A reporter from a Bakersfield newspaper was on the line to Andrew Messick last Thursday. So was one from Nevada City. And Davis. And me, this bowlegged guy from Santa Rosa. We all wanted to know the same thing. Why did you decide to skip our city for the 2011 Tour of California?
Messick, president of AEG Sports, which puts on the event, told us all the same thing.
"We can't be everywhere we want," Messick said.
About an hour later, after the conference call had ended, I was back on the phone to Messick, for a little quality time, you might say.
"Sounds like you would like to be everywhere," I said. "There's only way to solve the dilemma. Make the Tour of California a three-week event, like a European Grand Tour event. That way you get to have everyone you want." AEG, after all, is an aggressive mega-company and is not afraid to let you know that.
Fueled by the success the Tour of California has generated, AEG is forever pushing the outside of the cycling envelope. Like moving the event from February to May. Like going to Tahoe next year. Like being obsessed with a true mountaintop finish. His answer was not what I expected.
"I'm not sure it (three weeks of riding) would be the best thing for the sport," Messick said.
Whaaaaa? This is California, the real-life scenic video game. We even have a place called Death Valley and there's gotta be a photo op and a rehydration promotion in there somewhere.
"We have been very aware of organizing an event that works well with the Tour de France," Messick said. "We wouldn't get the riders we do now if we had a three-week event, like Andy Schleck (one of the world's best riders, for Team Saxo Bank). Riders use us as a prep for the Tour de France."
Riders wouldn't be peaking with their best fitness if they pushed themselves up and down the Sierras, Mount Diablo, Mount Hamilton, Mount Palomar and other assorted bumps in the road.
"I could see us, eventually," Messick said, "extending the tour to nine, 10, maybe 11 days. But no more than 11 days. I think our eight days in May work very well with them arriving at their peak in July."
Messick had just put a limit on the Tour of California, in its length and in its ambition. It was, however, the first time I heard of it. I checked with some people for the city of Santa Rosa. They had not heard of the cap either. Messick was bowing to the Tour de France tradition, acknowledging that race as the ultimate challenge in the sport. Messick admitted it would be foolish -- no matter how beautiful California is or how ambitious AEG is -- to tug on Superman's cape.
It made complete sense. It also meant that Santa Rosa was like what they say about a baseball player with a high ankle sprain: The player is day to day, and Santa Rosa is year to year. For one, Carlos Perez of Bike Monkey, one of the human engines that run the mega-successful Levi's GranFondo, understands the American sports fan's need for variety. He only has to look at the Golden State Warriors, who seemingly change their uniforms every other year, to know that.
"If you did the same route year after year," Perez said, "it would get boring. And we can't go much farther north (than Santa Rosa)." Which leads us to the 2012 Tour of California and the mixed blessing Santa Rosa will receive.
"On one hand, if we get the overall start," said Perez, trying to keep a secret that everyone already knows, "it will mean all the teams and managers, etc., will be in our area for seven to eight days prior to the start. That will be of tremendous benefit to the community. On the other hand, it's the first day of racing. You don't start a tour with a grueling mega-climb or a series of them."
The first day of any multiday cycling event is spent with riders acclimatizing themselves to the environment. A first day is never a burnout. Makes riders grumpy.
"That's not to say we won't climb some hills," Perez said. "There are a lot of valleys around here to showcase."
To be more accurate, there are a lot of vineyards around here to showcase. Then again, if the Tour wants to stay in the Sierra Nevada, we may not see many of those vineyards. The Tour would have to go directly east from Santa Rosa in 2012 to reach those peaks.
"Not necessarily," Messick said. "There are a lot of mountains in California."
Then again, there is a lot of everything in California. It may be another 10 years before AEG gets to everything. Both literally and figuratively, that's the beauty of California. One film clip, even if it's eight days long, just whets the appetite.
That's what Messick is banking on.
That no one will get bored with looking at California.
Or at Santa Rosa, every couple of years.
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.
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