Spectator Report: 2013 Amgen Tour of California: Stage 4

This is my 3rd year in a row of watching the Tour of California in person. My first experience was in Nevada City in 2011 after the whole Lake Tahoe Stage 1 cancellation disaster. I'll spare you the entire rant, but we were out there in the snow at Emerald Bay when we got the bad news. Last year was a fun trip to Northern California, which I blogged about here.

This year I headed down to Santa Barbara to watch Stages 4 & 5. It was a relatively easy trip to plan because Stage 4 finished in Santa Barbara and Stage 5 started in Santa Barbara, so I camped at Fremont Campground, which was a nice spot about 18 miles north of town. My plan was simple: combine riding a century with viewing the race at the Casitas Pass KOM for Stage 4 and hang out at the start area for Stage 5.

Stage 4 Official Route

Stage 4 was a relatively short stage (84 miles) from Santa Clarita to Santa Barbara that was won by Tyler Farrar in a sprint.

My route for the day

My route took me from the campground down to Santa Barbara, where I jumped on the race route to Ojai, then turned around and waited at the Casitas Pass KOM.


The descent on 154: Not part of the race route, but a nice way to start the day.



Once I got on the route, there were a lot of warning signs about the race. 

  

Expect delays.

With bonus "Obama sucks" graffiti.

Casitas Pass was a fun little climb and there was a nice crowd at the KOM line.

Lake Casitas from the bottom

5km to go

1km to go

The 1km sign

Nissan King of the Mountains

The KOM line

Skratch Labs was at the top giving out free samples. Thanks, guys.



I rode the last kilometer of the KOM a few times looking for the best spot. I wanted a steep place with a good view of the peloton that was a little bit isolated from all the other spectators. I think I found a pretty good spot.

Looking down

Behind me



Ahead you can see all the spectators closer to the KOM line

Today there was a break of 6 (Frank Pipp, Chad Beyer, Nathan Brown, James Stemper, Chris Baldwin, and Marsh Cooper) that was about a minute ahead of the peloton. It was a short stage, Casitas Pass wasn't super difficult, and there was a headwind, so the peloton was completely together when they passed me.

The breakaway

 

Nathan Brown had a gap on the breakaway

Nathan Brown (Bontrager Cycling Team)

The rest of the break

Chris Baldwin at the front

Chris Baldwin, James Stemper, Frank Pipp, and Marsh Cooper

James Stemper, Frank Pipp, Marsh Cooper, and Chad Beyer

Marsh Cooper, Chad Beyer

These days we have the Tour of California App, tickers, and streaming video, but one thing hasn't changed. You know the peloton is getting close when you can see/hear the TV helicopters.

The helicopter. The peloton is right around the corner.

The peloton

The Peloton

Vacansoleil leads the chase with BMC right behind

Tejay van Garderen with Francisco Mancebo on his wheel

Andy Schleck near the front

Jens Voigt, who would go on to win Stage 5



Eventual stage winner Tyler Farrar to the right of the picture




Tyler Farrar





Peter Sagan, winner of Stage 3



US Champ Timmy Duggan near the back

Thor Hushovd was the last rider to pass me.

After the peloton passed by, I traced the route back to Santa Barbara. I found a few bottles along the way as an added bonus. Once I made it to Santa Barbara, it was time to head off of the race route and climb back to camp.

Stay tuned for a report from the start area of Stage 5...