Thursday, October 7, 2010

Why we'll always be true to the red, white, & blue...

After returning from Greenville, for the United States Professional Road Race & Time Trial Championships (or USPros as we call it), we're sad that the cycling season is drawing to a close and that this great event is over for another year. To our delight, the schedule has changed, though! We only have to wait until May to see our beloved race again! I bet they did that just for us.
We truly love this race. Yes, we adore our cyclists. We proved we're hardcore American cycling fans by braving the slopes of Pyrenean mountains to chalk the American's names. We even chalked the names of Canadians. Hell, we SLEPT on the side of a mountain to cheer them on and wave the American flag as they passed. But that's not why we love this race.
We appreciate the accessibility to riders that this race brings. We enjoy watching the faces of new fans at their first race. We think it's fun to watch 'newbies' take pictures of the SRAM support car and we giggle when we hear whispers like, "Which one is Phinney?" Still not why we love this race.
We really like the city of Greenville. The main streets strung with lights, the river flowing downtown, and children playing in the fountains. But that's not why we love this race.
We love this race because this race brought us together. In 2008, D'Andrea was working for Medalist when she accidentally sent Anita 2 Time Trial tickets instead of the Road Race tickets. When Anita called about the error, she was told just to come to both events. Oddly enough, Anita and D'Andrea ended up sitting at the same table and sharing cycling stories. Anita shared the story about magically getting invited to both events while D'Andrea gulped and admitted to screwing up the tickets. Voila! A friendship was born!
After swapping phone numbers and email addresses, and D'Andrea giving Anita her VIP Rock Racing downtown event tickets, D'Andrea headed back to Atlanta with family in tow, and Anita went to pursue her goal of getting her picture made with Jonathan Vaughters. (Yes, it really does go back that far). After getting the shot with JV and texting it to D'Andrea, the two were bonded.
The launch of twitter and to some extent, the use of Facebook, kept the two in contact until the next race in Greenville in 2009. Anita and D'Andrea spent the day of the Time Trial together and began the tradition of chalking up Paris Mountain. What a great way to spend a Saturday!
Anita and D'Andrea had become fast friends with @bgreene1 on Twitter but had yet to meet. Unfortunately, D'Andrea had to go back to Atlanta that night and would miss the road race and meeting Barbara. It was at the road race that Barbara and Anita would meet....one tweeting the race and the other uploading pictures which would end up meshed together and used on the CyclingFans website. Little did they know that was just the beginning of that type of collaboration!
Barbara and D'Andrea did meet in Atlanta that fall and we all ended up having lunch together the day before Thanksgiving. Not long after, we reconvened for Athens Twilight and some great fun! Barbara & D'Andrea were then tearing up SpeedWeek around the South, picking up some Italian men from airports, and attending pro-training camps. The Tour of California came, and as D'Andrea worked her magic, keeping the boys safe, Barbara flew to LA for 2 stages. At last it was July and we finally made it to the Big Dance. It was more than we could have hoped for.
Some women are catty when they're together. They're petty, jealous, and snippy. They'll smile at you while slowly turning that dagger into your spine. Not these women. These women love fun people, cycling, their families, good wine & cheap champagne, pink crack, chalky hands, French slang, twitter, traveling business class, and each other.
That, my friends, is why we love this race.

1 comment:

  1. As entertaining as this is to read & remember, it doesn't even begin to scratch the surface. I've had more fun & even more adventures since meeting you two. That ticket screw up was providence.

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