Chuck Hodge is a graphic designer but, of course, he doesn't call himself that. He couldn't. After all, imagine this: Hodge approaches the people necessary for him to do his job - physicians, firefighters, law enforcement - and says, "Hi, I'm Chuck Hodge, graphic designer for the 2012 Amgen Tour of California, and I need your help." No, that wouldn't work. Might even get Hodge arrested or at least subject to a thorough mental evaluation.
Hodge, 39, has a job title for the 2012 Tour far less descriptive and flavorful, to the point you might be tempted to blink and, uninterested, let him pass into oblivion: Race Technical Director. Sounds almost benign. Like a numbers cruncher huddled in a back room, the room dark except for the single desk lamp illuminating Hodge staring at data reports.
The reality, however, is far different. Hodge has a three-part job for the Tour: Provide the riders with a challenge, coordinate all the entities to keep the roads, riders and spectators safe and make the 750 miles of the Tour look real, real purty. It's that last part that requires the imagination of a graphic designer. Hodge can give the riders a big sweat and can have the race safe as a baby nestled in momma's arms. But if it doesn't televise well, if Hodge fails to present some drop-dead-gorgeous landscapes, he has failed at his job.
And it wasn't like this is the 2012 Amgen Tour of Iowa. This is California, the ultimate photo op, blessed with every chunk of photogenic nature, save for an Arctic ice floe.
"We could hold the entire Tour of California right here in Sonoma County," said famous resident Levi Leipheimer, "and never repeat the same route twice. We would have something different each day. The redwoods, the ocean, the vineyards, the vistas, that's why I love living here."
"In my mind," said Hodge, listing the requirements for Stage One, which will begin and end in Santa Rosa on May13, "the first priority was getting to the coast."
That presented Hodge with his first problem because of what he decided was his second-most important criteria.
"We had to get to Windsor through the vineyards," Hodge said.
Getting to the coast would, by default, mean a route that would go up and over King Ridge, the iconic piece of asphalt made famous by Leipheimer's GranFondo. Hodge was quite aware of the appeal of King Ridge, especially with the Amgen Tour having bypassed Santa Rosa in 2011. The King Ridge climb was the one and only video of the county the world saw last year. King Ridge has a solid fan base and it seemed almost a necessary inclusion to the 2012 Stage One.
Hodge tussled over that one. He wanted both. Then realized he couldn't.
"If we had included both," Hodge said, "that would have been very rough on the riders. We didn't want the toughest part of the race to be in the beginning because it would have hit the riders pretty hard, separated the pack and the rest of the week would have been just a parade."
Leipheimer pushed for King Ridge to be included but didn't grind on it for very long.
"It was a good compromise," said Leipheimer, swapping vineyards for King Ridge.
On the other hand, the compromise gave Leipheimer an idea.
"I've got the headline for your column," Leipheimer said."It says: &‘King Ridge Too Hard For Tour Of California"
So vineyards stay. King Ridge go. That led to another decision, one Hodge had never made before, and that was saying a lot. Hodge was the technical director for the 2000 U.S. Olympic Trials. He has been a National Championship technical director of USA Cycling. He is the technical director for the U.S. Pro Cycling Championships in Colorado. He has done tours of Georgia and Missouri. He has done all seven California tours. He has done all that as an employee of Medalist Sports of Atlanta.
In other words, Hodge has the skins on the wall. You will not find a more respected technical director/graphic designer in American cycling.
Which makes the compliment Hodge gave to Santa Rosa that more impressive.
Stage One will contain two loops through Santa Rosa, a non-competitive loop at the start, then a second loop to Windsor and back, before the riders make a third and final entrance to the finish line after going to the coast. For downtown spectators to see the peloton pass by them three times, Hodge has a word for it.
"Unique," Hodge said. "The guys go out (to Windsor) and then return to Santa Rosa before going out again to the coast. I have never done a stage race with an opening route, an intermediate route and then the finish before."
Is that because this was a nod of appreciation to Santa Rosa, for the support the city and the county gave to the Tour of California in its embryonic stage back in 2005, when the idea of a state-wide pro cycling event appeared to be no more than a novelty?
"Yes," Hodge said. "Santa Rosa and Sonoma County have been a very good partner for us."
That is not mere lip service. The first meeting about the Tour of California was in 2005. Hodge was there - inside Santa Rosa's City Hall.
"And then to watch it grow, to where it is now ..."
The graphic designer could take a bow right about now and should. After all, Hodge has come a long way himself. He is a 1995 graduate of Furman University - with a degree in history.
"Like I've said many times before," Hodge said, "this is what you do with a degree in history."
And Leipheimer would like to say what Chuck Hodge has done with his history degree.
"We are going to blow them away," Leipheimer said of the Stage One route.
For more 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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