Friday Night Criterium In Salt Lake City

Recognize the guy in the red shirt overseeing the post-race interview with second-place finisher Fred Rodriguez?
Park City, Utah - What should have been a rather uneventful morning and afternoon turned into an absolute nightmare for a variety of reasons.

It started when I could not get in touch with Danielle and the girls (resulting in a "check on the well-being" call to 911 in Omaha) and included a one-and-a-half mile walk to church (after my ride overslept). Couple that with fulfilling half-a-dozen interview requests and it made for a pretty stressful day.

If you are wondering, the girls and their mom were OK; I arrived to church 10 minutes late (it was all uphill on the walk there) and they didn't take up a collection for some reason; The interviews, for the most part, did come off without a hitch.

Because today's stage of the race was in Downtown Salt Lake City at night, we knew it was going to be a long night - and a short night's sleep - before Saturday morning's stage. Two things held my attention that night. One was setting up and executing an on-stage interview with Rock Racing's team owner that took place during the race. The other was making sure prime parking was reserved for the team's vehicles.

The latter is a chore. The Rock Racing "armada" of vehicles is part of the team's "fan experience" that people turn out to see. So making sure the motorcoach, "The Beast" and the team's Cadillac Escalades and CTS vehicles are prominently displayed was important.

Team photographer Mario and I spent more than an hour saving a massive parking area - while the other teams (probably) complained that they arrived first and should have been able to park in the space. Once on site, though, the Rock Racing riders and staff and team owner were pleased with the setup.

Here is today's gallery:
This ski lift runs right over part of the downtown area of Park City.

These are the parents of Fabio Calabria,
an Australian on Team Type 1 who has Type 1 diabetes.
They are visiting the United States for the first time.

This is a typical sight: people taking pictures
in front of the Rock Racing motorcoach.

Mario snapped another picture of me as darkness fell.
My night was just beginning, of course, because I had to write
a press release and review photos.