The Short Bus: Tour De Georgia

Went to Road Atlanta yesterday for the Team Time Trial stage of the Tour De Georgia. It was good fun. I took my camera, but as is the norm lately, something wasn't working quite right and I got exactly two pictures. The first one is of the Rock Racing Team Provost motorhome - taken for my parents. This was one sweet rig:

For those that don't know about Rock Racing, here's a very short synopsis: Michael Ball owns Rock N' Republic jeans - think 300 bones+ for a pair o' jeans. He's a prick, but a marketing genius. He supposedly raced bikes in the late 80's. He decided last year that he needed to start a pro team. He hired a few riders that have either failed drug tests in the past or are under suspicion for using drugs. He spend large amounts of dough buying team vehicles like the one above and an outlandish uniform for his team. He has since publicly "dissed" promotors, riders, his OWN sponsors, etc. In the meantime, creating more publicity for his team than Lance Armstrong could.

He has umbrella girls, an enormous "posse" of mechanics and hangers-on. He had a large merchandise booth pumping techno music and plasma TV's hyping a very well done video of the team. While I'm pissed that he's chosen to hire known cheaters, I can't help but respect the sheer genius of it all. He's ensuring that cycling will continue to be the farce it has become over the past two decades. Oh, well.

Here's a pic of the Jelly Belly team. My friend Thomas is their team mechanic and I spent quite a bit of time yesterday hanging out with him and the team.