The Tour de Nez is a 17-year-old bicycle race taking place in Reno, Nevada and Truckee and Lake Tahoe, California. APR began managing the public relations for the race the first year it was awarded points on the National Racing Calendar. Realizing that the Tour de Nez was one of the only bike races that embraced the lighter side of cycling, APR decided to brand the race as the West Coast premier "Celebration of all things Cycling." The team took the approach that there were enough bike races and they were just that – bike races, but that spectators, riders and cycling enthusiasts were looking for much more than your typical bike race. They wanted bells, whistles and a party type atmosphere. APR immediately began promoting the event for its festivities, while also ramping up efforts within the cycling world to let riders know that this was no normal "sano" bike race. The Associated Press quickly picked up on the Tour de Nez story and the race found itself on CNN.com, MSNBC.com, and Forbes.com and on the cover of the San Jose Mercury News, San Francisco Chronicle and over 40 other newspapers throughout the US. That year the Wall Street Journal singled out five top races in the United States and the Tour de Nez was one of those. The San Francisco Chronicle sports section dubbed the festival an "A list cycling event" and within two years The Tour de Nez was able to nab a title sponsor and grow from two days to over five days of cycling merriment.