the tour of missouri rolled across the state this last week, energizing cyclist and cycling fans alike. it may have even gotten a few couch potatoes up and out of the house to witness all of the hooplah. after seeing the finish in st. charles on saturday, the beautiful mrs k and i loaded the kids up and took them to downtown st. louis for the final stage. we went early so the kids could cruise "autograph alley" and get some cool stuff from their heros. here, they are waiting outside the columbia motor home hoping to catch george, cavendish, or bernard eisel.
while waiting, the columbia handlers brought out the super trick team bikes. the bike with #1 on the seat post is georges. note the zipp 808 on the rear, only eisel had one of those. also, george was the only one to have the dura ace 7900 stuff. the kids didn't care. they just liked the cool bikes.
the crazy kids caught george. he was quiet, as always, but very willing to sign the kids stuff. he signed tyson's tour of missouri badge, and hanna's triathlon medal.
cavendish was next, and he was all smiles. he's a little guy, but that's not fooling anyone. he must have some kind of nuclear reactor in that small frame of his.
eli kept trying to yell out "bernard!" but wasn't quite getting it. deanna told bernard that, and he said, "just call me bernie!" the kids got a kick out of that. bernie signed eli's sleeve, and even gave him a columbia hat and signed that! what a class act.
he was the envy of the crowd with his signed cycling cap. you can see his sleeve is signed, too. the sun made a brief appearance here, followed minutes later by quick showers.
rock racing brought their "b" team to race the tour of missouri, but that doesn't mean their bikes aren't cool as hell!
photos with the very nice riders from the symmetrics squad. the kids were having a blast, and everyone cracked up when someone said "the kid has the wrong hat on!"
we were lucky enough to catch christian vandevelde as he was getting ready to warm up.
christian signed eli's other sleeve. he was a very good sport about it. he signed hanna's page and tyson's badge, too. awesome!
the man of the hour, vdv. he took all the marbles this time, ahead of a hard charging columbia team. what a great event. we are very lucky to have such a well organized stage race here in the heartland of america. it is contracted to come again in 2009, so make plans next year to be there and support it!
the tour of missouri rolled across the state this last week, energizing cyclist and cycling fans alike. it may have even gotten a few couch potatoes up and out of the house to witness all of the hooplah. after seeing the finish in st. charles on saturday, the beautiful mrs k and i loaded the kids up and took them to downtown st. louis for the final stage. we went early so the kids could cruise "autograph alley" and get some cool stuff from their heros. here, they are waiting outside the columbia motor home hoping to catch george, cavendish, or bernard eisel.
while waiting, the columbia handlers brought out the super trick team bikes. the bike with #1 on the seat post is georges. note the zipp 808 on the rear, only eisel had one of those. also, george was the only one to have the dura ace 7900 stuff. the kids didn't care. they just liked the cool bikes.
the crazy kids caught george. he was quiet, as always, but very willing to sign the kids stuff. he signed tyson's tour of missouri badge, and hanna's triathlon medal.
cavendish was next, and he was all smiles. he's a little guy, but that's not fooling anyone. he must have some kind of nuclear reactor in that small frame of his.
eli kept trying to yell out "bernard!" but wasn't quite getting it. deanna told bernard that, and he said, "just call me bernie!" the kids got a kick out of that. bernie signed eli's sleeve, and even gave him a columbia hat and signed that! what a class act.
he was the envy of the crowd with his signed cycling cap. you can see his sleeve is signed, too. the sun made a brief appearance here, followed minutes later by quick showers.
rock racing brought their "b" team to race the tour of missouri, but that doesn't mean their bikes aren't cool as hell!
photos with the very nice riders from the symmetrics squad. the kids were having a blast, and everyone cracked up when someone said "the kid has the wrong hat on!"
we were lucky enough to catch christian vandevelde as he was getting ready to warm up.
christian signed eli's other sleeve. he was a very good sport about it. he signed hanna's page and tyson's badge, too. awesome!
the man of the hour, vdv. he took all the marbles this time, ahead of a hard charging columbia team. what a great event. we are very lucky to have such a well organized stage race here in the heartland of america. it is contracted to come again in 2009, so make plans next year to be there and support it!
3 comments:
That is SOOOO cool that you and the kids got all those autographs! Talk about cool memories that they'll have for a long time! Definitely a rare way to fuel the cycling flame.
-C. Ryback
Awesome photos TK.
-Neumann
thanks, guys! it was so fun to see how excited they got!
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