Week 22

Date
May 29th, 2013

Distance
139 Miles

Time
09:45:30

Route Map/Profile

Weather

Picture

The view from the lower portion of Kingsbury Grade

Ride Report
It's a bad sign when the wind is already blowing hard at 6:00 in the morning. The first 100 miles were mostly flat, and then I did 6 Mile Canyon plus 2 loops of the 341 descent with the 341 (Gold Hill) climb. The Terrible Two is about two weeks away and since DMD was such a disaster I'm taking a slightly different approach this time. My long ride before DMD was 165 miles, but this time I'm going to settle for 139 and I'm hoping to do a shorter, more intense climb fest in Markleeville on the 31st. 

Week 21

Date
May 23rd, 2013

Distance
127 Miles

Time
08:32:45

Route Map/Profile

x2

Weather

Picture

Ride Report
I did Geiger Grade, 6 Mile Canyon, and Gold Hill 2 times each. It was a little cold out there, but otherwise a great day.

Spectator Report: 2013 Amgen Tour of California: Stage 5

I spent Stage 5 hanging out at the team bus area and watching the race start.



The start line before all the action



Team buses this way



Cannondale Bus



BMC Bus

  

Garmin Bus



United Healthcare Bus

 

RadioShack Bus

 

Bissell Bus



BMC Car



GreenEDGE Car



Omega Pharma-Quickstep Car



Vacansoleil Car

 

Saxo Tinkoff Bikes



Don't you wish you had this many wheels to just lean on a bush?



Omega Pharma-Quickstep Bikes



It's bike porn overload at the team bus area. It's not rational, but certain riders' bikes seem special, when in fact it's the riders on top of them who make the bikes special. For example, Peter Sagan's bike was separated from the other Cannondales and put on display for the fans.



Peter Sagan's bike on display

 

Peter Sagan's bike

 Race leader Tejay van Garderen's bike didn't get that kind of special treatment.



Tejay van Garderen's bike

If you're like me, you're a huge fan of GreenEDGE's Backstage Pass videos. I saw some familiar faces from those, including Craig the mechanic and Joachim the soigneur. I also saw Dan Jones doing some of his magic. Dan seemed like a really nice guy, by the way.



Craig and Joachim transporting bikes



Dan making YouTube gold

 Bob Roll is always a favorite with the fans. He's gracious with his time every year and takes lots of pictures with the fans.


Bob Roll

I don't know why, but the riders look funny carrying around their bags.

Sylvain Chavanel



Dave Z

I spent a lot of time at the Cannondale bus for Peter Sagan. Sagan seems like a nice guy and he's one of the few cyclists who looks bigger in person than I expected.

Peter Sagan outside his room

Peter Sagan outside his room

Peter Sagan dressed and ready to go

Peter Sagan

Peter Sagan says hi to the models

Peter Sagan

Peter Sagan gets on the bus

Peter Sagan checks on his bike

Sagan jokes with the models

Sagan takes pictures for the fans

Note the hand placement

Peter Sagan draws a crowd

Peter Sagan

Here are some other riders I saw before the race.

Sylvain Chavanel

Sylvain Chavanel

Tejay van Garderen

Tejay van Garderen

Janier Acevedo

Francisco Mancebo and Janier Acevedo

Marco Pinotti

Andy Schleck

Carter Jones

Francisco Mancebo

Jens Voigt and Johan Van Summeren

Michael Rogers

Jens Voigt

Jens Voigt and Johan Van Summeren

After all the fun it was time to see the start of the race.

Stage 5 Start

Stage 5 Start