With an hour to go before the Tour of California racers arrive in downtown Santa Rosa, hundreds of people were streaming in to see the race and others stood in the steady rain to secure their vantage spots.
"We're going to Paris for the Tour de France, this is a dry run, but it's a wet run," said Anita Shepherd of San Anselmo.
Shepherd and her husband, Greg White, were standing at the rail at the finish line on Third Street, and said they were the first to claim those spots at 11 a.m.
The off-and-on showers predicted for Monday were mostly on, leaving downtown soggy and keeping the crowds down.
Sarah Hadley of the Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition, which was offering free parking for bicycle riders, had parked 100 by 1 p.m., but in good weather would expect more.
"We have room for over 300, we definitely would have more bikes, we'd definitely run of space," Hadley said. "The hard-core people are coming out."
The Amgen Tour of California riders are expected to race into downtown about 3 p.m. after a ride from Davis.
It's the second day of the event, which has drawn some of the top international racers and is considered one of the prominent races worldwide.
The booths along Third and Fourth streets and in Courthouse Square were offering were offering shelter, along with their wares.
"We would be riding the course, but we opted to walk around here instead, so we got rained out," said Mark Giffin of Olympia, Wash., who with five others were spending a week in Sonoma County to ride and see the race.
Giffin had taken shelter in the RadioShack booth.
The booths are for exposure more than commerce, said Richard Peacock, owner of Spoke Folk Cyclery in Healdsburg.
"We decided we should have a presence this year ... not everybody knows we are up there," Peacock said. "A lot of people are surprised to come up to Healdsburg to ride and there's a bike shop there."
"The biggest thing for us is the awareness it brings to cycling," said Phil Scheidler of NorCal Bike Sport of Santa Rosa. The tour "brings it to the front, cycling in Sonoma County, it helps all of us bike shops."
Scheidler said actual sales at the event are few.
"Years ago I had a couple who got excited watching the peloton go by, they came in and paid a couple of thousand dollars for bicycles," Scheidler said.
Sponsors of the major racing teams were setting up and selling T-shirts, hats and jerseys in the team colors.
For team sponsor Jelly Belly Candy Co., though, its not the merchandise sales are less important than the opportunity to show off new jelly bean flavors and the new energy Sport Beans.
"This is our biggest event, as far as spectators and crowds," said marketing manager Stephanie Scott. "You can't beat it."
The new flavors were Mango Pineapple Salsa, Honey Dipped Apple and Blueberry Muffin.
Along Third Street near the finish line, tour organizer AEG, sponsor Amgen and many of the major sponsors were setting up VIP tents, complete with bicycle-themed decor, food, wine, beer and couches.
Oakley sunglass workers were looking at the threatening skies that could affect sales in the merchandise booths. They may sell a couple of hundred pairs of the cycling glasses, which are worn by many of the riders, but they are here mostly for the exposure, Sean Abayta of Mission Viejo said.
"It's good to be in bike shops, but it's good to be here," Abayta said.
Nissan has a booth for its new Leaf electric car, but also was letting people have their picture taken and dropped into a cycling magazine cover alongside Lance Armstrong.
The Leaf is one of the sponsors of Armstrong's RadioShack team.
A number of downtown Santa Rosa streets will be closed throughout the day for the race, forcing detours for motorists and affecting Santa Rosa CityBus, Sonoma County Transit and Golden Gate Transit.
Jim Wagner of Sonoma County Transit said the agency is keeping the Santa Rosa Transit Mall open and will work around the downtown street closures.
"We shouldn't be affected too bad," Wagner said. "We will be missing the bus stop at Mendocino and Seventh, and when the streets are closed during the race, we will staging buses north and south of downtown to keep the rest of the schedule on time. This is the game plan and I hope it will work."
You can reach Staff Writer Bob Norberg at 521-5206 or bob.norberg@pressdemocrat.com.
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