Faint chalk messages on Third Street cheered on two United Healthcare riders, a few barricades and road closure signs leaned against a curb and some trash still littered sidewalks Monday morning in downtown Santa Rosa.
Those were the only signs that a day earlier downtown was the epicenter for the beginning of the seventh annual Amgen Tour of California and a festival for a crowd estimated at 40,000 - all, officials said, going off without a hitch.
The tents, food vendors, providers of sample smoothies and nutrition bars and sellers of bicycles and bike parts disappeared Sunday evening as quickly as they set up early Sunday.
"We had cleanup crews come through, the tents were broken down around 10 p.m., we had street sweepers come through and Public Works will be picking up the barricade signs," said David Guhin, Santa Rosa's director of engineering services. "It should return to normal very soon."
"It was so smooth and so beautiful, like it was crazy," said Raissa de la Rosa, Santa Rosa's economic development specialist who spearheaded the local organizing committee. "The weather was perfect for the cyclists and when the skies cleared, it was gorgeous, it was fun. The crowds came early and stayed, and behind the scenes there was no issue."
Santa Rosa Police Sgt. Lisa Banayat and CHP Officer Jonathan Sloat said there were no reports of problems during or after the event.
Santa Rosa Mayor Ernesto Olivares said there hadn't been any complaints made to his office or the city manager's.
"Clearly you expect a little hiccup. Maybe there was, maybe someone was delayed going from Point A to Point B, but overall we get a lot of the feedback through Facebook, there were a lot of positive comments. No one has posted anything negative," Olivares said.
AEG Sports of Los Angeles, owner of the Tour of California, also praised Santa Rosa's staging of the event.
"It was a fantastic, fantastic day for the kickoff," said Kristin Bachochin, AEG director of marketing. "The City of Santa Rosa and Sonoma County continue to step it up every year we go there. The overall support is phenomenal."
The city's organizing committee raised $540,000 in donations and in-kind services to pay for the coveted start-finish of Stage One of the eight-day Tour.
It covered the cost of providing hotels and meals for the cycling teams, police and fire services and converting downtown into a racetrack and festival venue.
In return, race visitors spent an estimated $6.8 million locally and the city and county received the exposure of a telecast broadcast to 200 countries.
"We were busy from 11:30 a.m. until the evening. We had a great day. Sales were great. Kudos to the Amgen tour. We hope they come back next year," said Natalie Cilurzo of Russian River Brewing Co. "The hotels were full, and I know that because I was trying to make reservations for a friend."
Downtown merchants said the crowds brought extra business.
"We had a good day, we have a very good day, like a good weekday," said Pete Mogannam at the Fourth Street Market and Deli, which opened Sunday just for the event.
Sift Cupcakery found itself upstaged on Mother's Day, one of it's two busiest days of the year, and opened a temporary location at Coddingtown as well as drumming up business by giving out samples at the downtown Amgen festival.
"Our sales took a partial hit compared to last Mother's Day, but we love Amgen," said Jordan Keith, Sift's director of marketing.
You can reach Staff Writer Bob Norberg at 521-5206 or bob.norberg@
pressdemocrat.com.
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