Tour of CA

[maillotpois]

So - who's going where to watch?

I think we'll be on Coleman, Trinity and Hamilton. Our viewing originally involved riding bicycles and/or motorcycles to the places we wanted to get to. Plans changed a bit. Oh well.

[MM_QFC!]

Hi,
Will be with 3 others from Seattle area - on Coleman and Trinity too...I watched the final laps in Santa Rosa last year and want to see the riders in slower motion as they climb this time!

[Veronica]

I think we'll be on Coleman. Thom will be on Hamilton. I couldn't get a good sub for the day, so I won't be there. I've already had two days out of my classroom this month with "sub off the street." I don't feel good about doing that a third time for a play day. :rolleyes:

V.

[gnat23]

I couldn't get the whole week offa work like I did last year, so probably an abbreviated version. I will definitely be in Palo Alto, may ride up to Mt. Tam on Monday, and I dunno how the heck Mt. Hamilton will work... in the past, police will close off access to the hill very very early, and in some cities would even kick off the people who had gotten there to camp overnight. :(

I might try to hit Solvang and on, too, if I can squeeze it. Anyone on the southern side?

-- gnat! (I have tons of pink dreads, and am easy to find in a crowd!)

EDIT: OMG, No Mt. Tam this year? Lame! Maybe I will try to get to Coleman then.

[Deanna]

I will probably be in downtown Santa Rosa again.

[Brandy]

We're going to watch the final day in Pasadena. Can't decide if I want to try to see part of the mountain stage and then try to rush to the finish or not. We did that last year and it was a pain! Since we'll have the kids it may be best to just pick a spot and stick there.

[aka_kim]

I'm hoping to be at the prologue and at the top of Sierra Rd.

[jobob]

Lee & I will be at the prologue, and we plan to ride over from home.

If anyone would like to ride over with us, give me a yell. We'll be starting from my home in Union City around 10, riding through Don Edwards park along the bay & over the Dumbarton Bridge, skirting around East Palo Alto and up to Stanford, with the requisite coffee/snack stops of course.

It'll be about 20-25 miles and about 100 ft of climbing. :D

Monday, we haven't figured out what we're doing yet.

Wednesday, we'll probably be at our favorite lookout spot 2/3 of the way up Sierra Rd.

I'll wear my AV gear. :cool:

[Deanna]

I will probably be in downtown Santa Rosa again.

I forgot to add that this year there is a pro-women's crit being held just prior to the arrival of the peloton in Santa Rosa. I'll be downtown for that as well.

[Aggie_Ama]

My husband and I will be flying in on a red eye Friday night. We plan on taking in the Prologue (MY BIRTHDAY!!), the finish in Santa Rosa and the start of stage two in Santa Rosa. We fly out on Tuesday afternoon. :D:D

[PinkBike]

we'll be there starting tuesday. DH and i are doing trektravel so we do a ride in the morning and then i guess they find us a place to sit and watch the race. i'm not sure how it all works, but they take care of everything. even give us new madones to ride. they also transport the bikes and luggage to each destination. we are so stoked!!!!! i'll be checking in on TE every day so maybe when i know more whats going on and how it all works i can contact some of youall and we can meet up. cant wait!

[maillotpois]

My husband and I will be flying in on a red eye Friday night. We plan on taking in the Prologue (MY BIRTHDAY!!), the finish in Santa Rosa and the start of stage two in Santa Rosa. We fly out on Tuesday afternoon. :D:D


So happy birthday! What a fun way to celebrate!

[Aggie_Ama]

Thanks Sarah. This is going to be a pretty special long weekend- DH has never been to California or anywhere west of Las Vegas. Unfortunately, I won't have computer access after tomorrow so I won't know if any TErs are around unless our hotel has one:(:(

I am pretty excited about the rosters that have been released, should be a site to see.

Laurie- Your trip sounds amazing! Take lots of pictures? :)

[Possegal]

I'm so jealous of all of you!!! I can't wait to hear the details and follow along and pretend I'm there. :) If life were a bit less hectic right now, I may have cashed in some frequent flier miles and headed out. I was in France in 04 and watched a stage of the tour and it was so exciting and now I'd love to see many more stages of many more races. So many travels to do, so little time and money.

[jobob]

Hi everyone -

This was posted to my club's e-list:

---------------------------------

Sunday, February 17th, 6:30pm

Meet-and-Greet
at the Mountain View Chipotle with members of professional cycling team
Slipstream/Chipotle. After the prologue in the afternoon, Team members
will be at Chipotle giving out and signing team swag.

There will also
be a raffle that night, for a prize package including a Felt Bicycles cruiser
bike, Burritos-for-a-Year from Chipotle, and an official Team
Slipstream/Chipotle jersey.

---------------------------------

[maillotpois]

We saw Chris Horner speak at a fundraiser on Wednesday night - he is super funny and sharp as a tack. What great stories he had. Super good guy.

Turns out we will be in Santa Rosa on Monday instead of Coleman. We'll walk up to see them go by our house on their way up Mt. Tam, and the hop in the car and go up for the finale. One of my team mates gets to present the third place winner with his award medal!! Super cool! (The mayor gets to give the first place award.)

[trinena]

Just to add a time - the Women's Pro Crit will be at noon in downtown Santa Rosa Mon.

[Bike Goddess]

We'll be near Lake Berryessa just before a feed stop tomorrow. We were planning to ride over, but since it may rain we may just drive up and cheer them on! Hopefully Levi will have the "yellow" jersey on so he'll be easy to spot!:D:D:D

[redrhodie]

I watched on tv. How was it in person? Looked like good crowds and a lot of fun.

[jobob]

The prologue was a blast!!!

BikerZ, aka_kim, LeeBob and I rode from our house in Union City across the Dumbarton Bridge and thru lovely East Palo to Palo Alto to watch the ToC prologue.

We parked our bikes at the secure parking area and moseyed around a bit, checking out the vans & busses of the various teams and occasionally spotting a cycling star. Some may call it stalking. (At least, that's what the judge who issued my restraining order called it ...)

After lots of stalking, er, sightseeing, we got some lunch at a cafe (conveniently situated where the Astana bus was parked). After lunch we stationed ourselves behind the start ramp area where we were able to see the racers up close & personal. BikerZ brought her camera & took some amazing pics - she'll post them at some point, once Kim and I help her with ID'ing the racers and coming up with witty captions.

It was unbelievably cool to see Mario Cippolini. He was very tanned and very fit. He had an entourage escorting him to the start. :rolleyes:

I am happy to say I did not make too much of an azz of myself when Bobby J and Jens showed up. Those pesky restraining orders ...

After Levi took off we headed up University Ave & Palm Drive to catch the awards presentation and to see what was left of the Expo.

Tyler Hamilton was at the Rock Racing booth at the expo signing autographs. I happened to be wearing the Amici Veloci buff that Floyd Landis had autographed, and for a moment I considered getting Tyler's autograph on it as well - it would then become my "Buff of Disgraced Cyclists". Yeah, yeah, tacky. :p The line was fairly long and we had to get going, but it was a funny thought ne'rtheless.

Stay tuned, more will be revealed. :cool:

[jobob]

Had to steal (er, share) this photo off of bikeforums - the crazy guy in the background is taxi777 (Pete), one of the guys I've met from the NorCal regional forum, paying homage to the cycling gods Phil, Paul and Bobke.

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w112/spingineer/Tour%20of%20Ca%20Prologue/P2170056.jpg

Pete's a hoot. :cool:


Lots of other great photos are showing up on this thread:

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=389150

[redrhodie]

I'm sooooo jealous. I want to come next year. Does it always start in Palo Alto? I'm in a gallery on University Ave, so it could be a business trip :rolleyes:.

[Running Mommy]

we are DYING out here! We want to be in Santa Rosa in such a bad way!!
Alas I'm here in the shop watching the dvd of last years race... sigh...

[Zen]

WORLD EXTREME CAGEFIGHTING!
is on Versus all evening, then bull riding, then cycling

[Running Mommy]

Nice....:rolleyes:

I'm watching live streaming video of the race right now. Chipollini is chatting like he's on a club ride! lol

[bikerz]

Here they are - on Flickr - I think this guest pass will work!
BikerZ's prologue photos (http://www.flickr.com/gp/8184286@N02/p945HL)

(thanks to Jo for help with the IDs! :o Clearly, I am a total newbie stalker!)

(And, if anyone has any IDs for anyone, feel free to leave a comment and I'll update the photo name,)

And Jo insisted I post this one of George Hincapie as a public service!
5393

[snapdragen]

If you have Directv it's on channel 50 right now (I'm assuming sf bay area)

[jobob]

Thanks !!!!!

- Jo, being lazy and hanging out at home.

[Bike Goddess]

Biker Z- Thanks for the great photos! At least you got to see these "wonder men" up close and still! If we're lucky, we"ll see them for about 1 second each if that!

Glad you were able to participate in the fun. I'll be you all had a good time.

[snapdragen]

bikerz - great photos! But why, oh why, did you let jo near the CSC bus? Gotta keep ms kiss 'o death away from them!


//snap is wondering how difficult it would be to stalk cipo......:rolleyes:

[crazycanuck]

THanks for the photos..who's the guy in BikerZ's post???

Also, do guys like Stuart o'grady & Cadel ride in this event? I guess i'd better go and do some searches to educate mahself on this..:o

[jobob]

Um, cc - did you happen to notice the photo of Stuey in bikerz's photos?

[bikerz]

THanks for the photos..who's the guy in BikerZ's post???

Here's Stuey
(http://www.flickr.com/photos/annz/2273286017/in/set-72157603935896587/)

That's George Hincapie. He's one of the few I could actually recognize all on my own (without an obvious jab in the ribs from Jo, that is!)

[maillotpois]

Wow Z that is amazing!!

We caught the ride in two places today!! (Muir beach climb and Santa Rosa). Much fun. I will see if we got any decent pics.

[jobob]

But why, oh why, did you let jo near the CSC bus? Gotta keep ms kiss 'o death away from them! That's what the restraining order is for, silly! :cool:

[Zen]

Oh my.
If you see HealthNet Guy again, slip him my addy and phone no.
I'll pm you ;)

[snapdragen]

Anyone planning to come to San Jose on Wednesday?

[trinena]

Zencentury (and Bikerz for your pics) - HealthNet Guy is Roman Kilun. Very nice guy. I can make the address thing happen, but his very nice girlfriend who rides for pro team Value Act Capital might have something to say about it!;)

[crazycanuck]

thanks for the photos! I still haven't had the chance to go and check out more info on the Tour of California. At work...

It was by pure fluke i asked aboout Stuart O'grady and someone had a photo!! :o

[jobob]

We aims to please ! :)

[jobob]

Anyone planning to come to San Jose on Wednesday?

Entirely possible!

Lee & I were planning to take the day off to ride up Sierra Rd, but rain is predicted, and somehow trudging up Sierra Rd and standing in the rain for a couple of hours lacks a certain appeal. :rolleyes:

[DrBadger]

Great photos ladies! I looked for you on Versus yesterday while watching the Prologue... it made me miss CA :( and watching them zoom up Coleman Valley Rd. today was amazing/painful since I now know what a beast that climb can be!

Have fun and keep the photos coming!
E.

[jobob]

...and watching them zoom up Coleman Valley Rd. today was amazing/painful since I now know what a beast that climb can be! Yep, I was thinking of our epic ride as they were zooming up Coleman Valley ! What a difference. :o

And I couldn't help but wonder, where were the cows?

[jobob]

Wow Ann, check out what Curtis did with the thumbnails of your pics!

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=389150 - see post 24

Leessee if I can post it here:

http://curtis.corlew.com/hosting/tourposter.jpg


Neat-o! :cool:

[bikerz]

Wow!!! How did he do that? That's so cool!

I'll have to get me a sign-on on bikeforums (bikefora?) and thank him personally!

[maillotpois]

That is super cool! I have to check out our photos and see what we got. It was very foggy and cold on Trinity this morning. We're heading directly to Tahoe from Hamilton tomorrow, so if we get anything there we can't post it for a while.

[Starfish]

OK...I'm saying this with a big smile on my face...but...looking at all those thumbnails together at once...is it just possible that we all might be a little geeky for following these guys? You have to admit...especially with the TT helmets...the look is...well...interesting! :p

[bikerz]

This may not be a surprise to some of you who know me in real life, but I think that taking pictures of pro cyclists may be the *least* geeky thing I do. :o Yep, sad, but true.

[maillotpois]

It's one of my less geeky hobbies... :rolleyes:

[gnat23]

I LOVE THIS TIME OF YEAR!!!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gnat23/sets/72157603926304559/

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2009/2274816498_cfdf826ce2_m.jpg <- Zabriskie. *zoom*!

(will be updating as I keep going. Will probably be at Sierra Wednesday, then from Solvang on...)

-- gnat! (seriously! I LOVE THIS!!)

[Lifesgreat]

OK, I have hundreds of pics and need to take the time to put the best ones online. I will try to this weekend.

Went to the finish in Sacramento and to the start in Modesto. The starts are the place for fans to go! Kiddo got Tyler Farrar's, Levi's, Jens', Bobby J's and Danny Pate's autograph (plus some others I am going to have to look up), we got a couple of Tom Boonen photos for another TE member :rolleyes: and lots of other shots.

I did not get a shot of one of my favorite things: the Bissell van was the broom wagon! :D

[Red Rock]

Hi Gang!

I finally registered. I'm a cycling junkie like the rest you on this forum. I have been a regular browser for at least a year or to, so I feel like I know all of you. I have certainly learned a lot about everything athletic and cycling related from all of your experiences. Thankyou so much.:)

My husband and I are headed to Santa Barbara in the AM. Will be there in the evening. Solvang in the AM and time trial and FUN!!. :D Then catch the Start from Santa Barbara before we head back to the desert of St. George Ut.

This is the first time I will have seen anything like this. I am SO excited, I
can't contain myself.

I look foraward to being actually able to comunicate with you all.

Ellen

[AuntieK]

Hi Ellen!
Welcome to TE!
You from St. George? I lived there for about 6 years during my teen years. I love it down there!
Have fun at the ToCA! I'm jealous of ALL of you who get to participate in the racing festivities! :D

Lifesgreat, you home already? Hurry up and get those photos posted!

[Red Rock]

AuntieK -

Yes, St. George is my home. It is nice here, although I could do without all of the population growth. I wish there was something better here for bike awarness. Everytime I read about someone getting killed, it scares me. I live in Hi-Vis yellow as much as possible, no matter what I look like.

[Bike Goddess]

Red Rock- We'd love it here too if we didn't have so much traffic! But, the benefits of great weather and some wonderful rides help outweigh what we have to endure on the traffic side of things.

Up here in the SF Bay area, many of us are fortunate to live close to areas where we can ride in relative safety away from horrendous traffic jams and such. I don't know how the folks down south manage. LA area isn't exactly cycling friendly from what I have heard.:(

[snapdragen]

This is kinda cool -- snatched it from another forum

http://forum.slowtwitch.com/gforum.cgi?post=1678871

[jobob]

That's too funny!

Here's a pic of Bobby J with the borrowed wheel.
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=390425

Yeah, I could see him wanting to borrow my rear wheel - NOT. :rolleyes:

[maillotpois]

did anyone else see this?? we were at hamilton wednesday and after the whole motorcade the first riders to come off the mountain was a group of three riders. as they got closer, I realized they were all in rock racing kit. as they got really close, I realized they had no helmets, erc. and that it was the outcasts: tyler hamilton, oscar sevilla and santiago botero. anyone else see them anywhere? does anyone know if they rode the whole stage? these are the climbers of the team, so maybe they were making a point about what could have been.

[jobob]

They didn't ride to the finish as far as I could tell. Lee and I were at the finish line when the first groups finished, and then we wandered back along the course to our car, watching & cheering on the stragglers.

We were inside the 90 degree turn onto 3rd St. when the bulk of the peleton whizzed by. Mario Cippolini took that turn very tight and very nearly clipped the guardrail right where Lee was standing. Heh, Lee nearly got entirely too up close & personal with Super Mario! :cool:

[Adventure Girl]

did anyone else see this?? we were at hamilton wednesday and after the whole motorcade the first riders to come off the mountain was a group of three riders. as they got closer, I realized they were all in rock racing kit. as they got really close, I realized they had no helmets, erc. and that it was the outcasts: tyler hamilton, oscar sevilla and santiago botero. anyone else see them anywhere? does anyone know if they rode the whole stage? these are the climbers of the team, so maybe they were making a point about what could have been.VeloNews life update said:

"Why are the members of the Rock Republic Team that are not racing allowed to still be involved in the race?"

They really aren't involved in the race. Tyler Hamilton, Oscar Sevilla and Santiago Botero have been hanging around at the race start - wearing their team kits - but they don't have passes or credentials. They are basically in the same position as anyone else out there, riding the roads until the highway patrol tells them they can't anymore ... which is what happened yesterday. They were told to pull off the road by the CHP and had to wait until the peloton passed.

[Lifesgreat]

VeloNews life update said:

I saw them at the finish of Stage 2 in Sacramento. They were at the Rock Racing booth signing posters.

http://s106.photobucket.com/albums/m241/airstreamgirl/Tour%20of%20California%202008/?action=tageditmany

http://s106.photobucket.com/albums/m241/airstreamgirl/Tour%20of%20California%202008/?action=tageditmany

[Veronica]

Someone in charge needs to put an end to this stupid Puerto thing. Yes EVERYONE and their MOTHER and their DOG and their BEST FRIEND was seeing the good doctor for drugs. Can we move on now?

Plus Tyler has done his time. Let the poor guy try to salvage his career.

V.

[jobob]

Yeah, it's getting old, very old.

Why don't they all just start from scratch, get tested out the wazoo (with appropriate controls so there aren't any questions about the accuracy of the results) and if anyone is caught doping from this point on, out they go.

Wishful thinking, I know.

[Bike Goddess]

I think the Amgen tour is testing these guys like they've never been tested before! Hopefully this will set a precedent for the ones to come.

yes, let's get on with it!

[Red Rock]

Hello Everyone from So Cal:

Went to the TT, was not able to get many pics due to placement of ourselves and the speed at which they were traveling. This was quite amazing!!

It was cool to see these people in the flesh as they sped by on their bikes!

To Santa Barbara tomarrow, then home.

Happy cycling all.

Ellen

[Bike Goddess]

Lucky you! Glad you got to see them. What I like about TTs is you see them solo as opposed to bunched together. What a treat!

AND.....Levi did it again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Have fun tomorrow. Come back and see us again!

[Aggie_Ama]

The prologue was a blast!!!

BikerZ, aka_kim, LeeBob and I rode from our house in Union City across the Dumbarton Bridge and thru lovely East Palo to Palo Alto to watch the ToC prologue.

:cool:


I am pretty sure it was you guys I saw at the expo. I was in the back with DH and he said "Don't you have that red jersey?" Alas, by the time we made it down the row you had all vanished. :rolleyes:

[jobob]

Yes, the AV jerseys give us magical teleportation powers ;)

We were in a bit of a hurry at the expo - we had to walk back to the start to pick up our bikes from the bike lot, and a 45 minute ride back to my house, and we were running out of daylight.

Bummer we missed you, Amma! I was hoping you'd see us in the crowd in our AV stuff. Oh well.

[Brandy]

Anyone going to the finish in Santa Clarita today?

I'll be there with four kids in tow. :D

[aly]

Although I've been sick as a dog lately, I think I want to try to make it out for the final stage tomorrow. I think we're going to head into the canyons to try to watch some climbing. Do you think this would be better than braving the crowds for the finish? Are there generally booths and such at the end? How crowded do you think it'll be?

I'm excited!!

[Brandy]

The finish is always fun because you can see the team cars, check out the bikes, and possibly the guys, afterward!

[BikeMomma]

Well, because of the nasty weather forecast for Wednesday's Stage 3, our group scrapped plans to ride up Del Puerto Canyon to watch the race from one of the three KOM's before Hamilton. We decided instead to drive to Modesto for the start, and from there, hightail it over to San Jose to watch the finish. Worked out perfect.

At SJ, we situated ourselves by the teams buses to catch closer glimpses of them as they came in. It was there that I saw Chris Horner giving an interview to VeloNews, got a couple pics, and then grabbed my pen and newly-acquired Chris Horner poster for an autograph. Great score there -- it will be framed and hung at the local LBS (Kevin's Bikes/Merced, CA) with all the other signed pics/posters accumulating there. Kevin is a Chris Horner fan, too.

Here are some pics for the Dave Zabriskie, Mario Cipollini, Chris Horner, Tyler Farrar, and Tom Boonen fans:

The TT King himself, Mr. DZ (I think he was posing intentionally), with Tom Danielson/Slipstream and Ivan Dominguez/Toyota United behind him:
5434

Cipo, lookin' good on the road back from retirement:
5435

Chris Horner, being interviewed by VeloNews mag (I also got a pic of his bike, if anyone's interested):
5436

Tyler Farrar, the morning in Modesto -- he later abandoned of reported food poisoning:
5438

Tom Boonen, being mobbed at the team bus in San Jose:
5437

I also drove over to Seaside on Thursday for Stage 4, but because of slow traffic and nasty weather, got there about 15 minutes too late. Hey, any excuse to drive to the coast....of course a Starbucks visit was in order after that. ;)

Exciting Tour this year. The nasty weather is putting an interesting twist into the dynamics of the race. See...it does rain in California. :)

Cya galz...
BikeMomma

[jobob]

At SJ, we situated ourselves by the teams buses to catch closer glimpses of them as they came in.

Aw crud, Lee & I were just past the finish when the first couple of groups of riders came in. You must have been right around the corner from us! (I was wearing my AV jacket so if we crossed paths you probably would have seen me :cool: )

[BikeMomma]

Aw crud, Lee & I were just past the finish when the first couple of groups of riders came in. You must have been right around the corner from us! (I was wearing my AV jacket so if we crossed paths you probably would have seen me :cool: )

Dang! I'll have to look through my pics to see if I got you guys somewhere in there. When they first came in, we were along the railing where it fanned out before the turn "team bus alley." Then after a few minutes, we moved around the corner.

[gnat23]

Although I've been sick as a dog lately, I think I want to try to make it out for the final stage tomorrow. I think we're going to head into the canyons to try to watch some climbing. Do you think this would be better than braving the crowds for the finish? Are there generally booths and such at the end? How crowded do you think it'll be?

I'm excited!!

In Pasadena? I have no idea, but I will try to be there, too!

Look for the pink hair and/or the flowered top-hat. :D

-- gnat!

[Brandy]

gnat...I'll be there too. Look for the stressed out mama with lots of kids in tow!

[Brandy]

I found the Dave's yesterday! :)


Dave Z!!!!!!
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2143/2288336039_4a391d2215.jpg

David Clinger!!!!
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2284/2289125956_f64eebd41b.jpg

[Tuckervill]

Holy cow, are those tattoos?

Karen

[maillotpois]

Yes. Maori (possible spelling error - the NZ-er should feel free to correct me) style tattoos. He removed part of them.

Nice shots Brandi. I do wish DZ would lose the porn star mustache. :rolleyes:

[Aggie_Ama]

I am personally amused by the mustaches. They are ridiculous and I hope that is their intentions. If they think that is a good look for them I am scared!!:eek:

[Tuckervill]

oh, now that you say Maori, I get it.

At first I saw Zabriskie's face all dirty and then the next picture it took a minute for it to sink in that it wasn't dirt on his face!

Karen

[velogirl]

Clinger's tats caused quite a bit of controversy a few years back and jeopardized his pro contract with Webcor.

[Starfish]

I do wish DZ would lose the porn star mustache. :rolleyes:

Oh, I don't know. Put a big frilly man-shirt on him and he kinda looks like D'Artagnon (or however you spell that 4th musketeer!). :p

[trinena]

Dave Z. in cyclingnews.com coverage said his moustache was inspired by Civil War generals. So it's a civil war porn moustache. :p

[snapdragen]

One of the regulars over at Roadbike Review just posted some pictures and video from TOC.

http://pichiz.smugmug.com/gallery/4391214_cGjWq#P-1-12

[Bike Goddess]

Thanks for the pics! Great shots and OMG- is THAT Sierra Road? I've not done it and have no idea what it looks like!