Well, what a hoot that was!
I still think that the scenery was very scenic, but not exactly pretty - rather too many loooong looong boring straight roads - but it was good to see Andy racing again, especially in the first week, when we did manage to spot him a few times.
Towards the end of the race, there was less coverage, which I suppose is only to be expected, as they were focusing on likely winners.
Still, Our Andy came in 31st overall, which is where he was sitting for most of the race. So in real terms, he was never going to win it, and he maintained his position right to the end of the race.
Points of note from the race, apart from the scenery? Well, Cannondale appeared in their new kit, a rather less green, more black sort of affair, but still sporting the chipmunk stripes on the back. Peter "more fun than a jammy dodger" Sagan appeared on the podium at one point with whiskers, so the team must have heard me referring to them as chipmunks.
Some of the USA fans exhibited what - with due respect to all American Schlecklanders - I would call the typical American over-exuberance, but mostly it occurred in wacky costumes, which is fine. It's the fans who run alongside that make me cross.
I'm now wishing that I'd made notes as the race was progressing, as I have forgotten all the funny little incidents that caught my eye at the time... but I must say a big word of praise for the Tour Tracker, which was generally excellent, and I wish more races would have something similar.
The only improvement would be if all riders had properly enabled GPS transmitters, so that we could choose our top three (or so) riders, and be able to see whereabouts they are on the road at all times. LLB always says that he'd like to be able to check wattage etc of his chosen riders, but I'd be happy just to know exactly where they were.
One thing which was massively memorable about the Pro Challenge was the placenames - Steamboat Springs, for a start, you just couldn't make up a name like that, could you?
Bachelor's Gulch made me laugh as well, but they seemed to be riding uphill to it: surely a gulch would be lower than everything around, wouldn't it?
And finally there was Beaver Creek, just south of Hanging Jugs....
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