More on the Tour of California…

Without having (or wanting to) access to media from other areas that the Tour of California bike race travels through, to know what local folks in other areas think of the bike race coming through their town, I found it very interesting that the bike race is fairly polarizing out here in West Marin. There are some folks who absolutely hate it and cite safety concerns. Other folks think it’s the greatest thing. I’m in the latter camp.

I read some stories in the Marin Independant Journal which seemed to account for only the folks who disliked the tour. It kind of makes me wonder if we all saw the same race. Yes, I saw cars driving fast in sections leading or following the race. Yes, I saw CHP cars driving fast to speed up to upcoming intersections to block traffic. But I also saw nothing out of the ordinary from a typical weekend of, dare I say, yahoos speeding on West Marin’s roads. What is preferred? Out of control individuals speeding around corners on their sport bikes and sports cars or professional drivers trying to maintain control of the traffic to allow a bike race to safely pass through town? I know which one I choose.

I wonder what the folks imbibing at the Western Saloon thought about the race as it sped past Toby’s. Yeah, I thought so too as evidence by the photo taken from inside the saloon by Cyclingnews.com (click for neat photo).