For a brief moment Friday, the Lifestyle Festival was dead.

No vendors selling merchandise, no band playing, no BMX stunt drivers stirring “oohs and ahhs” - even the business owners were out of shop. Not a soul, save the overflow crowd captured by the big-screen TV.

The Amgen Tour of California Stage 5 reached its critical moment as California hero Levi Leipheimer dashed toward the finish. The noises grew as the distance to victory shortened.

“No way!” a fan shouted, “He's going to shatter first place!”

Leipheimer indeed shattered the Solvang time trial efforts by an incredible 18 seconds. The party for Leipheimer and his Team Discovery teammates was on. But for the thousands of attendees, the party started hours ago.

Within a half-hour of Leipheimer's incredible finish, the Festival was once-again buzzing with life.

There was a little bit of everything at the festival, which lined Alisal Road in between the start and finish lines. It was all there, from the party atmosphere - spurred on by the Damon Castillo Band, Herbalife fan races and the BMX stunt riders - to the more serious ambiance, led by the Amgen Breakaway for Cancer booth.

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For Stacia Grosso, the senior director of marketing development for the National Coalition For Cancer Survivorship (NCCS), and Kim Thiboldeaux, the president of The Wellness Community, the festival was a chance to raise money and awareness for cancer treatment.

Since last year's inaugural event, the Breakaway for Cancer campaign has raised $1.3 million for free programs and services for cancer patients. This year, Amgen is supporting the NCCS and The Wellness Community.

“Twenty-five years ago, people didn't talk about cancer, or ‘The Big C,'” Thiboldeaux said. “Now, they're coming up to our booths and sharing stories of their own illness.”

The festival efforts to fight cancer include Breakaway Miles (featuring a cancer survivor riding tandem with scientists, caregivers, family and friends), designer T-shirts sales, racing against pro Dave Zabriskie and science education.

“Cycling is a team sport,” said Mary Klem, the director of corporate communications for Amgen. “Just like battling cancer requires a team,

For BMX emcee Zachary “Catfish” Yankush, the festival was a more lighthearted venture. Yankush's lively commentary roused the crowd as his BMX riders leapt over jumps and performed daredevil feats.

Their love for their craft is so great that they've “hit up 10 to 12” skate parks following performances along the way. They've also performed at NBA half-time shows and the Tour of Georgia. Yankush combined his “love for BMX” and a “loud mouth” to start announcing a couple years ago. Last year, he announced the popular X-Games.

“Solvang is awesome,” he said. “It's a little bit of Europe.”

Playing on stage behind the BMX show was the San Luis Obispo-based Damon Castillo Band.

“This has been a good experience for us,” saxophonist Larry Kim said. “We're meeting new people. It's not a music festival, so we're exposing our music to a different demographic.”

The band formed in 1997 and soon thereafter recorded its first album.

The festival also promoted living a healthful lifestyle, championed by the Herbalife booth. The dueling stationary bicycles were the most popular attraction. Two fans battled each other for a faster time over one-quarter of a mile.

Santa Barbara resident and mountain-biker extraordinaire Wil Black broke the record by 1.5 seconds (25.9 seconds). When asked whom he was rooting for, he simply said: “Levi, of course.”

Cal Poly graduates Karl Deardorff and Mike Busch of San Luis Obispo finished second and third, respectively, in the Herbalife challenge. Both attended the Tour last year, and battled on the cycles for the first time.

“We were thinking about our strategy the last few days,” Busch joked.

When Leipheimer made his push to the line, the festival-goers were only thinking one thing: Did the local fan-favorite have enough gas to take the stage?

In the end, they had even more reason to celebrate.

Feb. 24, 2007