Tour of California - spoilers allowed

[ny biker]

So, stage one called on account of snow.

Versus made Phil and Paul stand outside with no hats or gloves in 28 degree weather.

Let's hope tomorrow's trip through the Donner Pass has sun and warmer temps.

[channlluv]

Hmmm...Donner Pass...snow....um...

[Savra]

I was so bummed today's stage was cancelled. I'm from the Tahoe area and was looking forward to seeing home now that I'm in NY. It is supposed to snow again tomorrow though and it will be worse on the I80 corridor than it was at the lake if it does. However, if so, all they have to do is move the race down the mountain a bit to avoid the snow. I'm crossing my fingers it still starts in Squaw. I have a friend who works there.

[bluebug32]

Here's a spoiler: there will be plows and snowmen.

[jobob]

this just in ...

Rumor has it Jens Voigt just finshed 1st lap around Lake Tahoe for Amgen Tour of California Stage 1. He doesn't get what all the fuss is about. "Shut Up Snow!"

:cool:

[Jo-n-NY]

Does anyone know if there is free online tracking of TOC. I thought I tracked each days race last year but I can't seem to find the link. I no longer get versus so I can no longer watch it.

Thanks

[jobob]

http://shacktracker.amgentourofcalifornia.com/

Check it out :cool:

[AppleTree]

Hmmm...Donner Pass...snow....um...

Heh, heh, heh... I had the very same thought when I heard them announce this route! :p

[ny biker]

Too bad they had to move the start to Nevada City today. But Phil and Paul say there have been big crowds despite the weather.

Ben Swift has a good name for a sprinter.

[luv2climb]

Here's my video of the final four laps of Stage 2 in midtown Sacramento, recorded at the corner of 18th and L Streets. There is a little shakiness because I had to stand on the frame of my trike to see over the heads of the taller people in front of me. Then it got windy and rainy so I had to hold my umbrella with one hand and record with the other.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPZhRlxtZM0

[TrekTheKaty]

Snow in the mountains! Blasphemous! They were still whining during Stage 2 about the cold weather during the broadcast. What--they don't have snow on the mountain in Europe? :p

Zabriskie tweeted a video of the snow out his hotel window.

Thanks for the video Luv. That looks fun. I've watched the Tour of Missouri from the side of the highway, but in town looks more fun :)

[TrekTheKaty]

http://shacktracker.amgentourofcalifornia.com/

Check it out :cool:

Great. Now I'll never get any work done:p

[luv2climb]

Thanks for the video Luv. That looks fun. I've watched the Tour of Missouri from the side of the highway, but in town looks more fun :)
You're welcome:) It was fun watching them come around the corner. Last year I was standing 3 blocks west on the same street and only got a quick shot of them whizzing by on the straightaway.

Due to the rain they kept their speed down, so luckily no crashes. Last year when it was dry there was a crash near the corner I was standing on this year.

[PinkBike]

we had reservations for 3 nites in tahoe to watch the opening stages. when i broke my thumb earlier this year i had to use up all my sick and vacation days so we had to cancel all our plans for the rest of the year.

now i am so glad i didnt drive 12 hours to tahoe!!

we spent our best vacation EVER at the ATOC with trek travel in feb of 2008, but it was COLD every day. i thought it would be better now that it's in may. we saw two southern stages last year and loved it. i was looking forward to this year until the weather turned.

but this year -- without cavendish, cancellara, boonen -- i think i'm glad i'm watching the giro d'italia from home instead of freezing in california.

[pll]

http://shacktracker.amgentourofcalifornia.com/

Check it out :cool:

The tracker is awesome! What a luxury of a week: Giro d'Italia in the morning (through the Gazzetta dello Sport (http://videochat.gazzetta.it/index_giro.shtml) web site) and Tour of California in the afternoon.

[jobob]

Leebob and I are heading off for Sierra Road.

The way I've been riding lately, the best I might be able to manage is the first very steep (but thankfully short) climb up to the church where I'm told the Lifestyle Festival is taking place.

Must do some shopping for the Birthday Girl (Hi Mel!!!) -- yeah, that's my excuse. :D



I'll be wearing my Amici Veloci jersey (gee, it must have shrunk in the wash ...) :rolleyes::p

[ny biker]

HORNER!!! Amazing ride.

I love to see the "old guys" dominate. He'll be 40 in October.

[redrhodie]

That was a great ride! Woo-hoo! He rode like his saddle was on fire!

[ny biker]

And that's what Snickers bars, Coke and Little Debbie Brownies will do for ya...

[azfiddle]

Yesterday I hooked up my computer to my classroom projector and watched the end of the stage on a big screen! Fun. A few students in there were trying to do a little work but - they didn't get that much done....

[Jo-n-NY]

Thanks for the info on the Radio Shack tracker. I got prompted to down load something and I don't want to do that at work so I am reading it live on Cycling News.com.

[alice]

Leebob and I are heading off for Sierra Road.

The way I've been riding lately, the best I might be able to manage is the first very steep (but thankfully short) climb up to the church where I'm told the Lifestyle Festival is taking place.



Did you make it all the way up? It was killer! I walked up... surprised at the respect I got from people going up on two (or more) wheels.

I was also suprised by the ratio of men to women (at least up at the finish). Are women underrepresented in the field of cycling (the professional sport) fans? I had no idea.

[TrekTheKaty]

I lost track. How many flats has Andy had now?

Jobob, did you make it?

[redrhodie]

While commenting after the stage, Phil mentioned that Chris Horner would make a good tv commentator. Yes Please! He'd be great! I've read his blog, and he can write, too.

But I guess with the way he's still racing, he may not be retiring any time soon. Must be all the junk food that keeps him so young.

[ny biker]

DZ's son is a cutie.

I loved seeing coverage of the women's TT today. Kristin Armstrong had a baby 8 months ago!!

[redrhodie]

Great stage today! Nice teamwork. Poor Andy seemed off.

Noticed a shock of pink hair running along side on Versus, and wondered if that was Gnat?

[ny biker]

Love the black and white photo at the bottom of this page:

http://www.livestrong.com/teamradioshack/news_leipheimer-horner-better-than-rest-mount-baldy/

That was quite the steep climb. Fun to watch. Especially when teammates cross the line in solidarity like they did today.

Was sorry that Rory Sutherland was dropped. I'm rooting for the continental teams in this race.

I suspect "the bald men on Mount Baldy" had the edge over Andy in part because they were training in California and knew the climb better.

[loopybunny]

I made the drive last Sunday to Tahoe... which seems like it would have been a waste, but it was pretty darn awesome.

Bunch of the guys were hanging around in the lobby of Montbleu before the start and it was kind of fun seeing them. An acquaintance that knows Ted King sent him a text and got Ted to meet me. I was starstruck. I'd just won some stuff (hat, socks, and signed gloves) from Teddy earlier in the week so I got to thank him in person. He's much taller than I expected.

I managed to get some decent shots of the sign in and staging before they officially called it off.

Ted King was in good spirits.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3125/5728482661_c9a09d8b98.jpg

Vaughters had a heated discussion with Andrew Messick and Linus Gerdemann about safety.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2323/5729034370_3be6e0f9a3.jpg

Chris Horner finding a good place to "start".
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2236/5729037522_f829f7bc71.jpg

Will Dugan was a bit cold.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5121/5728485115_596b3f0e4f.jpg

The rest of my stage 1 shots can be found here (http://www.flickr.com/photos/49521477@N02/sets/72157626731087580/).

I also went to the stage 3 finish in Modesto. I didn't have the same luck photo wise, but I did finally track down Burke Swindlehurst thereby avoiding 2 months of endless guilt that would be piled on me for not saying hi.

I like Thor... he supposedly wasn't feeling well but he was definitely in a better mood.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5062/5735157585_b301a0ffca.jpg

This is what he did after the race.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5107/5735157327_11212639b5.jpg

My other stage 3 shots (only 5 right now) are here (http://www.flickr.com/photos/49521477@N02/sets/72157626753987706/).

[emily_in_nc]

Lovely photos, Michelle! Thanks for sharing them. How wonderful to get so up close and personal with the pros.

[jobob]

Sorry I haven't posted! :o

Yes, Leebob & I rode up Sierra Road. I haven't ridden up there in quite a while (since well before my crash 2 years ago), and my oh my it showed. I lost track of how many times I stopped to catch my breath. We finally made it about 2/3 of the way up, to a part of the road that has a good view of the road below (we were right near the Belgian flags, you may have noticed them on the Versus telecast.)

Competitors who made it up in the early groups had started riding back down even before the (very large!) autobus made its way up. Most (not all) of the spectators waited until the broom wagon passed to start back down.

It was a creepy descent down Sierra Road. There were a lot of pedestrians walking down and timid cyclists tentatively descending, and the pedestrians in particular weren't very good at staying over to the right. We'd often get stuck behind them, but it was difficult to pass them because there were many corners with limited visibility, and there were plenty of cars already heading up the road.

And to top it off, there were lots of competitors bombing back down Sierra Road to get to their team buses parked at the bottom. On one hand, it was cool to see famous pros riding right next to me, but on the other hand, there were moments I'd be stuck behind some slow rollers spread out over the road, and due to the limited visibility both in front and behind me, I'd be reluctant or unable to to pull around and pass them. All I could think of was that I didn't want to be the one to take out Jens or Thor or Levi or Andy!!! :eek: (or anyone else of course)

Next day (Thursday) we headed down to Solvang. Paso Robles was along the way, we figured if we timed it right we'd stop there to see the finish. I had noticed on the course map that much of the route paralleled or crossed Highway 101. Our timing was superb. We stopped for lunch at a great little cafe at the outskirts of King City and finished our lunch right before the peleton came by. And then, we got back onto 101 and, thanks to some road work going on at the time, we were delayed enough so that we were able to see the peleton go underneath us at three of the four overpasses we drove over. There is no way we could have planned that. :cool: We continued on and rolled into Paso Robles well before the race arrived.

More later. I took lots of photos; I haven't had a chance to go through them yet. I'll see if there are any worth posting.

[Veronica]

You're so lucky Jo! I couldn't take any time off this year to go to the race. Stupid Open House at school. :D

Veronica

[ny biker]

Hahahahaha. Posted on twitter by Radio Shack's Ben King, with the caption "First stop."

http://twitpic.com/51aaet

The top five finishers were all from the US. Horner, Levi, Tommy Danielson, CVV, Tejay Van Garderen.

[jobob]

Here are some of my photos from Sierra Road:


http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k186/jobob22/ToC%20Sierra%20Rd%2018-May-2011/DSCF0612.jpg
One of the many places I needed to stop on the climb up Sierra Road to catch my breath. That's Leebob patiently waiting for me.


http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k186/jobob22/ToC%20Sierra%20Rd%2018-May-2011/DSCF0614.jpg
Killing time before the race arrived. It was a fun crowd up there.


http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k186/jobob22/ToC%20Sierra%20Rd%2018-May-2011/DSCF0615.jpg
There were many reminders of Wouter Weylandt, whose funeral was in Belgium earlier that day.


http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k186/jobob22/ToC%20Sierra%20Rd%2018-May-2011/DSCF0623.jpg
Chris Horner was well in the lead by the time he reached our location, and was looking super strong.


I missed getting a photo of Levi and Ryder, rats.


http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k186/jobob22/ToC%20Sierra%20Rd%2018-May-2011/DSCF0625.jpg
This was the second group after Horner: Andy Schleck, Tejay Van Garderen, Tom Danielson, and Rory Sutherland.


http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k186/jobob22/ToC%20Sierra%20Rd%2018-May-2011/DSCF0626.jpg
The next group back: Christian Vande Velde, Laurens Ten Dam, Linus Gerdemann.


http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k186/jobob22/ToC%20Sierra%20Rd%2018-May-2011/DSCF0636.jpg
Oscar Freire.


http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k186/jobob22/ToC%20Sierra%20Rd%2018-May-2011/DSCF0638.jpg
The cattle were fascinated.


http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k186/jobob22/ToC%20Sierra%20Rd%2018-May-2011/DSCF0639.jpg
The early finishers started to make their way back down Sierra Road ...


http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k186/jobob22/ToC%20Sierra%20Rd%2018-May-2011/DSCF0640.jpg
... well before the final group made their way up.


http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k186/jobob22/ToC%20Sierra%20Rd%2018-May-2011/DSCF0647.jpg
Notable riders in the autobus included world champion Thor Hushovd, Lars Boom, and Paris-Roubaix winner Johan Van Summeren. It was a hard day.


I didn't manage to get a photo of Jens, I was too busy cheering for him as he rode by. Darn.

[pll]

While commenting after the stage, Phil mentioned that Chris Horner would make a good tv commentator. Yes Please! He'd be great! I've read his blog, and he can write, too.


In Steephill.tv, they had clips of Chris Horner with a preview of each stage -- fun to watch: http://www.steephill.tv/tour-of-california/

Jobob -- wonderful pictures. Thanks for posting! What spectacular places to ride. My area is so flat...

[Fredwina]

I rode up to watch the Tour of California. Lot hard with 57 miles in my legs than 17:
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-ZHLy9krQx9Q/TdgfGzDc-mI/AAAAAAAAPDo/WxyFYHKKo0g/s640/100_2839.jpg
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-GsLyAQccyYU/TdgfMAy0JVI/AAAAAAAAPEA/mAUgZsBjJao/s640/100_2847.jpg
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Fl3vNf-osZg/TdgfNCP3ysI/AAAAAAAAPEI/vsRJi-vv_oc/s640/100_2849.jpg
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-ztaRckqbmy4/TdgfRQY3H_I/AAAAAAAAPEY/v_XiiPWiuEw/s640/100_2853.jpg
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-KFN6VWYLogk/TdgfSRCoSdI/AAAAAAAAPEg/PpSiVVXlXVg/s640/100_2855.jpg
I also made a video You Tube (http://youtu.be/cNhjjWxSd0M) race coverage starts about 7:15 :)

[jobob]

Cool! Where on Mt. Baldy were you?

[Fredwina]

about 10 miles into the race @ the corner of Mt Baldy and Shinn(mountian ave)
Roads

[jobob]

Someone took a video of his descent back down Sierra Road after the stage. The video begins right about where I watched the stage.

When I rode down, well before this guy, there seemed to be a lot more pedestrians all over the road. Or maybe that just how it seemed to me ... :rolleyes: I was at the bottom of Sierra Road when the fire truck passed by me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5tBe57orEA&feature=player_embedded

Check out the appearances by Andy Schleck and the Radio Shack guys. :cool:

[luv2climb]

That's bamarian. He has great ride videos! I'm subscribed to his YouTube channel. He always has great raw footage of rides and races.

I must say that he has an interesting image stabilization program. It moves the entire frame to smooth the image.