Our View: Amgen Tour puts Auburn in center of cycling universe

Western States and Tevis? Meet your new sibling, Amgen.
The Amgen Tour of California is coming to the streets of Auburn, providing the community with another platform to leverage its endurance sports heritage, showcase its natural beauty and reap the economic benefits of both.
The Amgen Tour has quickly become America’s answer to the Tour de France, the legendary multi-stage bicycle race that made Lance Armstrong a global phenomenon. The fact that Armstrong is an Amgen proponent and a likely competitor adds even more luster to this year’s race, which begins Sunday, May 16.
The weeklong stage race begins that Sunday in Nevada City and winds 104 miles through the foothills to Sacramento. Between the start and finish, it will be Auburn that gets the most face time – up close and personal – as well as a worldwide television audience of millions on the Versus network.
This won’t be your regular Sunday bike ride with the kids.
While these professional riders will hit speeds of 30 mph to 40 mph on some stretches of the course, Auburn spectators will be lucky to see the race slow down on some of its narrow streets. Twists, turns and bumpy city streets will test the leaders and the peloton before the pack heads to the Foresthill Bridge, across the American River and off into El Dorado County.
Even so, Amgen’s time in Auburn might just be 15 minutes of fame for which we can’t afford not to be prepared.
A group of local businesspeople was instrumental in lobbying for a section of the race, but it will take a community-wide effort to dress Auburn up for the big day.
Here are some ideas worth considering, courtesy of Auburn Journal readers and others: MORE