I think I started drafting this blog entry over a month ago... But, never got around to finishing it. I guess I've been busy being lame.
On Sunday February 17th, we traveled from San Francisco down to Palo Alto to see the Prologue (opening time trial) of the ATOC. We had it all planned out before we left San Diego: Saturday, take the BART from the airport and use our feet and taxis to get around. Sunday, take the 10am CALTRAIN to Palo Alto and a later train back to San Francisco. Monday, rent a car to head north to see Stage 1.
The first mission on Sunday was to find the "Blue Bottle Cafe." I read about this place on the internet. The title of the article was "A $17,000 cup of coffee." This cafe bought a siphon machine from Japan, which is supposedly one of the purest ways to brew a cup of coffee (it brews a single batch) and extracts the truest flavors of the beans.
We set out on foot once again from our hotel to 66 Mint St. in San Fran. We found the Blue Bottle Cafe, but not because it had any signs outside!
We promptly went inside to weigh our options. I decided on a "siphon" cup of coffee for $10. I made sure to ask the cashier about putting cream and sugar in this coffee. Not recommended and frowned upon. That wasn't the exact response, but we got the hint. I figure it's kind of like going to Mortons or Ruth Chris Steakhouse and asking for A1; it's a no-no.
This is how they made the coffee.
The hot water is sucked up into the cylinder with the coffee and then somehow (magic and trickery of course) it comes back down into the sphere.
It makes enough for 2 cups. Yummy! To be honest, this was not my favorite cup of coffee. I've got to go back to my old stand-by, Peets. My love affair with Peets started when I lived in Monterey when I had a cup that my stats professor was offering after our final exam. Love at first sip. I started out on the Italian Blend, went to Major Dickason's for the longest time, now I'm back and forth between Major and Arabian Mocha-Java. It's what I look forward to every morning.
The schedule worked out to perfection. We hoofed it pretty quickly to the train station and got in with about 3 minutes to spare. Once we got to Palo Alto the mission was to just check things out. This wasn't like the Tour de France where you have to get in one spot and stay there for hours to save your place. So we wondered around and saw some of the team buses and riders warming up. I really wanted to see the Slipstream-Chipotle guys. Cezanne is still on the fence about me getting and wearing their kit. Anyway, the just got picked up for the Tour de France, so that is huge for them. Below is Christina Van de Velde from the U.S. He and Dave Zabriskie transferred to Slipstream-Chipotle from CSC.
David Millar below, from Scotland. He's transferred from Saunier-Duval (spelling?). These guys need to lose some weight!
One of the guys warming up on the Prologue course. It was really short, 2.1 miles I think.
The start times. This is such an exciting picture, it doesn't get any better than this! :)
Dave Zabriskie warming up below. I can't tell if he's on an airline flight or warming up for a time trial. He's changing his iPod tunes (from Whitney to Celine I'm sure) and just took off his light blocking/airline sleeping eye cover which you can see in the picture.
Dave warming up and mustache man (Steven Cozza) in the background. Cozza's TT suit was a little insane, as I'm sure most of them are. It was really see-through from what we could see and we could mainly see the buttock area. Dave did not have that issue. I guess his American Time Trial champ kit is a little thicker. How do these guys sit on the tip of the saddle like that? Maybe because they get paid to.
Cezanne and I with Thomas Voeckler. I forget if it was the 2004 or 2005 Tour de France where he wore the yellow jersey. He was really nice. He just rolled up on his bike, sat there by himself, and watched the riders come by one by one. I asked him if he was going to be in yellow this year and he said he tries every time.
Fabian Cancellara tearing up the Prologue below. This guy is an absolute beast. He's been incredible so far this year and I think is the guy to beat at Paris-Roubaix. He one buy a large margin for such a short course. He crushed the TdF Prologue last year. He almost caught up to the motorcycles around one of the turns.
And Fabian one the Prologue and after Levi rode we hoped on the train back to San Francisco. Me listening to my tunes, switching from Whitney to Celine of course. I sometimes pretend my nano is a phone and Cezanne hates it. Maybe because I bug her about getting an iPhone.
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