Amgen Tour of, Like, California, You Know?

[sediment]

Like Tour de France, with the French accent and all, but with a Valley accent instead. Totally!

For the SoCal Cycle enthusiast, plan your day around Stage 6, on Friday, 5/20/2010 Pasadena to Big Bear Lake. They're trying to put some actual mountains into this tour, and this is the stage with them. I can see them heading up to Mt Wilson, down into Antelope Valley / Mojave Desert, then back up to Wrightwood the back way, down the east way, then up for a finish in Big Bear.
For in-town folks, Stage 7 the next day is planned to be a time trial. maybe they can go up and down the road to Griffith Observatory.
For East Ventura County, Final Stage 8 on Sunday will be a circuit course, similar to the end of the Tour de France's rolling up and down Champs Elysee a few times.

No courses are set yet. But the days are.

[Trekkie Dad]

Re: Amgen Tour of, Like, California, You Know?

It's like, totally rad that they're riding into Modesto on Stage 4, you know? It's like, just down the road. There are some totally gnarly mountain passes between like, San Jose and the Valley.

[sediment]

Re: Amgen Tour of, Like, California, You Know?

If they want mountains, I wonder why they always seem to skip The Sierras. I take it they cannot guarantee a passable pass in late May.

[sir clinksalot]

Re: Amgen Tour of, Like, California, You Know?

They've done the tour a few miles from our place quite a few times, up the canyons that seperate the "Good" part of Ventura County (the beach) and the "Bad" parts ... the Valley area of Santa Paula and Fillmore.

[sediment]

Re: Amgen Tour of, Like, California, You Know?

They've done the tour a few miles from our place quite a few times, up the canyons that seperate the "Good" part of Ventura County (the beach) and the "Bad" parts ... the Valley area of Santa Paula and Fillmore.

They rode by in walking distance to my house a few years ago, near the top of the Norwegian Grade (Olsen and Moorpark).
Lot of waiting (close the roads, clearing them of viewers, etc.), then they all flew by. Then we walked home.

[Trekkie Dad]

Re: Amgen Tour of, Like, California, You Know?

If they want mountains, I wonder why they always seem to skip The Sierras. I take it they cannot guarantee a passable pass in late May.

Last year, the Merced-Clovis stage went east into the Sierras and then back down. What's not been possible before was a mountaintop finish. Few passes have the infrastructure for all that's needed at a finish line.

[sediment]

Re: Amgen Tour of, Like, California, You Know?

Last year, the Merced-Clovis stage went east into the Sierras and then back down. What's not been possible before was a mountaintop finish. Few passes have the infrastructure for all that's needed at a finish line.

That's true. There is usually nothing at the top of our mountains. Not like France, at least, where whole villages are up there.

[GummiBears_Rock]

Re: Amgen Tour of, Like, California, You Know?

yeah i know i'm late, but i just found this thread

when they were going through clovis, our track coach let us run to the where the route was, because it was really only half a mile away.

the wind from the bikes blew us away!

it was incredible! but we couldn't figure out which one was armstrong because they went by so fast )

[sediment]

Re: Amgen Tour of, Like, California, You Know?

bump....
Here is a brief description of each one:
Route details announced for 2010 Amgen Tour of California professional cycling road race | Amgen Tour of California

Stages 1-5 are in NoCal.

Stage 6: Pasadena to Big Bear Lake, Now this is more like it. Pasadena, to LaCanada Flintridge, up along Angeles Crest Highway, then up the northern route to finish at Snow Summit at 7000 feet.

Here's the one I'm interested in, since it's close by:

Stage 8: Thousand Oaks/Westlake Village/Agoura Hills Circuit Race (Sunday, May 23)AMGEN Tour of California.

Exact route:

http://www.amgentourofcalifornia.com/docroot/media/2010/2010-stage8-map.pdf

Start and end are where Gelson's is, at Townsgate and Village Glen.
Looks like fun.

[alphabassetgrrl]

Re: Amgen Tour of, Like, California, You Know?

Hubby and I have gone to this the last few years, up to Solvang for the time-trial, and last year we got to see the race start and end in San Diego.

One tip: Park a mile or two away, and use your bikes to get close. Much easier than trying to get a car into the chaos, and faster than walking. Bikes can get through when they close the roads. Once people start parking in the area, and they start closing roads, driving gets dicey.

[sediment]

Re: Amgen Tour of, Like, California, You Know?

Good advice.

I'm thinking about where to go. Do I go to a crest, or do I go to the start/finish?
Start/Finish is reachable by bike for me. I think that will be easier to get in and out of, too. Park near the Hyatt, then leave via Westlake Blvd afterward.
At any of the crests I'll be stuck until all the racers finish.

[Trekkie Dad]

Re: Amgen Tour of, Like, California, You Know?

Depends on what you want to see. At the race start, it's often possible to talk with and the racers (except for the "rock stars"), get a close look at some of the bikes, get autographs, etc. At the race finish, there's the excitement that comes at the end of the race, and you can often hear how the race is progressing before it's over from the announcer. If you watch on a steep climb, the racers will pass by more slowly and will likely be spread out more. It's a great place to take pictures. Also, if you ride your bike up that same hill, you have some appreciation for how difficult it is.

[sediment]

Re: Amgen Tour of, Like, California, You Know?

I wonder if the local clubs have been taking the route...maybe I'll drive it on the way home.

[Trekkie Dad]

Re: Amgen Tour of, Like, California, You Know?

A few of us have a plan to watch stage 3 from two places along the route, riding parts of the course in reverse. After watching them go by "point A" we'll ride a more direct (and less hilly) route to "point B" and watch them go by a second time.

[alphabassetgrrl]

Re: Amgen Tour of, Like, California, You Know?

It doesn't take long for the whole pack to go by. I've seen the leaders separated by... 5 minutes or so from the big pack. What takes a long time is the parade of official vehicles that follows the race.

And no matter what traffic is like, on a bike you'll be fine getting in and out of anywhere.

The crest of a hill is fun, especially if you can get a space where "King of the Mountain" points are awarded. Finish line is fun becase they're really pushing hard to get the win.