Amgen Tour of California 2009

I just realized I never posted these images! 

My family and I are bike race fans. We watch many of the races on TV. It's been a tradition to watch the Tour de France every Summer. Some of our favorite to watch are Lance Armstrong and Levi Leipheimer. Even my daughters (ages 6 and 7) get into the races.

We were very excited to be able to watch these wonderful athletes ride through our city in the Amgen Tour of California 2008 race. I posted some images I took when I started my blog. Last year it was a beautiful sunny day. At times the sun hid behind the clouds, but the weather was nice and when the racers approached the finish line the sun was on their backs.

This year was a different story. It rained. I wish I had someone to take my picture. I was by myself this year. It would have been nice to have a third hand to hold an umbrella, but I had my jacket hood on instead. I, of course, wanted to protect my camera from the rain, so I jimmy rigged a protective rain cover. It was made of a heavy plastic bag and duck tape. Good old duck tape. What would we do with out it. It worked perfect. My camera stayed dry.

I was excited at the thought of being able to see Lance Armstrong race again. As you may know, he came out of retirement and plans to race in the Tour de France this year.

You can see Lance Armstrong and the rest of the Astana team in this first image. Lance is near the front of  the peloton on the right side of the image. Look for his Livestrong yellow jersey. I'm sure Levi Leipheimer is there as well, but you can't tell which one he is.

I had a great time standing out in the rain with my gear waiting for these amazing athletes and taking pictures like crazy as they raced by. I hope you enjoy my images.

Congratulations to Levi Leipheimer for winning

his third straight Amgen Tour of California!