The Tour of California blazed a trail through the heart of the San Mateo County coast Monday morning. Many of the best cyclists in the world made their way over a wet Devil’s Slide down the soggy slope of Highway 1 through Montara and El Granada, Half Moon Bay and Pescadero. It was an inspiring sight to see.
More than 100 elite athletes brought untold spectators to our shores. They lined the road in spots, cheered on their favorites and, some of them, bought coffee and lunch and who knows what else in our shops and restaurants.
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Transient Occupancy Taxes have plummeted around here as corporations pull back on conferences. Some of our most prominent restaurants have shuttered or are near doing so. The tour was nothing less than a blessing for a town mired in the worst financial crisis in memory.
A very few loud voices complained that they couldn’t use Highway 1 for a time. That’s true. We were all inconvenienced – just as we are for the annual Pumpkin Festival, the occasional Mavericks Surf Competition and a half-dozen other big events. But the whining over emergency access was just the usual me-first moaning. Coastside emergency planners were prepared for any contingency – the road was never closed to them.
Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson said the race’s economic impact in Sacramento was expected to be $8.5 million – more than last year due to the appearance of cycling icon Lance Armstrong. There is nothing like an official number given to the economic impact of the tour on the Coastside but it is a far smaller number than the one in the state’s capital, where the race was staged. But the race was televised on cable and over the Internet. Who knows how many weekend cyclists were inspired by the beauty of the coast to make a trip here sometime down the road?
We’re in no position to turn away an event that draws a crowd – an affluent, environmentally conscious crowd at that. Here’s hoping Armstrong and his peers pedal this way again next year.
-- Clay Lambert
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