As the Amgen Tour Of California Men's Bicycle Race moves south to San Jose today, about a thousand people who work for the event are also on the move.
Sometimes, event staffers race ahead of the riders to set up the next stage.
Shawn Brett is responsible for setting up advertising signs and fencing.
"We need to take these up this way, so this piece of fence," he says.
Shawn Brett sets up advertising signs and fencing. Bob Moffitt / Capital Public Radio
It takes a year to plan the tour.
"We start months ahead working with the city on timing the road closures," says Chuck Hodge, the event's technical supervisor.. "We want to keep the closures as short as possible. We give our guys a safe area to build. A lot of different vendors coming together. It's a lot like builiding a house. You have a lot of sub-contractors and you have one person overseeing all of it."
Hodge says there are about 1,200 racing teams' staff, installation crews, and course marshals that work ahead and behind the riders.
There are 14 cities in this year's men's and women's races.
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