Tom Boonen

Oh, Tom. Lovely, lovely Tom. He’s been my favorite cyclist for a couple of years now, just because he’s so dang cute! Yes, I guess I’m a typical woman who determines her favorite sports stars based on their looks. If I were solely in charge of my fantasy football team, I’d assemble an all-star “handsome” team. Ronde Barber would be No. 1. Anyway…

I waited outside the QuickStep bus at the start of Stage 3 in San Jose. There were only a few of us there, nowhere near the numbers outside the Astana bus. People were jammed outside the Astana bus about six or seven deep.

I positioned myself directly outside the door, on the side in which is opens, so I would have a clear view of Tom when he came out. A few times the door opened, and I could see him sitting in the bus. Then, finally, he emerged! He came out to give Bob Roll an interview. And I was right there! I could have reached out and touched Tom. I snapped a ton of pictures. After he was done with the interview, one woman went up to him and had a friend take a picture. Then she kissed him on the cheek. David was nowhere to be found, but I had to meet Tom anyway, even if there wasn’t to be photographic evidence.

I shook his hand and said, “Good luck.” He said “thanks” and displayed a warm smile. I asked, “Can I give you a kiss?” So I kissed him on the cheek. Oooooh! David actually did see it, but didn’t have time to get off a shot. Oh well. He got me in a shot with Tom, while Tom was giving an interview with another guy. Hopefully someday I’ll be able to have a nice posed shot with Mr. Boonen.