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Pictures from Tour of California

Phil

Maximum Pace
Sep 1, 2007
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So I've been in LA on work for the last few weeks, which meant the rare opportunity for me to catch the Tour of California--the final two stages in the LA area fell on a weekend.

Today I rode out east from the San Fernando Valley to the Glendora area to catch the stage 7 action in the mountains.

Was lucky to hook up with a couple of local guys who showed me a scenic back route to the base of the mountains, where the race was taking place.



Rode out of the valley on the same road the race was using to the second KOM point at Glendora Mt. Rd. About 20kms and change up from the valley.



Just a bit beyond was a turnoff the peloton would pass twice, first on a descent. Headed there to see them go by.

 
Continuing...

After making that turn, the peloton continued to descend to the far side of the valley, along this road:



We watched the distant dots:



Decided not to stay at the KOM point, because the road turned quite shallow the last 5 kms of the climb. Instead, went partway downhill to catch the riders at a set of switchbacks which offered some nice views. Here is the breakaway in the foreground, chased by the peloton. They had 2 minutes at this point.



And here is the breakaway, with Ryder Hesjedal leading, and Georgie Hincapie 4th wheel.



Here's the grupetto:



Hoping to catch the final stage 8 tomorrow; will post pics and report if I do.
 
Beautiful pics and looks like a great cycling athmosphere out there!

One thing I wonder looksing at the pics - does not look like there's much shade on these roads (comparing to rindos and even wide mountain roads in Japan). Is the sun a big problem for cycling during summer there?
 
Sergey, the sun is definitely harsher here than Japan; need sunscreen on every long ride, which I don't always do back home. Plus the pavement is lighter, so you get the reflected light hitting you as well. So far, though, it feels a lot cooler than Japan, nowhere near the humidity. Still not into summer yet though...
 
Stage 8 pics

Today's final stage 8 was a different kind of stage from yesterday. It ended with 5 laps of downtown Thousand Oaks, a smallish town to the northwest of LA proper. Had a good spot about 100 meters from the finish line to watch the finale...

Lap 3 or so, peloton chasing the break:



Final lap. Photographers ready for the sprint:



Tom Danielson rides away from the stage after the podium ceremony. He finished 3rd overall:

ToCStage8_045.jpg
 
Among the team buses

After the race was over I wandered for a bit among the team buses.

Sky riders and their Dogmas:

ToCStage8_027.jpg


BMC bikes:



Garmin Cervelo car. In the background, riders are being interviewed in front of the bus:

ToCStage8_021.jpg


Hincapie was definitely one of the more popular riders there:

ToCStage8_031.jpg
 
Trad > Yeah, it was a beautiful road, and a great descent too. Ever ride the Big and Little Tujunga Canyon Roads? Those are pretty amazing too.
 
phil - those are great roads. Superb area for mtn biking also. The 4000ft descent from Mt Wilson down into Pasadena or Clairemont area are are awesome.
 
Ah, cool. Thanks for the tip on Mt. Wilson. Must have passed the road up to it a couple of weekends ago when on the Crest Highway.
 
Wow, fantastic!!

Massively jealous!

...and I would definitely have left the Sky team with one Dogma short... :rolleyes:
 
Yeah, not normally a Pinarello fan but those Sky Dogmas look the business. Wonder if they'd have noticed if I switched in my Ritchey? Wiggins is about my size... :)
 
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