was the Prologue of the inaugural 2006 Amgen Tour of California, a 1.9-mile individual time trial from Pier 1 to Coit Tower.
The morning air was crisp and the streets glistened with the remnant sheen of Saturday's weather as riders warmed up on the course before the start. Taking a page out of Lance's playbook, Santa Rosa boy Levi Leipheimer pre-rode every inch of the course, including the staggering last 150 meters. Levi wasn't just warming up, he was studying, and memorizing, and visualizing. Levi has eyes for the prize this year, and comes into the Tour de Cali as one of the favorites.
Beginning promptly at 10:00 AM, riders dropped down the starting ramp in the shadow of the Ferry Building at one-minute intervals and started their quest for the top of Telegraph Hill. After building up a good head of steam heading west on the Embarcadero, riders turned up Stockton street for a 200-foot climb that got steeper and steeper until finally topping out at the finish line in Pioneer Park at the base of the Tower. Two hundred feet may not sound like much, but trust us . . .
