We had a fun, wet, and super exciting day on the bike in rainy California. Thankfully, the rain has only come inbetween riding. We started our ride in Occidental California and road straight west toward the Pacific Ocean. Rain soaked our clothing almost immediately and the run off from the rain water made descending sketchy at best. As we neared the coast we found riding much drier (and safer). Before we knew it we were riding through Bodega Bay, the film location of Hitchcock's masterpiece "The Birds", right on highway one heading north.
Before too long we realized that we needed to pack up and head to the end of stage one of the Tour of California at Santa Rosa. We arrived just in time to see the final 4 circuits of the race. Francesco Mancebo was the first to make it to the circuit, followed by Vincenzo Nibali and Jurgen Van de Walle. In hot pursuit was a chase group that included Chris Horner, Levi Leipheimer, Dave Zabriski, and Lance Armstrong. Mancebo took the stage, and a number of riders from the break moved high into the overall classification.
Armstrong shows that he and the rest of Astana are here...here to be feared.
The Climb up Mount Hamilton
Hey Cycling Fans!
We're writing to you from California after about 4 days of awesome riding, spectacular views and good food. Yesterday we rode up King's Mountain Road near San Mateo and Palo Alto. Great scenery, a bit of rain and cooler weather, but all in all a good day in the saddle.
Today's ride was very beautiful. We actually saw a lot of sun and had good weather for riding unlike the last couple of days. Besides the snow on the top of Mount Hamilton (our original destination) we can't complain. We parked in San Jose, the end of stage 2 of this year's Tour of California, and rode east down Santa Clara until we found the road up Mount Hamilton. About a third of the Way up we ran into a little road block. The local deputy had the road blocked off for snow on the top of the moutain and asked us (politely) not to venture any further that about two thirds up the climb.
Spectacular views were to be had all day.
This is truly a beautiful ride and if you ever get a chance to do it...don't hesitate!!!
We also encountered some local wildlife along the way. Here Benjamin Stern, our guide and (Sales Rep.), leads the way.
After taking the last third of the (available) climb twice, (to make up for the shortened sumit), we headed back to San Jose and watched the Finish of the Professional women's race...
And then we watched the Pro 1,2 Men's race....
Tomorrow we're going to brave some torential rain, perhaps some thunder and lightning and ride some of stage number one of the Tour of California. Stay tuned and check back for details; it's going to be awesome!!!
Arrival in California - The First Ride
We landed safely in San Francisco this morning to partly cloudy skies and some scattered rain. Naturally the first thing we did was eat some food and assemble our bikes. Shortly there after we headed off for a quick 1.5 hour ride through the Stanford campus in Palo Alto where we ended up on Sand hill Road. We took Sand Hill up to the start of the climb up Old La Honda Road. Seeing as the bikes were in good working order, brakes worked etc. we decided to head back to Downtown Palo Alto. After we arrived back at base camp it started to rain more heavily. Good timing.
No pros sighted yet but we will keep you up to date. Tomorrow will be a good long ride to San Gregorio and back (80 plus miles hopefully) with a return ride up Tunitas Creek Road. Tunitas Creek will be one of the more interesting climbs of stage number 2 of the Tour of California.
Even though the weather's bad it's still fine with us.
Off to the Tour of California
Hey cycling fans,
Some of our staff will be heading out for the Tour of California tomorrow. They'll be staying in Palo Alto, California; not far from the start of last year's Prologue. They'll be riding some of the same roads used in this tour and some from year's past. Be sure to tune in to future Blog episodes for what is sure to be a great cycling adventure!
"Last year we road up Old La Honda with Chris Horner, Quick Step and some of the guys from Rabobank". This year we will surely have some more great stories to tell.
Stay tuned...
The Tour of California
This year's Tour of California could be the biggest bike race to ever grace American soil. With the star studded starting line up it's really no wonder. Lance Armstrong is coming back after 3 years of retirement. Ivan Basso is returning after a ban, Floyd Landis is returning after his ban, Tyler Hamilton will be there, Mark Cavendish, Tom Boonen, Carlos Sastre, and 2 time TOC winner Levi Leipheimer. With a line up like that and the race being so close we decided that it was a good idea to see the race first hand. As a result we will be bringing you day by day coverage of not only each stage of the Tour but our misadventures and riding stories from our spring training that will coincide with the Tour.
We'll try to make it through security with our New Pika Pack Works bag without paying extra for a bike. We've done it numerous times before but with tightened security measures we will have to see if they are cracking down more now. The Pika bag itself falls well within the prescribed limits of what an "oversized" piece of baggage is and at the light weight of 30 pounds (with bike) should be no threat to the airline's precious weight to fuel ratio. The other fat, obese Americans on the flight should more than make up for the light weight extra luggage.
We'll see if we run into any riders out there, possibly bring you some interviews, gossip, and other tidbits as soon as we hear them. So, stay tuned to this blog for a truly unique perspective of the tour as we bring you "Gonzo Tour of California coverage". Get psyched!!!
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