Tour of California: Zabriskie wins sprint to finish to take Stage 3

Santa Cruz County welcomed the cyclists in the Amgen Tour of California with gorgeous weather and boisterious crowds Saturday, and the riders returned the favor with a thrilling three-man sprint to the finish line in front of the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.

[Spokes man]

Sorry, but it was a snooze for me. I wasted half a day to reach a vantage point to watch the bikes pass from out of view on my right to out of view on my left. And I can see local cyclists blow through downtown stop signs just as fast on any given day.

[Ruth J]

What was most wonderful about the day for me was the enthusiastic manner in which young families embraced the moment and had a lot of fun. I saw lots of kids smiling and laughing with their parents. I laughed when a group of young men responded to the sporadic sound of cow bells by imitating Christopher Walken's SNL plea for more cowbells! The day was filled with opportunities for engagement and those who took advantage have good memories of the 2010 Santa Cruz Stage 3 finish of the Amgen Tour. Any event that fosters a positive view of our little city and gets the often over looked responsible, hard working and healthy family units out in the sunshine is good. Thank you to all those parents and their little ones who made my day more complete. May your precious children live long healthy lives and have lots of positive memories of growing up in Santa Cruz.