Twilight Bicycles

Breanne and I went out for a walk after the second game of the double header today. We usually walk around the Marina but we decided to walk up Broadway towards the Presidio tonight. A couple streets over we stopped to look across the bay and saw a big commotion down on Union street. Tall light towers and people gathered behind metal barriers lining the streets. I stepped in some dog shit,very fresh, and then we decided to go see what was going on.
Having spent time in downtown L.A., we both immediately assumed they were filming a movie. It was not so. People were gathering to watch the San Francisco Twilight Criterium bike race. We arrived just in time; the riders were warming up and about to begin. There were probably 100 riders in a mass when they took off out of the chute.
I picked no.55 to win from the get-go. He was hanging around in 3rd or 4th but he looked sleek and poised to attack. He also had a lot of riders with his colors in the top 15 or so, so I figured he had a good team to back him up.
We weren't sure how big of a loop they were traveling so we walked around the perimeter. It was probably a little under a mile, it covered about 8 blocks all together. There were two guys with microphones doing the color commentating and trying to get the crowd riled up. They said at one point that there were an estimated 50,000 people watching. It didn't seem like that much but there were a lot.
Near the lap line was a closed off area with couches and a buffet, presumably for race coordinators and VIP. There were three bleached-blond haired woman with sashes on, sitting on a couch and texting. Breanne heard someone say one of them was Miss California. From across the street I couldn't tell them apart.
There were loads of people wearing those tiny bike caps and the bars and restaurants all along the bike route were crammed with spectators. I suppose if you count them there may have been 50,000 present.
With four laps to go, I lost sight of no.55. He'd been in the top 10 the whole race and suddenly he was nowhere to be seen. After the pace motorcycle had whizzed by I saw him coasting along the side. He had a flat and it was too late to catch up.
With three laps to go, no.5 and no.112 broke away from the pack. They had a commanding lead until the final lap when everyone started sprinting. No.5 won easily and I believe no.112 was passed just before the finish line but I couldn't say for sure.
I'm glad we decided to go for a walk, even though I stepped in shit.