The Biggest Little City in the World!

After getting scortched in the sprint with horrendous positioning at the Sierra Nevada/Specialized Crit in Folsom, CA earlier in the day, some friends convinced me to come to Reno and watch how the pros do it at the Tour de Nez. Never having been to Reno before, I thought this was a great excuse to see a city I would never have gone to anyway. So with my foul smelling skin suit, I threw the bike back on the car and was off to the "Biggest Little City in the World"!!!

As I motored down the 80, I was befallen by a spectacle that is truly American Made...Cheesy Looking Casino hotels rising from the earth....ahhh! I love this country! I quickly made my way to my spacious and luxurious accomodations at the Rodeway Inn at 2050 Market St with no casino, no restaurant and no pool but a lovely continental breakfast and located right next to a Dodge dealer. For $60, I wasn't expecting much.

After dumping my stuff I quickly made my way over to the race course and man it was like a different world. Little redneck locals swimming in the "wild river", shirtless dentally challenged men swigging god knows what intermingling with the obvious outsiders knows as cyclists. Toned and fit men and women in tight lycra or in relaxed hip cycling clothes sipping out of waterbottles. A true culture clash.

The Pro race had just started and with the tough course and the ever increasing wind, it was going to be an interesting race. I met up with my friend Todd, his wife and teammates from the Owens Healthcare team and watched as the pro racers came blowing by the start/finish line in a long line of 40+mph. After that, i decided to walk the course and try and find Larry from my team who was also in town taking pics of the race. http://www.cyclingnews.com/road.php?id=road/2007/jun07/tourdenez07/tourdenez072

As you can see...I found him. And he found me.

The race was sick with only a handful of guys actually finishing. Afterwards I was on my own...walking the streets of Reno thinking "wow...I will probably never come back here" I should take a picture of the sign. Back at my 2 star accomodations at the Rodeway Inn at 2050 Market St, I looked back on my day and said to myself..."self, I'm tired" and I was quickly off to sleep.

Reno, was it all just a dream? Sadly no.