Amgen: Thievery and Moisture

After placing tenth in yesterday's Amgen Prologue, the mighty Lance Armstrong awoke to find that Sacramento isn't quite as lovely as it had seemed the day before. While he and many other cyclists slept soundly in a local hotel, someone decided to take it upon him or herself to give these folks a true Sacramento welcome by breaking into their trailer and stealing a number of bikes, including Armstrong's time trial bike used the day before.

Hope you enjoyed your stay.

The day didn't get much better following this discovery, as the wind and rain ravaged Northern California in a way that it hadn't seen all winter. Unfortunately, this was also the first day of the race, where they were to travel 108 miles from Davis to Santa Rosa. Indeed, conditions were rough.

But this didn't deter the fans from braving the elements (and the inside-out umbrellas), as they once again arrived in full-force to see a legend in action.

With a torrential downpour, high powered winds and frigid temperatures, I was bombarded with flashbacks to my younger days of working the sidelines at Oregon football games. Isn't California supposed to be the Sunshine State? Oh wait, that's Florida. Now you tell me.

But a little rain never hurt anybody (insert Katrina joke here... too soon?), and it sure as heck wasn't about to stop this guy:

Hope, as they say, was ready to ride again. I, as I say, was ready to climb back into bed in a desperate attempt to raise my body temperature back to a healthy level. My hands had long since lost feeling, which I had all but accepted as a sad truth by the time the racers finally lined up. But hey, at least I didn't have to ride a bike back to the station in these conditions. You'd have to be an idiot to ride a bike in this weather! Oh... sorry.

And with that, they were off on what Armstrong would later call one of the worst racing days he had ever seen. But don't worry, there's only... seven more days to go?! That weather forecast had better have some of those happy suns wearing sunglasses in the coming days, or the "Tour of California" might not be doing the state any favors.

At the end of the wet-n-wild day, Lance finished in fifth place, proving that Hope is still alive (in case you had forgotten). Personally, I hope that the weather clears up, that the race is a good one, and that they catch the crackhead that tries to sell Lance's bike on Craigslist. I also hope that the crackhead agrees to a jailhouse interview. Welcome back, Hope. We missed you.