Tour of California - Riding to the Pacific

For the second time in three years I am off to ride parts of the Tour of California professional bike race and be part of the cheering crowds at the tops of the peaks and starting lines. This time I have a partner - Barry, who I met at a Cargill meeting in Minnesota. We found out we shared a passion for both riding and following professional cycling. When I told him about the trip I did in 2006, and my plans for 2008, he wanted in. Since Donna will not leave Alix and the dogs to others, it is great to have someone to share the experience with.

The first day we met up at the Sacramento airport, rented a Rav 4 and loaded our gear. I brought my snowboard stuff so I can perhaps make a trip to the Sierras at the end of the week, before I start working for Cargill out here. We found a good, inexpensive motel near Folsum where we rented our Trek 1600 bikes and then set off for Sausillito. The day was to get the bikes checked out and to get our bodies somewhat used to riding after our long winter hiatas from riding on the roads. We repeated a trip I have done twice before, last time with Russ back in April. Parked the car and took the bike path to the Golden Gate, then over to Fisherman's Wharf and back across again. This time we made a left and took the nice two-mile, 800-foot climb to the top of the road that overlooks the bridge and the city. The climbing legs woke up and Norm and Dan's spin classes apparently paid some dividends.

After spending the night in Sebastipol, we set off to get a first look at the race. From my scouting here two years ago I was able to make a great route of about 40 miles and 5000 feet of climbing. We went down to the quaint village of Occidental nessled in the redwoods. Then climbed a little on Bittner Rd before taking a screaming descent down Joy road - aptly named. Now we were down to the main road to Bodega Bay - Pacific Coast Highway 1. But after only a mile or two we took the cut across behind the town of Bodega Bay called Bay Hill Road - a narrow, twisiting four mile paradise with huge eucholptus trees. The views up into the valleys was only surpassed by the first glimps of the Pacific ocean as you take a turn through the trees. We come back out on PCH only about a mile ahead of the turn up famed Coleman Valley Road. This is the King of the Mountain point of today's race and we are there about 1 1/2 hours ahead of the race leader.

I first experienced Coleman Valley Road two years ago after I watched the race up by Sebastipol. I meet Charles, a local painter and cyclist, there and he took me down this road and I returned to Sebastipol the way we came down to this point today. The road climbs from sealevel to about 1200 feet in about 3 miles. The KOM point is only 1.6 miles in and at about 800 feet. There were many cyclists making the climb and lots of spectators trying out there cow bells and cheering us on. This is one of the highlights of riding race routes on race day. It took me about 15 minutes to get to the KOM point. So, from experience, that told me the racers will do it in about half of that time.

Barry and I found a good spot a couple hundered feet from the KOM mark and began to shiver and wait. The clouds were heavy enough to block the sun and the wind off the ocean was just enough to keep you from staying warm. We huddled close to the ground and survived until the race arrived. Cows came out to see what all the fuss was about and then finally the race leader - off the front by 11 mintues came up to us. The rest of the peleton was pretty much together and hot in persuit. You could see they were suffering as the riders pumped past us. Barry picked out Jens Voight (his favorite), Tom Boonen and others. No one waited around long after the sweeper passed and the cyclists were about spit in half, each going a different direction. Our direction involved a little more climbing, which helped us warm up.

The ride back was amazing. We once again decended into the town of Occidental and found a festival of cyclists there. Two years ago, when I arrived in this village after the long climb up Joy, the place was abandoned and I was hypoxic and lost - finally going the long way back. This time I knew how to get us back on Occidental Road and after a short, steep climb it was a great decent and roller coaster of fast hills all the way back. Barry and I were all smiles as we made the turn to take us back to the hotel. In the hot tub we talked with three guys down for the race and riding from Oregon and others. Soon we were tabled up to some more great Mexican food at the restaurant next door.

Tommorow looks like rain, so we may just watch the race start in Santa Rosa, and the ride in the afternoon if it clears off.