Well that didn’t suck. The day began with a pleasant stroll through San Francisco and ended with crowd favorite Levi Leipheimer winning the Tour of California prologue for the second straight year. In between I almost ran into Ivan Basso while he was warming up, I watched a virtual unknown named Jason Donald tear up the course, and I managed to consume beer from a coffee cup while standing next to one of San Francisco’s kindest police officers.

To set the stage, it is simply a gorgeous time to be in San Francisco. Unlike much of the US, the weather is ideal and signs of spring are everywhere. Before the race started this afternoon I strolled along the bay and every single person in the city (I counted) was out jogging, riding bikes and walking dogs. It was so pleasant that I almost passed on watching the prologue just to soak up some more sun. It is a good thing my senses got the better of me and I took in some fine racing.

As I was walking up from the bay and climbing the steep hills that lead to the finish line at Coit Tower, I came upon the course. As I was crossing the street the first rider I saw was Ivan Baso. I know this for a fact because he literally almost ran into me. I was so close that I could have passed him Jessica’s phone number. Alas, he was more concerned with getting in some practice runs and with not ending up flat on his back thanks to some foolish spectator than he was with stopping to have a chat. I promise to try harder later in the race to pass along those important digits.

Once I was about three quarters of the way up the hill I stopped and took a look around. I knew this was where I wanted to watch the race. The hill was plenty steep, there was one last turn before the climb to the finish, a Versus camera was there and the view of the bay was breathtaking. It was bicycle spectator heaven made even more perfect by the local beer I was drinking out of a coffee cup. Somehow I don’t think I was alone with my covert consumption. I was almost tempted to ask the policeman next to me if he wanted a belt.

The riders each took a few turns climbing the course before the race started. The practice runs were a joy to watch as many of the riders bantered with the crowd and with each other. Paolo Bettini wore the colors of the world champion and received the most love from the crowd, especially from the ladies. George Hincape, David Zabriskie and anyone wearing a Jelly Belly jersey also were cheered on with every practice pedal.

The race began and frankly it was a bit hard to follow. For one thing it was nearly impossible to find a sheet with the order of the racers. For another, the roster I printed out two days ago was completely wrong. Without knowing many of the riders all I could do was consume mass quantities of beer and cheer each one on as they passed approximately a minute apart.

Most of the riders made the steep climb look easy. A few showed signs of being human and nearly cracked as they pedaled by. The unknown named Jason Donald tore it up and left everyone wondering who the hell he was and what he ate for breakfast. Leipheimer went last and was clearly relaxed, determined to win and at ease with the San Francisco hills.

Walking down the hill back towards the waterfront there was an excellent vibe. The large crowd moved as one and riders filtered by to cheers. The beer flowing through my body eased the pain of walking down what amounted to being a paved cliff. As I got to the corner where I started the day by nearly knocking Basso off his bike, Leipheimer zoomed by, escorted by seven cops on motorcycles. He gave a thumbs up to the crowd. An appropriate symbol for the first day of the Tour of California.