Prologue & Stage 1 - USAProC'C' Highlights

I reckon that it'll be fun if I recap each stage as best I can with some very brief highlights that I witness firsthand. You're probably up to speed to know that I'm in the midst of racing a pretty darn big race right now, so I'll keep these observations simple so as to not create too much off-bike nuttiness. That is, so I don't spend too much time writing a blog when I should be sleeping. Today is day two, after all, so let's see how much motivation - or internet connection - I have over the coming days to see this through.Prologue:Well, this happened.(Photo conspicuously poached from Twitter.)Actually this one a two-fer, as there are two important things to note. One, they got my name right. While my born, legal name is in fact Edward King and the results tend to lean towards Edward King, TED is what I go by and where the eponymous iamTEDking.com comes from. Alas, they got that correct on television, so chapeau Versus.And two, perhaps even more entertainingly, this is the debut of the iamnotTedKing foam hand crowns! Look closely on the left. Oooooh man, I don't swear on this website more than once ever dozen years, but those are incredibly B-A!Here's another more detailed version so that you know what Waldo you're looking for in the above Where's Waldo.Stage 1:At the start I gave high five through our RV's open window to two kids, estimated ages two and four, one wearing a SpiderMan costume and the other donning Batman gear. Definitely a highlight.The massive crowd at the finish today in Crested Butte. Yup, another massive highlight. It was downright European, alpine, crazy-fans-everywhere-in-the-road worthy. That earns another chapeau.And the best part of the day was when we were rolling out of Salida directly towards some fairly massive Coloradan peaks when Andy Schleck casually observes, "I thought the Rocky Mountains would be a bit rockier than this." Andy Schleck, you made my day. Goodnight.