Dear officials from the 2011 Amgen Tour of California:
Was it something we said?
Was it the weather? Did Santa Rosa residents not clang their cow bells loud enough?
Was it because of the talk about moving the finish line out of downtown Santa Rosa? Because if that was the case, we didn't really mean it. We changed our minds about that.
Whatever it was, we're at a loss to understand why you've decided to bypass not only Santa Rosa but the entire Bay Area and North Coast in this year's race.
For the past five years, Santa Rosa has been a stop on the Amgen Tour, the nation's premiere cycling race. But not this time. As you announced on Thursday, the 2011 route will cover more than 800 miles over eight days - but none of it north of Interstate 80.
The race will start in South Lake Tahoe, then make its way to Sacramento. There's a stage from Auburn to Modesto and one from Livermore to San Jose. But from there racers will head into Southern California, turn inland toward Mount Baldy and finish up in Thousand Oaks.
We don't begrudge Lake Tahoe having a role. The same with Solvang and Paso Robles. But you can't beat the North Coast for visuals. Remember those rolling hills, the ocean views and the guy with the antler helmet who ran along with the riders on Coleman Valley Road? How can you pass that up?
We're a little encouraged by what Levi Leipheimer had to say about all of this. He hinted that Santa Rosa may be heavily involved in the 2012 race.
He said this will be "a good break for Santa Rosa" because "we're going to need two years to prepare for next year."
We hope that turns out to be the case. Few locals have worked harder to keep Santa Rosa in the loop than Leipheimer, a three-time tour winner, who will be leading 6,000 cyclists on the second annual Leipheimer King Ridge GranFondo ride this Saturday. The ride is a fundraiser to help Santa Rosa come up with the $200,000 needed to host a tour stop.
Leipheimer says the money from this year's ride - expected to be about $60,000 - will go toward whatever is coming in 2012.
OK. We're still disappointed. But we will keep our cow bells and antlers dry. And we will wait. But don't forget us.
We'll leave the light on.
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