# amgen tour of california



## 29ernb (May 8, 2012)

starts this sunday may 13th in santa rosa!!!!:thumbsup: it will be broadcast live on nbc sports network.


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## 29ernb (May 8, 2012)

live coverage starts at 2 p.m. on nbc sports network. there is a recap of stage 1 on at 8:00 p.m.


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## 4Crawler (Jul 13, 2011)

Planning to ride up to the top of Bear Creek Road from Los Gatos Creek trail on Monday afternoon to catch to KOM. I rode up there 2 weekends ago to scope it out and will have to see where everything will be set up for the official ride. Got the DVR set to record the show that afternoon.

Caught the race last year part way up Sierra Road and it is definitely a good show.


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## Rhymenocerus (Jul 17, 2010)

Ill be at Diablo for KOM on tuesday, cant wait.


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## jetdog9 (Jul 12, 2007)

Rhymenocerus said:


> Ill be at Diablo for KOM on tuesday, cant wait.


I was all excited about this, and got a bunch of other cyclist friends excited about it... then with my current work situation I won't be able to get away and watch. :cryin: Have fun!


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## 4Crawler (Jul 13, 2011)

Rhymenocerus said:


> Ill be skipping school. Gotta figure out what time they should hit the Ranger Station. Im wondering where I want to view from though.


Go to the stage page:
- http://www.amgentourofcalifornia.com/Route/stages.html

Then scroll to the bottom and click on the Stage Log link and that's have ETAs for the various points on the race. From last year, you want to get there at least an hour early to get to a good viewing spot and to catch all the pre-race action.


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## Rhymenocerus (Jul 17, 2010)

jetdog9 said:


> I was all excited about this, and got a bunch of other cyclist friends excited about it... then with my current work situation I won't be able to get away and watch. :cryin: Have fun!


Ill be skipping school. Gotta figure out what time they should hit the Ranger Station. Im wondering where I want to view from though.


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## savagemann (Dec 17, 2011)

I requested the day off a couple months ago 

Gonna ride up the south gate early in the morning and claim a spot.

Wondering what the cut off time will be when they no longer allow people to go up mt diablo.
How do they usually block roads and such for pro events like this?
I was told the county sheriff will cut off access at some point.


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## Rhymenocerus (Jul 17, 2010)

4Crawler said:


> Go to the stage page:
> - http://www.amgentourofcalifornia.com/Route/stages.html
> 
> Then scroll to the bottom and click on the Stage Log link and that's have ETAs for the various points on the race. From last year, you want to get there at least an hour early to get to a good viewing spot and to catch all the pre-race action.


Thanks for the link, ill be heading up from Northgate at least 2 hours early. Pretty pumped.


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## Skimmy (Dec 13, 2011)

*Mt Diablo*

It might be a good day to mountain bike up to the Y off-road on-trails if that's possible.

Haven't gone off-road there myself.

Aside: for those who train for events like the Death Ride, etc., by doing repeats on Diablo -- it seems like an occasional day riding up Diablo off-road on a mountain or cross bike might be a nice break. Has anyone out there worked this into their regimen? Where exactly do you start and which trail do you follow?


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## patrickkonsor (May 29, 2011)

I'm hoping to watch Stage 2 at the summit of Bear Creek Road. Does anyone happen to know where I might be able to park nearby? I'd like to be able to walk to the summit if at all possible.


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## flatsix911 (Jun 28, 2009)

I will be at the finish for Stage 2 in Soquel:thumbsup:

Photos to follow: Peter Sagan wins another Tour of California stage with a strong finish in Aptos.


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## 4Crawler (Jul 13, 2011)

I've not watched the race from there before, but I did recon it a few weeks ago and there is not a lot of parking to be had:
- BearCreekRoad by 4crawler at Garmin Connect - Details
I turned around on that ride about where I guess the KOM point will be.

I imagine it'll be pretty packed tomorrow, I'll be riding up from the valley about noon on my touring bike. I would assume they'll have 35/Summit Rd. closed from Bear Creek Rd. south, so probably come up Hwy. 9 to 35 and head south as far as you can and park as late as possible. Or try some place along the eastern side of Bear Creek Rd. up from 17 and then it is around a mile or so from the east Bear Creek/Summit Rd intersection to the west Bear Creek/Summit Rd. intersection and maybe another half mile to the summit from there.


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## ziscwg (Apr 19, 2010)

patrickkonsor said:


> I'm hoping to watch Stage 2 at the summit of Bear Creek Road. Does anyone happen to know where I might be able to park nearby? I'd like to be able to walk to the summit if at all possible.


There's few patches of dirt there you can park in, but maybe 15 cars at most.

There's really not a lot of parking around there.

To bike in, you could park at Castle Rock park and go on 35 to bear creek. It will be mostly DH to get there. Watch yourself on 35 (skyline) past Black Rd. It gets skinny and there are a lot off blind turns. 

Now to get back, you have to climb a bit. Or, you could make it a loop and ride down Bear Creek after they racers pass to Lexington Res, the to Los Gatos and take Hwy 9 back up to 35 and get your car.


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## thatdrewguy (Aug 7, 2009)

*Stage 2 photos*

*On Clement Street in San Francisco*


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## jetdog9 (Jul 12, 2007)

10 minutes to start... looks like I'm getting lucky and will be able to sneak away to watch them make the turn at Oak Grove and Ygnacio at lunch, but missing out on the hills. According to stage log they should hit that intersection some time between 1:30-2PM, hope that turns out to be accurate...


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## Rhymenocerus (Jul 17, 2010)

Diablo was packed, id estimate 7-10k people from southgate to northgate. Fun times.


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## EWT (Jul 3, 2011)

*Stage 3 pics*

I got to see them twice yesterday. Once in downtown Livermore on trip #1 through town, and again at Patterson Pass. Downtown Livermore was done at a casual pace while the intensity level at Patterson Pass was quite a bit higher. By the time they got to the top, there were some significant splits in the field. Pretty cool to see them from 3' away. 

Some pictures from ~50' below the summit:

Duarte and Roche were the first over the top:










Sagan was near the front of the main field:










With Chris Horner right behind him:










Tom Boonen was a little farther back in the main field:










Ted King was off the back a little way:










And Robbie McEwen was by himself:


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## Dagger9903 (Apr 21, 2011)

Does anyone know if there is a video recap of the Diablo portion of the race? I can only find youtube clips of the riders passing by but wanted to watch from start/finish.


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## Rhymenocerus (Jul 17, 2010)

Dagger9903 said:


> Does anyone know if there is a video recap of the Diablo portion of the race? I can only find youtube clips of the riders passing by but wanted to watch from start/finish.


Both Eurosport and NBC sports start coverage RIGHT after diablo KOM


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## w-g (Mar 9, 2006)

The ipad app is a nice live streaming. Search Amgen in the app store.
I got it going in my office on the iPad.


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## Skimmy (Dec 13, 2011)

*Eurosport commentators*

Are the Eurosport commentators (Brian Smith and the English guy) sitting in a booth in the UK watching the race on television monitors? To me it sounds like they've spent little or no time in the U.S. Maybe they looked up "California" in Encyclopedia Britanica a few days ago. Sometimes it sounds like they haven't even bothered looking at a map. But that hasn't stopped them from making ridiculous generalizations and drawing absurd conclusions.

In the background, there seem to be conversations in French between the guys on motorbikes and other technicians. This makes sense since Eurosport is owned by the French company TF1. Maybe they only sent a French crew to California.

Has anyone seen them there?


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## PedalFasterJonathan (Feb 26, 2012)

Thanks for the photos. Last year I caught a lot of it on versus I think, but this year I don't have cable


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## zzzzz (May 21, 2012)

Great photos! I volunteered as a stage 4 course marshal this year and was able to watch the race on my iPhone while I waited for them to pass my area! =)


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