), we knew hosting the Overall Start of the 2012 Amgen Tour of California would be a much bigger beast in every way. With the surprising relief of not hosting the Tour in 2011, a contingent of the local organizing committee (David and Raissa, committee co-chairs, and Carlos and Yuri from Bike Monkey) was able to go to Tahoe to learn a thing or two.

From our initial impressions of visiting our first overall start host city, a few things on the non-production side of event planning stand out. First is the wackiness of mountain weather in May, and the gratitude that while it may rain on race day in Sonoma County, the likelihood of snow is about nil. We arrived in Tahoe to fabulously warm, flip-flop-friendly sunny weather, and we left in a bitter cold snow storm. We were impressed by how important a sense of place and a cohesive community is when hosting so many people so far in advance of the actual race day (in this, Santa Rosa is ideal), and that a casino environment doesn’t really offer that sense of place and community. To be fair, Tahoe, as everyone knows, is fabulously beautiful and beautifully hospitable, and there’s something to be said about the novelty of seeing professional cyclists meandering about the casinos. It was an interesting and odd trip.

To be sure, we also learned A LOT about the technical side of things that we would need to prepare for. For starters, we saw the large number of meeting rooms, and the large amount of space needed for the organization of large amounts of stuff and people… There’s the pre-delivery of over 200 cars that need to be decaled, equipped, and assigned. There are the signs and banners that need to be organized and distributed for use throughout the 8-day race. There are the staff – about 1,000 people travel with the Tour – who need to be checked in, outfitted in branded clothing for whatever function area they were working, assigned equipment, and fed…

We also learned a lot about the opportunity presented to us. This is a golden opportunity that we know our community can make the best of. We in Sonoma County know how to embrace visitors, make them feel welcome, feed them great food and wine, and give them unique experiences. And of course we’re used to showing off our phenomenal roads that offer training rides worthy of world class athletes and casual riders alike. Sonoma County is unique, and earthy, and real. We’re ready to prove that we’re the best place to start America’s best stage race. It’s going to be epic! And it won’t snow!

Here are some photos from our trip to Tahoe: