Now, we know you’re all fairly bursting with excitement about this whole affair and are likely starting to pull your hair out wondering how you’ll make it 5 weeks until the Tour comes to town. We were figuring on just such a frustration and managed to compile a few things to keep you occupied in the meantime.

This newsletter is available in a fancy web version too for those with text-only devices and abacuses: http://mim.io/b1403. If you’re not on our mailing list, you can add yourself here. Be sure to tick the “Tour of California” box.

The Goings-On

Workaday Blues
Breaking Away
Running Away
The Gran Fun-Do
Work it Like a VIP
It Takes A Village
Staying In The Know
Brought To You By…

Take This Job…

The Santa Rosa stage is taking place on a Monday. For a lot of folks, this means a hard day at the cubicle ranch, herding action items and farming synergy. While we would never advocate shirking work duties, it may be a good time to take some time off for a one day “staff retreat.” Then again, you’ve been looking a bit peaked lately. You may be coming down with something. Bicyclenza? Pro Tour-itis? Spandex Fever? Make what arrangements you need, but grab the kids and get downtown on May 17th. Mark your calendar now. We’ll have a full on bike expo, kid’s events, live entertainment, and the best post-race happy hour a Monday evening has ever seen. You may even forget there’s a race going on.

Breakaway Ride

For those of you thinking that a 25 mph pace for 110 miles over 6,000 feet seems like no big deal, please accept our personal invitation to register for the Breakaway From Cancer Ride on April 25th. This ride is put on by the Amgen Tour of California organizers on the Stage 2 route from Davis to Santa Rosa. You’ll get to follow the exact same roads the pros will be using and enjoy the same great support, all while benefiting Amgen’s cancer patient assistance initiative, Breakaway From Cancer. Spaces are still available, so sign up now at www.breakawayride.com. Maybe supporting cancer patients sounds good, but riding 110 miles, not so much? They’ve got two shorter routes, both of which start and finish in Santa Rosa. There you go.

10K Fun Run

For those of you less interested in spinning wheels for several hours, Santa Rosa’s own Keep The Tour campaign group is organizing a 10k fun run on the same day as the Breakaway Ride. Bring the kids, bring the pets, bring the neighbors, bring your high school prom date, but please do come. This event is separate from the Breakaway From Cancer Ride and will directly benefit Santa Rosa’s bid to keep the Tour of California coming back to our fair town again and again. Details are over at www.keepthetour.com, as is registration for this run.

Levi’s GranFondo

You’d have to have crawled pretty far under that rock to have not heard of Levi Leipheimer’s King Ridge GranFondo. Santa Rosa’s leanest homeboy and 3-time Tour of California winner hosted 3500 riders last year on one of his favorite Sonoma County training rides as one of America’s first “gran fondo” events. For those of you wondering, “gran fondo” is Italian for “really really really big ride in gorgeous country with lots of people smiling all day long hooray and amen.” This 2009 event, produced by the local cycling nuts at Bike Monkey, raised $60,000 to insure the Tour of California returned to Santa Rosa, in addition to another $40,000 for local charities. Thankfully, the GranFondo was such a blast in 2009 that Levi and company are doing it again in 2010. The largest, 103-mile route is sold out, but a few spots are remaining in the 65-mile route. There’s also still room in the 32-mile route for those folks looking for a more relaxing GranFondo experience. Sign up now at www.levisgranfondo.com, but don’t wait. Available spots are dwindling by the day…

VIP Experience

Dine with the Pros
Pssst . . on Monday night after the Stage 2 race, hob nob and meet the pros, join them for a hearty dinner, and get some autographs. There are a only six spots for this so act quick. Cost is $500 and all proceeds will be used to bring the Tour of CA back in 2011.

The Ride of a Lifetime – VIP Car Ride
If an evening event isn’t your thing, be on the course and experience the thrill of lifetime by riding in an official race car following the cyclists along the course. Experience the crowd, the course, and intensity from the convenience of an escorted vehicle! $3,000 for the ONLY E-Ticket seat available.

Watch the Race from the Finish Line!
50 limited VIP spaces are available in the Santa Rosa Hospitality tent at the finish line. All proceeds benefit the Lymphoma Society. Think fully catered food, drinks, live video feeds of the entire race, direct view of the finish, podium, easy in/out, VIP credentials. Here’s the scoop: www.rrmginc.com/lls_fundraiser.htmll

Give Mo McElroy a ring on 707.577.8674 for more details and to reserve your spot today.

Volunteer Away!

No event like this can go off without folks willing to get out and do what it takes, all out of the goodness of their hearts. We’ll say thanks in advance to folks willing to help with course marshaling, event logistics, and whatever else comes our way. Folks will likely be out on the race route, close to these zippy pro cyclists and making sure that pedestrian traffic, barricades, and road closures are all kept under control. If you’re interested and over 18, contact our man Ed Buonaccorsi at ebuonaccorsi@srcity.org or 707.543.3710. He’d love to hear from you, we just know it.

Strings and Cans

We’ll keep the goods coming fast and furious, all you’ve got to do is know where to find us. Look us up on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/SRTOC, hear our story in 140 characters or less at www.twitter.com/srtoc, or you can go the old-fashioned route and just check out our website at www.srcitytoc.org. Come in and sit a spell. We’re happy to have you along.

A Debt of Gratitude

Maybe you all haven’t heard, but these aren’t exactly the salad days, economically speaking. And hosting an event like an Amgen Tour of California stage isn’t exactly cheap. There’s emergency services, traffic control, crowd management, event planning, and on and on. Hell, the bathrooms alone are costing thousands. Without the support of community businesses and organizations, it wouldn’t have been possible for the City of Santa Rosa to shoulder these costs. Some folks made a serious financial commitment to seeing this event return to Santa Rosa and without them, well, we sure wouldn’t have much to write about in these email updates.

The following groups have pledged their commitment to this event. Next time you see them, drop a hearty “thanks” their way. They’ve chosen to support their community in a tough time and we couldn’t be more grateful for all that they’ve done:

Stage Sponsor
Levi’s Gran Fondo / Bike Monkey

Yellow Jersey
Sutter Medical Center of Santa Rosa

Blue Jersey Plus and VIP Hospitality Tent Sponsor
Redwood Regional Medical Group

Blue Jersey Sponsors
Norcal Bike Sport and the Bike Peddler
North Bay Vitreoretinal Consultants
Parkpoint Health Club
Santa Rosa Cycling Club
Sonoma County Tourism Bureau
Russian River Brewing Company
Northern California Medical Associates

Red Jersey Sponsors
Abbey, Weitzenberg, Warren & Emery P.C.
Carle, Mackie, Powers & Ross LLP
Perry, Johnson, Anderson, Miller & Moskowitz LLP
Trek Bicycle Store
Santa Rosa Orthopaedics
AT&T

Red Jersey Cowbell Sponsor
Mary’s Pizza Shack

Kids Zone Sponsor
St. Joseph Health System – Sonoma County

Green Jersey Sponsor
Codding Enterprises

In-Kind Sponsors
Clover Stornetta
Pure Luxury Limousine
Sonic.net
Friendly Feed and Supply
Signs Par Excellence

Media Sponsors
KSRO 1350
97.7 The River
Mix 104.9
100.1 KZST
The Krush 97.5