Proof positive of cycling's drawing power

<p>The route announcement was made Tuesday with all the pomp and circumstance as if it was the Second Coming, when in fact it was The Fifth Coming, the fifth time the Tour of California will breeze into Santa Rosa. But to truly understand why the route announcement was such a big deal all to itself, understand what it offers.</p><p>About a 20- to 30-second visual payoff for standing in line for two hours.</p><p>To see riders one can not identify.</p><p>That’s the drawing power this sport holds in this city.</p><p>An expected crowd of 40,000 will gather in and around Santa Rosa on May 17, to see many of the world’s top cyclists sprint pass them. In the time it takes to send a text message. If they have a good view. And if they don’t blink.</p><p>“When a pro cyclist sprints past you at 30 miles an hour, it is virtually impossible to pick out anyone,” said Bill Ellis, an avid cyclist and the one who plans all the road closures for the city. “You don’t see, for example, Lance Armstrong. You see a blur.”</p><p>If Armstrong is in the peloton and the peloton numbers, say, 50 riders, Armstrong could be wearing a pith helmet, a garter belt and red pumps and he still couldn’t be singled out.</p><p>Yet, the people will show up, part of the 1.6 million spectators who are expected to line California roads for the May 16-23 event. In Santa Rosa they will begin arriving at the finish line at least by 1 p.m. on Monday the 17th, two full hours before the Stage 2 winner is expected to cross the finish line.</p><p>And there will be other people, Ellis promises, who will not have seen the street signs, read the newspaper, listened to the radio or watched television. They will take the Third Street exit off 101, make a right, heading east to the brew pub, only to see the sea of humanity and say to themselves, “Something must be going on today downtown.” They will see all the barricades, all the police and fire and EMTs and they will be impressed, but not nearly as impressed as Ellis will be.</p><p>“What we have done will resemble much of the preparation needed for a natural disaster,” Ellis said. That motorist, now driving east on Third Street, might get lucky and experience one of the most unique moments in American sports history.</p><p>“If his timing is just right,” Ellis said, “Lance Armstrong (also heading east) will be passing him.”</p><p>The three lanes on Third Street, normally heading west, will be blocked off for the racers as they sprint east to the finish line. The three lanes normally headed east will be divided into two lanes going east and one lane going west.</p><p>This is assuming the motorist knows who Lance Armstrong is. That motorist will be in the minority that day. And that speaks to the iconic nature of the event.</p><p>What other sporting event in this country could get 40,000 people to stand for two hours, huddled together like they are waiting to board one gigantic Greyhound bus, so they could sneak a 30-second glimpse at their hero? Oh, and not be so frustrated they will turn over and burn cars or trash cans?</p><p>The four previous Tours that ended in Santa Rosa have been completed with little muss or fuss. Benign is the operative word here, and the city noticed that. So benign, in fact, the city decided to extend playtime. A city expo and street fair will be held at a parking lot adjacent to riders’ staging area between D and E streets on Second Street, an affair expected to last at least until sunset.</p><p>The riders will be relatively accessible, with the only exception being Armstrong, who most likely will have his own security detail, as he had last year. Armstrong was the only rider who entered Santa Rosa last year with his own protective entourage.</p><p>Even though Ellis has been in charge of minimizing traffic chaos for the past four years, this one comes to him with an added twist. Stage 2 of the Tour of California arrives in Santa Rosa on a business day. The previous four were held on President’s Day, a holiday. A holiday freed the streets up a bit but the weather — cold and rainy last year — created grumpy riders and spectators. Note: Next Monday is President’s Day and the forecast is for a high of 63 degrees with a 20 percent chance of rain.</p><p>“Some business owners downtown might let their workers off early,” Ellis said.</p><p>Or, they could utter the following statement to their employees, which would do wonders for office morale: “I know Lance Armstrong is passing by our window right now but I need you to finish those spreadsheets, gosh darn it.” Sure, Ellis admits, the finish line is the preferred audience site. But an alternative, and a salient one it is, is the top of a climb, the riders cresting at Howell Mountain, or the Oakville Grade, or Trinity.</p><p>“When the riders near the top of a steep climb,” Ellis said, “they are going maybe only 15 miles an hour. You actually get to see them, to see their faces especially. They are going slow enough that you can see how difficult it is what they are doing.</p><p>You can actually tell someone, ‘I saw Lance suffering’ and how often can you say that?</p><p>“Otherwise, if you wait for them in the flatlands, they’ll go by you at 30 miles an hour and you’ll turn to the person next to you and say, ‘Who was that?’”</p><p>And thus you have the power of the pre-eminent cyclist. Most spectators will opt for the flatlands and the snapshot. They’ll come by the tens of thousands, knowing he will sprint past them faster than it takes to read this sentence. And they won’t mind.</p><p>So when someone tells you he loves the Raiders, ask him this.</p><p>Would he stand in place for two hours, just to watch JaMarcus Russell throw another interception? I don’t think so.</p><p>For more on North Bay sports, go to Bob Padecky's blog at padecky.blogs.pressdemocrat.com. You can reach Staff Columnist Bob Padecky at 521-5223 or bob.padecky@pressdemocrat.com</p>