The Tour of California is a one week stage race – pro cycling’s equivalent to baseball’s minor leagues AAA (if the Tour de France and the Italian and Spanish grand tours were MLB.) The race includes 7 “stages”, each an individual race of its own. Finishing in the shortest cumulative time produces an overall winner. There are also awards for those who can win internal sprints, or be the first up various mountain climbs (KOM, or King of the Mountains). The stages vary from year to year, but generally travel through California from north to South.
Annually, my triathlon team “follows” the race; actually, we priced the race, riding on the same roads as the pros, leaving 3-4 hours before them, and trying to get as far as we can before the tour gobbles us up. We ride about 60-90 miles a day about 4.5-5 hours, and have support vehicles and staff for the 20 or so “campers” who ride. Each evening we take the vans to the next staging town, and start all over again.
Prologue: Saturday, Sacramento – We gathered, in two big clumps, at the downtown Holiday Inn Express. ENer Bob Nelson, a concierge FP physician in Sacramento had volunteered to pick up a gaggle of us at the airport, transport us to lunch, then on to the hotel. Meanwhile, Coach Rich schlepped up the SoCal contingent, along with bikes and vans. The support for this trip was first class. Rich had borrowed a new Mercedes Sprinter Blutec from one of his moto buddies. Room for 4 inside, along with all of our luggage, and a few bikes. Mrs. Rich, JoAnne, served as sag driver and administrative aide extraordinaire. A rented Econoline 10 passenger van was driven by Brendan, who knows bikes and photography. By the end of the trip, he also knew the van VERY well. And, most amazing, a fully equipped (21 inch flat screen, bike racks front and back, 10 seats inside) bike support van from CrazyBearBikes.com, Xavier Lassalle, prop. “X” is a bear of a man, whose business is supporting bike trips throughout California. Rich found him out of the blue one day while on a ride in the San Gabriel mtns. X not only knows be mechanics and the intricacies of taking a large group on a whirlwind tour of the Golden State, but he also is one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet, with a great French accent to boot.
That night at dinner, we all got know each other a bit more. I was lucky, personally knowing more than half the crew. We included 6 folks in the IT trade, another half dozen clinicians (MD, PT, DDS, DC). 18 paying customers, with Rich and his “domestique”, Jonny Diedrich, rolling along with us. Rich outlined the week, and the protocol (“If I were a ToC rider, here’s how I would arrange my morning … “). To our rooms, ready to crash through the looking glass the next morning.
Stage 1: Sacramento to Davis, the long way – The California Delta consists of several rivers (Sacramento, San Joaquin, American) all commingling in an estuary draining to San Francisco Bay. So the ride was FLAT, FLAT, FLAT crossing many bridges through fallowed farm land. The state is planning to shunt even more of this water south, through several tunnels, so our view was peppered with signs, “Stop the Tunnels”. Confusing, as all we saw were bridges. And grass blowing in the wind. We made a giant “U” on the route, first into the wind, then finishing with it at our backs. Joining us on the ride were Bob Nelson again, and Peter Carroll, ENer from Davis. The day was mostly about sorting ourselves out, finding out who could ride with whom. I managed about 90 miles in 4:45 (TSS 254, IF 0.71), with the faster riders hitting the take out about 15-20 minutes earlier. Vans were parked in a shopping center lot, where we scavenged for lunch at a Whole Foods clone, then watched the Tour riders whiz by for 20 seconds. That’s bike race spectating – hours of fending for yourself, hopefully on a bike, and a very brief exposure to a snapshot of the race itself. In the van, heading to our next night’s stop, we pulled up the tour coverage on my iPad, and caught the sprint finish. Hard to remember, but I assume Mark Cavendish won, cause who’s gonna beat him?
Grass Valley, another Holiday Inn Express, and our first attempt at following Rich’s instructions to not try eating out in large groups. 13 of us ganged up on a Thai place, finally splitting into three groups. Lesson learned. Grass Valley is a funky little Sierra foothill town, which has been discovered by the microbrewery crowd. It’s also, guess what, in a valley, so the next morning’s ride would be an uphill start.
A word about the weather: these first three days were perfect. about 55 at our 8-8:30 start time, clear sky, reaching a high in the low 70s by ride’s end. Looming in our future, though, were rumors from the NOAA weather service about snow in the So Cal mountains by Friday, Time Trial Day at Big Bear Lake, elev. about 7000′.
Stage 2: Nevada City to Lodi – For me, this was the best overall day of riding. We started in rolling foothills, about 2500′ above sea level, and meandered our way down back country roads towards Lodi (yes, the one where Creedence Clearwater got stuck) back in the valley. The tour went 100+ miles again, while I puttered along for 70 in 4:45. I found that taking a van break for about 20 minutes while the rest of the group cycled 4-5 miles ahead around noon time gave me a chance to eat my “lunch” (almonds, peanuts, M&Ms, Clif Bar) and be refreshed for the afternoon’s segment.
We rode up and down over the lower slopes of the foothills in Placer and El Dorado counties – Gold Rush country. Also the home of Auburn’s “World’s Toughest Half”. We found out why with the double barreled screaming downhills and equally sharp uphill grades. Including our first Categorized climb, an oddly labelled Cat 4, 800 feet in 1.5 miles. And the KOM flag was not even at the top! We also did a few sprints, those designated lines, usually in small towns for easy spectating, where racers can pick up points for the Green Jersey. The racers get to do these with no traffic or stop lights, but we’re not on closed roads, so strategy is different for us. The little pack I was with in Meadow Vista was lined up nicely. Then a school bus came by on our left. I popped out, motor paced behind the diesel belcher, and easily took the points. My totals: 70 miles, 4:42, TSS 221, IF 0.69.
Evening Dinner: We’d driven over the coast range to the suburban desert of Milpitas, just north of San Jose. Still, we found massive quantities of salmon, pork, noodles, rice, beef, veggies at a Thai restaurant, followed by giant Apple/Cinnamon/Ice Cream concoctions at the Bear Diner. I know I’m on a multi day tour when I stuff myself into somnolence at dinner, and wake up ravenous the next morning. The Holiday Inn Expresses had gut filling gravy& biscuits, bacon&eggs, oatmeal and raisins, but tonight’s Day’s Inn was bereft of substantial calories. Ominous for the upcoming ride through those same coastal mountains.
(To be continued)