Tour of Oman - Day Three

Gail, on our walk down the Sea Road

The start line before the craziness started

I want one!

Robbie Hunter

I woke up on our third day super excited.  We had enjoyed the two previous stages, but today we got the chance to experience the pre-race ritual.  This is something you really never get to see on tv.

The start line was at the Oman Opera House which was only about a two mile walk from our hotel.  It's a really beautiful building, which I hope you can see from the photos.  It was cool to watch the teams have their pre race meetings and go over the course.  There is a lot of laughing and joking between the racers before things get serious.

When we first got there, the team cars were just pulling in.  They had a police escort from their hotel and there had to be forty cars lined up.  At one point we heard a car door open just behind us so we turned to see one of the team guys run up to the car in front of him and hose down the occupants with his water bottle!  Good clean fun, right?

We got to see all the guys gearing up, and talked to a few of them briefly.  You could see the game faces starting to come on as the start got closer.  At one point I was standing near Tyler Farrar, and he was trying to extract his bike out from the middle of the pack.  He almost knocked over another bike so I carefully held it for him until he got his free.  Sounds funny, but it was pretty cool getting to hold one of the bikes for a couple seconds.

I worked up the nerve to walk up to Mark Cavendish and ask him to sign my magazine that had his picture on the cover.  He didn't look super enthused, but after a nano second, which seemed like an hour to me, he grabbed the pen and magazine and to my surprise, asked "what's your name?"  He signed it 'To Mark'!

After milling about for awhile, I took advantage of a once in a lifetime opportunity.  Walking through the courtyard, all by himself was Eddie Merckx!  Gail and I were the only people close so I asked for a picture with him.  He was nice enough to say yes and I thanked him a couple of times and explained how the picture was going to kill my bro Tater!

Cav signing my magazine for me!

Christian Vande Velde

Gail at the Opera House courtyard

Not to be outdone, Gail grabbed a chance to get a pic with the 2010 "by disqualification" winner of the Tour de France!  Amazing to be able to get so close to all these guys!

At noon the guys saddled up and headed out for a mountain top finish, and Gail and I headed out for our date with the pool.  It was amazing to bake in the sun and relax for a couple hours.  We honestly had no desire to go do anything.  There was a fabulous breeze to keep things cool, so we read and talked the afternoon away.

One more day to go, and it was going to be a good one...but you'll have to read day four to find out more!

David Millar

Tyler Farrar and Robbie Hunter

Me and Eddie Merckx

Gail and Tour de France winner, Andy Schleck

Andy Schleck and Fabian Cancellara

Racer queuing at the start line

From our pool

Sucking in my gut!

Great view from the pool

Walking the beach

Shoreline at our hotel

Rock formations on our beach

Tour of Oman - Day Two

Dolphin tour!

Beautiful Oman coastline

Stage four finish line

Team Liquegas - Cannondale at the front

Fabian Cancellara

Fabian Cancellara

Mark Cavendish after a long day in the saddle

Just what the doctor ordered after a long day of bike racing

Day two we got up early and were picked up at the hotel to go on a dolphin watching cruise in the morning.  We went way out in the Arabian Sea and finally found the dolphins.  They were all over, but it was a challenge to get a good picture of them.  After the dolphins, we squeezed in some pool time before heading out to the finish of stage four.

This was a long stage, with lots of wind and a few good climbs added in.  The peloton was split into several groups and we got to see the riders do three laps before the finish.  There were many more people than the day before and the finish area was lovely.  Grass areas to sit down and lots of planters with flowers and palm trees.  Much more like the experience we were expecting.

When the race was over, the guys stopped to grab a snack and a drink, then hopped back on their bikes and road the four miles back to their hotel.  There wasn't much chance to mingle, so we watched the award assembly and headed back to the hotel for a nice dinner and turned in early....more exciting stuff on Day Three!

Tour of Oman - Day One

Chillin' on the veranda after the trip to Muscat

First night sunset

Crowne Plaza on the hill

Looking down the beach from the Crowne Plaza

Token room pic

Me and my new buddy Tyler Farrar

Christian Vande Velde

Garmin Barracuda, post race

David Millar

Me stalking Andy Schleck

After a half day at the coal mine and a short one hour flight, Gail and I made it to the Crowne Plaza Muscat, which would be our home for the next four days.  We got there just in time for sundowners on the second story veranda, and enjoyed a beautiful sunset as we looked beyond the pool to the Oman coastline.

Muscat is much quieter than Abu Dhabi, and while it is large in a linear sense, it has a kinda village feel about it.  We went for a nice walk after sunset and found a store that had club soda.  We grabbed a few for the room and hunkered down for an early night.

We were up fairly early, maybe due to excitement for the upcoming bike race!  We geared up and went for a run down the sea road, which runs between the ocean and the mangroves.  Those of you that know me are probably surprised I went for a run, but the area is so perfect for it that I felt inspired.  Naturally Gail left me in the dust, but I felt good about getting some exercise just the same.  I felt so good that I stopped at Starbucks on the way back for tea and a croissant.

To say I was amped up is an understatement.  We were heading out for our first professional bike race and I wanted to ensure that we didn't miss any of the pageantry.

The Pageantry

As you can see from the pic, we were a bit early!  Other than the official timers, we were the only ones there.  The friendly cab driver offered to drive us to the KFC for some grindage, no charge!  The people are very friendly here.  The driver even stayed to watch the end of the race, and took us back to the hotel when we were done stalking the riders....but, I am jumping ahead.

After a VERY long wait we were able to crane our necks and watch the peloton fly through the roundabout at the end of the road we were waiting on.  We were positioned right on the finish and didn't want to give up our perch.  The riders did a big loop on a back road.  We were literally minutes from the end of our first race, and as we looked up the road that the riders were about to speed down to the finish, there is a truck a bus and a couple cars trying to figure out how to get out of the way!

The lead coordinator is going ballistic waving his arms and shouting instructions to his assistants.  Just as it looked like the end was going to be ruined, the misguided vehicles found their way to the side of the street and the riders came storming up the road.

The speed that they crossed the line is spooky.  It's amazing there are not more wrecks at the end of the race.  Tyler Farrar, AKA "Wenatchee Boy" finished third.  After the race we milled out checking out the bikes and the riders.  To be honest, I was so overwhelmed that I didn't know what to do!  I finally sauntered up to Tyler and asked if he would sign my magazine.  I wasn't sure how he was going to react, but to my delight, he looked at my hat and said "WWU!  My girlfriend lived in Bellingham!"  He was very cool, and asked if I wanted the rest of the team to sign the team photo in my mag.  So David Millar and Christian Vande Velde and a couple others came over and signed it and posed for pictures.

We returned to the hotel on a huge high, and had a yummy Italian dinner and hit the sheets early.

That was a top notch day!

Kayleigh's back! and Christina's here too

Big bus tour around Dubai

 Kayleigh arrived for a week of rest and relaxation after another 3 month contract.  Unfortunately Rob had to stay in England.  We had a great time doing a lot of nothing;  movies, pedis, walks, talks, and for her, naps. Some much needed quality down time.  Christina, Kayleigh's college roommate, arrived on day 7.  We let her rest 1 day then off we go to cram it all in in 6 days. I have now been on my fourth desert safari and dune bashing trip....still so much fun. I now enjoy sharing the experience with others and watching them for the first time up close with Camels. They really are something to see and touch, love them. 

Of course, we had to go to the Emirates Palace Hotel for 24K Gold coffee and delightful scones, yup real gold leaf.

 Christina even brought us a little rain from home!  If we stood there long enough you could almost feel the drops. We even had a drop in the weather, only around 65-75. Sure better than the snow storm she left behind in Seattle and the cold rain Kayleigh left behind in Manchester.  We took the 2+ hour local bus to Dubai,  found the Big Bus Tour and rode all around the city including a dow river cruise, past the Burj Al Arab at sunset, out past the Atlantis Hotel & finally to the Dubai Mall. The girls had an 8pm reservation to the top of the Burj Khalifa, tea and cheesecake for me while I waited.

Another visit to the Grand Mosque, I never get tired of seeing it, and I learn something new every time.
Mark was able to join us for the tour.  It's hard for him to get away from work to enjoy their company so we were so happy to have him.  Took them to all the malls and souks for some great shopping, they left with some pretty full bags.  It was so nice to watch and listen to those two girls just being girls again. All good things must come to an end, and this is the part I hate the most.  Saying goodbye again.
I love the company but hate the quiet right after.

It Rained! look close, those are raindrops

Sunset at the Burj Al Arab

Burj Khalifa

24K gold Coffee Latte at the Emirates Palace Hotel

Yummy scones too!