Tour of California - spoilers allowed

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

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.

Here are some of my photos from Sierra Road:


http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k1...1/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/k1...1/DSCF0614.jpg
Killing time before the race arrived. It was a fun crowd up there.


http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k1...1/DSCF0615.jpg
There were many reminders of Wouter Weylandt, whose funeral was in Belgium earlier that day.


http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k1...1/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/k1...1/DSCF0625.jpg
This was the second group after Horner: Andy Schleck, Tejay Van Garderen, Tom Danielson, and Rory Sutherland.


http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k1...1/DSCF0626.jpg
The next group back: Christian Vande Velde, Laurens Ten Dam, Linus Gerdemann.


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Oscar Freire.


http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k1...1/DSCF0638.jpg
The cattle were fascinated.


http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k1...1/DSCF0639.jpg
The early finishers started to make their way back down Sierra Road ...


http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k1...1/DSCF0640.jpg
... well before the final group made their way up.


http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k1...1/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.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 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.

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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...

I rode up to watch the Tour of California. Lot hard with 57 miles in my legs than 17:
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Z...0/100_2839.jpg
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-G...0/100_2847.jpg
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-F...0/100_2849.jpg
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-z...0/100_2853.jpg
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-K...0/100_2855.jpg
I also made a video You Tube race coverage starts about 7:15 :)

Cool! Where on Mt. Baldy were you?

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

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=c5tBe...layer_embedded

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

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.