Riding with Lance, Gov. Ritter, and a few thousand fellow Coloradan cyclists

Yesterday the mediasphere was all abuzz with the news that Lance Armstrong and Governor Bill Ritter were going to be holding a press conference this morning (2010-08-04).  Lance posted it to twitter, but I heard it first from 303cycling.com.  After the press conference, we would all be going for a big bike ride.  I promptly requested the day off of work.

Early birds at the steps of the Capitol.

This morning I rode from my house, down the South Platte River trail, to the Cherry Creek trail, and up 14th Avenue to the Capitol Building, arriving around 9:15.  Folks had already begun to gather, though many, many more would be arriving over the next 45 minutes.

It was no big secret as to what would be announced.  Back in May, at the Road to Victory ride, Gov. Ritter said that they had been working very hard to bring international bike racing to Colorado.  So today's announcement just made it (more) official: the first Tour of Colorado Quizno's Pro Challenge will be held in August of 2011.  It will be a 7-stage, professional level bike race ridden by the same teams that we've seen ride the Grand Tours of Europe, the Tour of California, etc.  Quizno's is the headlining sponsor.  More details can be read in the article from the Denver Post.

Gov. Ritter speaks about organizing the race.

Lance Armstrong describes his inspiration for suggesting the race.

As promised, once the press conference wrapped up, everybody lined up on 13th Ave. and Grant St., at the location of the first Quizno's sandwich shop, for the group ride.  There were a lot of riders there.

The field of riders in front of me.

The field of riders behind me.

We rode out to Washington Park and back.  I recorded the ride on my phone using the My Tracks Android application.

View Ride With Lance in a larger map

There were riders of all levels of skill on all types of bikes. It was pretty great to be able to be there.