Obligatory “at-speed” blurry shot of T-Bird on the finishing climb of Stage 4 of the Tour of Utah.

Tyler Hamilton

Tyler Hamilton, a little closer.

I had to step back after this last shot, afraid of pulling a bonehead move like the guy who knocked down Giuspeppe Guerini on l’Alpe d’Huez several years ago. Funny thing, while the other riders in Tyler’s group followed the curve of the road right towards the finish line, Tyler just kept coming straight at me.

Maybe there was something about me that just screamed “Flahute”, and he was thinking “I’m gonna get that bastard that keeps knocking my team …”

I may have to change at least some of my feelings on the Rock Racing team … while I was wandering around the finish area after the race, the Rock Racing area was completely mobbed by people, and everyone seemed to be handling it with a lot of grace; posing for photos, signing autographs … the whole 9 yards.

Listening to Michael Ball talk to some of the people around, he came across as a lot more humble than he does in print.

And Tyler is still one of the nicest guys in cycling; and he’s certainly a human rider again … although those are some of the ugliest sunglasses I have ever seen. They’re even worse than the Oakleys that George Hincapie wore for the past few years.

T-Bird was in the middle of an interview … kicking back in a lawn chair and relaxing. Right now, he’s sitting in 4th place overall, about 1:07 behind Louder.

More of my photos of the Tour of Utah can be found on Flickr.

Rock Racing & Simple Living riders in an early break.

Garmin-Chipotle pulling the field to chase down the breakaway riders.

Almost 200 photos taken altogether … these were the only two of the actual race worth keeping. I’ve got a lot of work to do on action shots.

Went to the downtown criterium stage 3 of the Tour of Utah this evening. Took shitloads of pictures, and only 2 of the actual race even remotely came out … need to do some tweaking in Photoshop, and will post in the morning.

Went to dinner with Chippo, Melissa, Ryan K. (from Revolution), and a few others at Squatters. Much to my detriment and surprise, I’m terribly out of practice pouring beer from a pitcher. I guess there’s a reason why I generally drink straight from the bottle.

Now home, and after a short digestive period, it’s off to bed, so I can head up to Snowbird tomorrow for Stage 4.

This crossed my email inbox today:

CONTENDER BICYCLES TO HOST IN-STORE SIGNING WITH CYCLING STARS TYLER HAMILTON AND FREDDIE RODRIGUEZ OF ROCK RACING

Contender Bicycles will be hosting an in-store signing with Tyler Hamilton and Fred Rodriguez of Rock Racing on Saturday, August 16 from 5:30 to 6:30 pm. This is a great opportunity to meet and receive autographs from two of the most famous names in cycling today. There will also be official Rock Racing apparel for sale.

Founded by Rock & Republic fashion mogul Michael Ball in 2007, Rock Racing has made a name for themselves both from incredible success on the bike and from their flamboyant flair. The team has rapidly become a fan favorite after signing some of the sport’s most established names including 2004 Olympic gold time trial medalist and Tour de France stage winner Tyler Hamilton and three-time USPRO road race champion and Giro d’Italia stage winner Freddie Rodriguez. Rock Racing has redefined the look of the pro cycling team uniform and in April 2008, the squad was voted the most popular team in professional cycling in an on-line poll by Bicycling Magazine.

WHEN:

Saturday, August 16 from 5:30 to 6:30 pm.

WHERE:

Contender Bicycles
875 East 900 South
Salt Lake City, UT 84105
801.364.0344

Come meet the riders, check out the cars and experience the flair!

1. It’s an event at a bike shop, during the Tour of Utah. Why the fuck would I want to “check out the cars?”
2. Shouldn’t Tyler and Freddie be resting up to prepare for the next day’s time trial, instead of schmoozing a bunch of fanboys?
3. What does it do for Contender’s image to associate themselves with a team that seems to have a lax (or at least very forgiving) view on doping?
4. Flair? Do they have all 15 pieces?

Sly and T-Bird say that soy will kill us all … but the next big stage race in the US is known locally as “TOFU” …

Wonder if the winner will be vegan?

As much as I can’t stand Larry H. Miller, I sure am glad that he is choosing to sink some of his money into our little sport. Thankfully, he’s not making sure that the race has a ZZZZZZZZZ at the end like everything else he touches.

Recently, it was announced that Larry H. Miller (owner of the Utah Jazz, amongst many, many other businesses in Utah) will be sponsoring the Tour of Utah stage race.

Needless to say, this has aroused a lot of ire amongst some of the more liberal-minded cyclists locally, who are calling for a boycott of the race, because LHM yanked Brokeback Mountain from one of his theaters in Sandy, Utah (before it opened), because of the gay theme.

I’m torn.

As hard as our sport is hurting, however, I don’t think we should chase anyone away who is willing to give us money. If the ToU organizers distance themselves from LHM at this stage, they likely will not be able to find another sponsor for this year. If the event doesn’t happen this year, it’s even more unlikely that it will happen next year … and Utah’s premier cycling event goes bye-bye.

Not to mention that LHM owns Thanksgiving Point, so they’d lose the main venue as well.

It’s a matter of balance. LHM won’t be hurt of the ToU gives back the money. LHM won’t be hurt if cyclists boycott the ToU. The only people that will be hurt there are racing cyclists and the organizers.

There are many other examples of odd sponsors to cycling races as well. Kent cigarettes sponsored the Tour of China in the mid-1990s. All sorts of car-manufacturers sponsor races and teams … and now, Amgen, manufacturers of EPO, is sponsoring the Tour of California.

How would it hurt any of those businesses if people stayed away from those races?

It’s a tough call sometimes.

People rail on many companies for off-shoring their manufacturing to poor nations, accusing them of exploiting cheap labor (and compared to US labor, it definitely is).

On the other hand, in general, most of these companies are paying better than average local wages, vastly improving the standards of living of those people now being employed.

So what does the conscientous person do?

If I thought I stood a snowball’s chance in hell of winning any money, I’d do what I could to win, and then donate my winnings to the Human Rights Campaign.