AMGEN Tour of California
- Thread starter badexcuse
- Start date
Knoxville-Horn
1,000+ Posts
I am so incredibly excited about this. I've always been a Lance fan and finally got my first road bike last year. Since then, I have been following biking quite a bit.
Supposedly, this race is now in the Top 6 in the World. Pretty cool.
One quick question. What was the deal with Cavendish? At least I think that's who the announcers were talking about. Something about cheating or somesuch?
Supposedly, this race is now in the Top 6 in the World. Pretty cool.
One quick question. What was the deal with Cavendish? At least I think that's who the announcers were talking about. Something about cheating or somesuch?
Knoxville-Horn
1,000+ Posts
The crash wasn't that bad. As a matter of fact, I'm not even sure he got road rash.
I can't wait for the Tour de France. Something about Lance riding domestique doesn't do it for me in this California Tour.
I can't wait for the Tour de France. Something about Lance riding domestique doesn't do it for me in this California Tour.
I love the surge this particular race is enjoying, but i took a quick look at this year's course and cannot believe the horrendous site selections. For example, no longer are there critical mountain stages along the rugged central/northern coast [yes, both coastal AND mountain at the same time]. I am remembering the prior-year stages along scenic PCH, through Monterey, Big Sur and Hearst Castle.
Those now-replaced stages were just breathtaking, especially now that most everyone watches in HDTV.
The TV commentators covering these races undoubtedly spend their careers covering stages set in spectacularly beautiful places in Europe and elsewhere. Yet they could not stop gushing about the scenery they were seeing in Northern California's [geographically, it's really "central"] rugged lonesome coastline -- where still-pristine groves of giant redwoods are a stone's throw from freshwater waterfalls that plunge into the mighty Pacific. And almost nobody lives there [just a few widely-separated towns with a few hundred people].
But Palmdale? Thousand Oaks? VISALIA? MODESTO? BAKERSFIELD!? Might as well do it in Oklahoma, or [in the case of Thousand Oaks] some nasty freeway interchange in Dallas or Houston.... And lonely two-lane roads through coastal mountains have GOT to be easier to close than the streets of major metropolitan areas.
What a missed opportunity for a state that could use a little showcasing and the revenue that it would bring, especially in rural coastal areas where fishing and logging have been sharply restricted and the modest diet of small-scale tourism [hunting, fishing, camping, backpacking [with or without horses], kayaking, whale-watching, motor-touring, etc.] is down.
Missed opportunity, California.
Note -- i just re-read this post and it looks like a provincial rant. Please let this confirm that i am pleased to see this race grow in importance. It's good for America, good for American cycling, good for California, and good for the sport of cycling in general. All in all, it therefore sits well with me.
Those now-replaced stages were just breathtaking, especially now that most everyone watches in HDTV.
The TV commentators covering these races undoubtedly spend their careers covering stages set in spectacularly beautiful places in Europe and elsewhere. Yet they could not stop gushing about the scenery they were seeing in Northern California's [geographically, it's really "central"] rugged lonesome coastline -- where still-pristine groves of giant redwoods are a stone's throw from freshwater waterfalls that plunge into the mighty Pacific. And almost nobody lives there [just a few widely-separated towns with a few hundred people].
But Palmdale? Thousand Oaks? VISALIA? MODESTO? BAKERSFIELD!? Might as well do it in Oklahoma, or [in the case of Thousand Oaks] some nasty freeway interchange in Dallas or Houston.... And lonely two-lane roads through coastal mountains have GOT to be easier to close than the streets of major metropolitan areas.
What a missed opportunity for a state that could use a little showcasing and the revenue that it would bring, especially in rural coastal areas where fishing and logging have been sharply restricted and the modest diet of small-scale tourism [hunting, fishing, camping, backpacking [with or without horses], kayaking, whale-watching, motor-touring, etc.] is down.
Missed opportunity, California.
Note -- i just re-read this post and it looks like a provincial rant. Please let this confirm that i am pleased to see this race grow in importance. It's good for America, good for American cycling, good for California, and good for the sport of cycling in general. All in all, it therefore sits well with me.
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