Riding the Bike

 As I've noted before, I love my bikes.  I was out riding today (Across the San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles if anyone cares.)  when I was passed by a whole bunch of guys on fixies.  Most of them were on the standard, metal frame conversion jobs, but one guy was riding a converted Cervelo.  Now, it might be possible to find a Cervelo frame, on sale,  under $2,000, but not a full bike.  Too, the guy riding it was taller than me but he was on a smaller bike.  He was also wearing those basketball type shorts and an old ratty tee shirt.

Maybe this was a guy with far more money than sense, but the average cyclist, willing to put down all that money for a top of the line bike isn't going to convert it to a fixed gear, he's not going to buy a frame that's way too small for him, and he's probably going to wear the whole Lycra thing.  That bike was almost certainly stolen.  I've got to say, I see converted fixies that may not have been stolen by the person riding it, but were clearly taken by someone, often enough to wonder why Lo-jack doesn't make some more profit with a bike tracker.

All Sports! All The Time!

"We are Penn State!"  I suspect the fans in Happy Valley won't be chanting that one for awhile.  Do I really need to write this?  Yes, I think child sexual abuse is wrong.  Yes, I think punishment is in order.  But a 60 million dollar fine paid to the NCAA?  Come on folks, get real.  In this day and age of budget cuts, big time college sports helps pay the bills. (My old home state has fallen under the evil influence of the Tea Party, so that money is needed now more than ever.)  A fine that large is about more than punishing the football program.  It's about shorter library hours, closed labs, staff cuts and tuition increases.  Tell the biology major that it's going to take an extra year to graduate because the NCAA wanted it's pound of flesh, and to get it, there aren't enough lab hours available anymore.  Oh, and by the way, that's another year of student loans.  Jerry Sandusky has gone to prison, and I suspect others will follow.  Penn State will be paying out even more millions in law suits for the foreseeable future. This should have all been left to the courts.   File this one under, doing something without thinking it through.

And they suck me back in.  With all this Lance Armstrong stuff, I swore I'd walk away from pro cycling.  Armstrong has been out of the pro ranks for almost a decade now, he's never tested positive, but the movers and shakers of cycling have decided to go back and destroy his legacy.  There's something about that sport that wants to self destruct.  I suspect it's because it's a professional sport run by an Olympics federation, and those are run by a bunch of silly old Europeans who don't understand why the French revolution happened.  Too, to return to a point I've made before.  Cycling has become a big time, worldwide sport because of television.  The TV people want hard climbs,. fast technical descents, and crash filled bunch sprints.  Really, it's making the sport worse.  The UCI wants the major teams in every major race, and the number of those races is increasing every year.  The sponsors want their corporate logos on the podium, the team owners are desperate to get those victories, and team managers are desperate to keep their jobs.  Basically, a system where it's almost impossible to survive without some help, but it's only the riders that take the blame.  To be honest, I don't even care if Lance Armstrong doped. More than likely every rider in the top twenty was on something. Yes, I swore to give up the sport, but then the Tour de France came along and I fell into line.  Oh well.

Is it just me?  Are there others out there who hope that the London branch of the occupy movement disrupts the Olympics?  For all the fine talk about pure sport the Olympics are a rich mans vanity event.  Only the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics has turned a profit.  If London ends up another money loser, it's the lower middle classes and the poor who will pay in the form of even more cuts in services.  Too, the land for all those bright and shiny new venues had to come from somewhere.  No rich people were harmed for the London Olympics.  No, it was the homes and businesses of the lower middle classes and poor that were sacrificed.

I Love Bikes

I love bicycles. I love riding them, I love looking at them, and I love the pro racing circuit. If you're like me this is both a good and bad time to be a bike lover. The Tour of California has just ended, the Giro d'Italia is ongoing, and the investigation of Lance Armstrong continues.
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I've always been a big Armstrong fan and I keep thinking I should be depressed that so many people have come out and testified that they saw Lance using PEDs. When it was Floyd Landis and Tyler Hamilton I was prepared to ignore things, but George Hincappie has also claimed that Lance was a doper, and while he could also have some deep ulterior motive to lie, well, I don't think so.
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This is what it gets down to for me. Team managers need to put cyclists on the podium to keep their jobs. Team sponsors want cycling success to show the corporate logos. Team owners need a steady supply of sponsors to stay in business, so they need winning riders too. Fans want to see ever harder climbs, more technical, high speed descents, and race organizers are more than willing to provide the thrills so they can stay on TV. And the silly old men of the UCI try and prove their relevance by insisting that the major teams have a presence at every important race in the world.
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I'm tired of the hypocrisy of cycling. Every interest group in the business (And that's what it is, a business.) has their own little agenda, and between them they've created a system where it's almost impossible to survive without some sort of help. When I see bike racing I just assume that everyone is doing something and the only people who will be held accountable are the riders.
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So, I don't care if Armstrong, Landis, Hamilton, Basso, Millar, Vino, or Alberto Contador have their little chemical helpers. That's just the way it is. It's not just a matter of winning, it's a matter of surviving the extreme demands of pro bike racing. Right now, Contador is dominating the Giro and he'll probably dominate the Tour de France as well. I can't believe that it's possible for a mortal man to do what he's doing, and I can't believe that teams managers, sponsors, and race organizers believe it either. Come up with a more reasonable system for the riders or let them dope. And if we are going after PEDs in cycling, it's time to spread the blame around. Maybe riders should be limited to one grand tour a year, or have a maximum number of days in the saddle. And maybe the UCI should be limited to overseeing the Olympics and not a pro sport.

Contador Clenbuterol

I have to admit, before today I had never heard of clenbuterol, yet another drug on the list of prohibited PEDs in pro cycling. So did Alberto Contador use the stuff to help him win the 2010 Tour de France? Was he blood doping, as has been reported by some German news sources? Was it an accidental contamination from eating tainted meat as Contador claims?
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Who knows. All I know is that yet again we're getting all tied up in the convoluted governance of pro cycling. Discovered in an amount so small that most WADA labs would never have detected it, Contador had the bad luck of having his sample tested in a German lab that was actually set up to detect such infinitesimal amounts. And now Contador's national governing body will make a determination on whether he doped or was the victim of a Spanish beef steak that just happened to have trace amounts of the drug in it. What Spain decides may be completely different from what Italy, Germany, or United States cycling authorities would decide. How can that be fair?
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So once again I'll make the point that a professional sport like cycling should not be run by the hodge podge of national Olympic committees. Cycling needs to have a governing body made up of three different groups. 1.) Representatives of the various race organizers. 2.) A committee representing team owners and sponsors. 3.) And most importantly, a genuine cyclists union empowered to negotiate working standards, minimum contracts and guarantees. And as the only reasonable and fair doping control, an agreement of all three groups on just what drugs and practices are legal, and which are not. Guidelines on what amounts can be argued as accidental exposure. And absolutely no test results made public until all investigations are complete. I don't really have an opinion on whether Alberto Contador doped or not, but if it was an accidental ingestion of a drug amount so small that there was no performance enhancement at all, why should his reputation be ruined?
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And one other thing. It's time for cycling to stop pretending that the sport wasn't rife with doping. I'm not saying that every cyclist was shooting up, but I am saying that we can never be sure about any rider during the doping era of the last twenty or so years. It's time to declare a general amnesty and then say that after a certain date any one caught gets the book thrown at them. And that means restoring all titles and race results for everyone from that era, including Floyd Landis' TdF victory.
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If Spanish cycling authorities buy the accidental contamination theory, then every other rider who can make a similar and reasonable case who have been banned should be reinstated. I can think of at least two, Tom Zirbel and Li Fuyu.

Levi

Levi Leipheimer, famous for podium finishes at the Tour de France and Vuelta a Espana, has won the Leadville 100, one of the premier mountain bike races in the United States. Once again, I'm going to make an appeal for a multi discipline bike race.
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This is what I'd like to see. Day 1, a road time trial in the 20 to 25 mile range. Day 2, cyclo-cross. Day 3, a mountain bike stage. Day 4, a road stage in the 100 to 150 mile range. Day 5, a criterium. And while we're on the subject, both women and men's races.
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There are a lot of riders who already ride in multiple disciplines, so it shouldn't be too hard to put together a competitive race.

Floyd Landis

I spent last Saturday at the Tour of California Time Trails, in downtown Los Angeles. Knowing that it would be foolish to try and drive, and park, for the day, I took the subway from North Hollywood to the 7th Street Metro Station and walked to the start line, and despite arriving an hour early, not finding a good spot to see the action. And so, I worked my along the route. As the racers began to ride by, I stopped and watched, and then continued along until I was at the one hill on the course, in downtown. With the riders making two circuits, out and back, I could stand there and watch them climb up, and then speed down. I had hoped that Levi Leipheimer or Dave Zabriskie could make up the needed seconds to move into the lead, but Australian Michael Rogers kept the gold jersey, and would end up winning the Tour. Among those attending the time trails was Floyd Landis.
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At the risk of inviting a lot of ridicule, I find Landis' earlier claims of innocence far more credible than his recent confession that he doped during the Tour de France. In the first version of The New Common Sense (For an explanation, see my first post.) I wrote that, while I eventually came to believe Floyd Landis, the issue of his guilt or innocence was of secondary interest to me. What I really found fascinating was how a rider could loose his championship, his team, his income, and his reputation via such a flawed testing system. I'm not writing this to re-argue the case. Anyone with the time and patience can look up all of the evidence supporting Landis' claim that he was unfairly convicted. Just the fact that the testing equipment was running the wrong software, and that the manufacturer was willing to admit that, because of that basic mistake, all tests results were unusable, would have been enough to have Landis' case tossed, if it were held before an American court of law.
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As I've read the stories, of how Floyd tried to blackmail Lance Armstrong, threatening to name him as a doper if he wasn't offered a position with Radio Shack, I've now come to believe that Landis is going mad. Yes, I know, a reach from a cycling fan who has never really believed in psychology, but I have to wonder about a man who has lost everything, both professionally and personally, who has done his time, and is still being pushed aside by the sport. Is Floyd Landis telling the truth about Armstrong, Hincapie, Leipheimer, Zabriskie and the others he has named, or is he trying to destroy American cycling, the way American cycling has destroyed him? Basso, Millar, even Ricardo Rico have been able to get on with their post doping careers, while Floyd Landis is shunned, while the teams who are willing to sign him, all seem to suddenly find themselves relegated to the back of the peloton. Is there anyone out there who thinks that the Bahati Foundation Team was less worthy of a spot at the Tour of California than Jelly Belly and Kelly Benefit Systems? I wonder.
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No, I'm not defending Landis' behavior, nor am I defending the use of PEDs in sports. I am however, pointing out that it's very easy for old men with no other job qualifications than an exaggerated sense of self importance, to both exploit athletes, and then throw them aside when it suits them. Floyd may or may not have won the Tour de France with the help of a testosterone patch, but if he did, I would suggest that the team owners and event sponsors have as much interest in seeing athletes put in impossible performances as any athlete does. It's time for the Olympics, WADA, and all of the rest, to step aside for a new structure in professional cycling. Cycling needs a separate organization, not dissimilar to NASCAR to set up the events. It needs an ownership group empowered to negotiate contracts and reasonable doping controls, with reasonable penalties. But most of all, cycling needs a true riders union to look out for the best interests of the riders themselves. A union with the power to call a strike and cancel the grand tours, if necessary.

Bikes=Trucks

Well, not really, but it is notable that Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has gone so far as to say that walking and cycling should have equal status in transportation planning as cars and trucks. This is the new Transpo Department policy. It has no force in law, which would take, as I understand it, an act of congress.
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Anyway, I got to thinking, what does equality in planning mean? I doubt it means equal funding, and as both a cyclist and a driver, I'm not sure there should be equality in funding for bike/pedestrian funding and motorized traffic funding. Like it or not, most of us will be using cars to commute. Any real movement to make cycling a realistic option to car commuting would require an investment on the part of employers, as much as from government transportation planners. Most of us can't show up at work, covered in sweat, and expect to do our jobs. Too many of us have jobs that require some interaction with the public, which means that employers would have to pony up for shower and locker rooms. In cities, off road mass transit would probably make more sense, as far as funding goes, than either car or bicycle funding. Here in Los Angeles, I can think of dozens of routes that would be perfect for subway or above ground, off road, light rail. A better investment than in high speed rail between Orange County to the bay area.
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But since I do live in Los Angeles, and since I own four bicycles, and two pair of hiking boots, I also think about bike and walking routes. I find it very frustrating to see all of the stream beds, criss-crossing the San Fernando and San Gabriel Valleys, channelized and lined in concrete, all with service roads. Lets get some money to open up those routes to foot and bike traffic. And for drivers who object to money going for bike paths, and don't forget most cyclists and pedestrians are also drivers, think of how nice your car commute will be if cyclists are riding along the Los Angles River, and all those stream beds that end up at the L.A. River. Put in plenty of marked bike lanes on streets, letting both cyclists and drivers know exactly where they should be on the road, and every one wins.

Fearless Predictions

It's the opening of baseball season and it's time for my fearless predictions for this years campaign. As I do every year, I predict that this will be the year the Pittsburgh Pirates win it all!
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No, I'm not crazy. I grew up in a coal mining town 60 miles from the golden triangle, and I always pick the Pirates. Seriously, there are two types of baseball fans; those that stand by the team they first followed and those who switch allegiances. It may not make sense, but I'm a do or die Pirate, Steeler, Penguin, Penn State, Pitt and West Virginia fan.
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Alas, my more rational side can only hope for a Pirate revival. The sad fact is, that baseball's business structure has reduced the game to a handful of true major league teams, united with a whole host of other teams that exist as super farm systems for the Yankees, Red Sox and a few others. Unlike, say the Tampa Bay Rays, the Pirates don't even make an attempt to juggle the buying, selling, and keeping of talent for some sort of run at a championship. I used to think that the worst thing that happened to the game was French philosopher, Jacques Barzun's theory that to understand America it was necessary to understand baseball. Barzun made it acceptable for all those aspiring intellectuals, looking to Europe for some sort of validation to burden a rather simple and pleasurable pastime with one pretentious pronouncement after another. Of course, that was before I saw several decades of the destructive influence of George Steinbrenner and the evil empire in New York. With out further ado, my true predictions for the season.
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AL East. I hate to write this, but the New York Yankees on top. The American League wild card will be the Boston Red Sox, though the Tampa Bay Rays have an outside shot to over take an aging Boston team for the wild card.
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AL Central. The Minnesota Twins. The Twins are lucky to be in a division dominated by small market teams.
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AL West. The Los Angeles Angels. I'm tempted to pick the Mariners, mostly because they are a good, but not great team and I'm a huge Chone Figgins fan, but the Angeles, while far weaker than last year, still have a strong core of players and the money to go out and add more talent.
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NL East. The Philadelphia Phillies are so obviously the cream of the division, that there isn't even a point in thinking about a real challenge to their supremacy. Look for Atlanta to take the wild card. I really, really hate the Braves.
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NL Central. The St. Louis Cardinals, like the Phillies dominate their division. Look for the Chicago Cubs to plummet, as the curse continues. As for my Pirates. They won't finish last.
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NL West. If it wasn't for the McCourt divorce, I'd have not problem picking the Dodgers. If the Dodger owners can keep their marital problems out of the club house, which I doubt, the Dodgers could still win the west, but if not, it's the Colorado Rockies.
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World series, Phillies over Yankees.
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This morning, I was watching some of Tiger Woods press conference, and it got me thinking. Political revolutions are usually accompanied by social revolutions. Part of the social revolution that went with the Reagan era was a fascination with wealth and privilege. Is the return of consequence part of the Obama era? John Edwards, Tiger Woods, and the completely inconsequential Jesse James are all getting raked over the coals for indiscretions that, on the surface, would seem to be fairly minor scandals. Edwards, because he stressed his family man credentials during his presidential run, could be charged with a certain level of hypocrisy, but Woods and James are just fairly common rich guys with a straying libido. Are people just plain tired of the rich and famous getting away with things? I'm predicting that Tiger wins the Masters, well, mostly because he's the only golfer I know. I mean, who in their right mind would watch golf?
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Because I love cycling, I'm calling the Tour of California for Levi Leipheimer. And the Tour de France; Astana isn't a strong enough team to put Alberto Contador in yellow, and Lance is getting up there in age. If it's between those two, I'll go with Lance just because Team Radio Shack, provides a stronger supporting cast. Look for a new winner.
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I'm rooting for Butler, but if I had to put money on it, I'd pick Duke. As a matter of fact, I'd take Duke and give points. And if anyone tells me they picked Butler for the finals, I won't call them a liar, but I will ask for proof.

Tour of California and Road Rage

At last, some details about the 2010 Tour of California, and it's looking pretty good for those of us from the southern part of the state. There is one stage that goes into Sierra National Forest that should have some nice climbs. What's really nice is that it starts in Visalia, which is a decent distance form the L.A. area, but not so far that it would be a multi-day trip. That particular stage ends in Bakersfield, a bit less than 100 miles from downtown Los Angeles. Speaking of downtown L.A. a time trial that doesn't leave the center city is a poor substitute for, as an example, the Santa Monica pier to downtown, but with subway and light rail it should be easy to get to. A circuit from Thousand Oaks, over the Santa Monica Mountains to Pacific Coast Highway and then back over the mountains to Thousand Oaks should have some nice climbs and fast descents. The route that looks the most interesting to me is Pasadena to Big Bear. The route goes past Crystal Lake, up route 39. That should be fascinating since route 39 is closed past the lake. The road is still there, but hasn't been used by cars for more than decade. The route does go through Wrightwood, so it has to be route 39 all the way. I'm guessing that the riders will be going through, or near Victorville, before climbing up the north slope of the San Gabriel Mountains to Big Bear. Finally, a summit finish.
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The L.A. road rage trial of Dr. Christopher Thompson continues. I'll never make the argument that we cyclists are little angels. I've seen far too much bad behavior from my fellow bike riders to write that! But, the Thompson case isn't a he said, he said case, it's about a driver who purposely stopped short in front of two cyclists. Witness, LAPD traffic investigator Robert Rodriguez has testified that Dr. Thompson told him that he did it to teach the two cyclists a lesson. One rider went over the doctor's car and rolled over into traffic. The other went through Thompson's car's rear window. I won't make the argument that the good doctor was trying to kill the the two riders, but he clearly meant to do some harm, and if found guilty, should do some prison time for what was clearly an assault with a 2,000 pound car on a couple of 20 pound bikes.
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I do have another blog about hiking, and cycling. I try and limit that blog to posts about actual trips, so I thought The New Common Sense a more appropriate place for Tour news and observations on the Thompson case. Anyone interested can check out Self Propelled at www.selfpropelled-wjy.blogspot.com/. Too, I've blogged about the possibility of a fourth grand tour in North America. Anyone interested in an imaginary Grand Tour of California can go to the archives and find posts published on 7/15/09, 7/20/09, and 8/3/09. For a post on the idea of a Tour of North America with rotating locals, go to 8/18/09. Hey, I needed a break from all of the political posts.

The Grand Tour of North America

The latest cycling news out of Colorado and Lance Armstrong is that there will probably be another major stage race in North America. As I noted in my three posts about a future grand tour in California, (Posted on 7/15/o9, 7/20/09, and 8/3/09) that while I favored the expansion of the Tour of California into a fourth grand tour to be contested in the fall, as an alternative, a rotating Grand Tour of North America would be just as good. With a Tour of California and a Tour of Colorado, there would be two established major races that could be expanded to a 21 day stage race. Add two to three more major races, and a rotation of race locations could be up and running fairly quickly. The Tour of Georgia wouldn't have the major climbs of the Rockies or Sierras, but the southern Appalachians are still fairly challenging. A tour of the Pacific northwest, running from the Eugene area in the south into southern British Columbia, and something in the north east could do it.

The Tour of California Part 3

The Tour de France has been over for a week. Lance Armstrong didn't win, which didn't surprise me, but his podium finish did. There is one more grand tour left, this year, and I'm hoping that it will be broadcast on the Universal Sports Network channel that, with the new digital converter box, I can actually pick up. Anyway, now that I'm not thinking about cycling every day, it's now or never. If I don't post the third, and final, part to my imaginary Grand tour of California, I'm guessing I never will.
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To recap, with nothing better to do, I've been using Mapquest and former Tours of California to
create an imaginary grand tour for North America. My tour runs in the fall, which allows for snow free mountain stages, and deserts cool enough to prevent heat stroke. If I have an exact start or ending point, I'll give the address or intersection. If not, I've just fed the name of a town into the Mapquest data bank, and let the web site pick a central location. After each stage, I've put a mileage for that stage, followed by cumulative distances for the entire tour to that point. Should anyone be taken enough by my idea for a grand tour of California that they'd like more information, go to Mapquest and feed in the info, setting the filters to avoid highways, and to use the shortest distance. Parts one and two were posted on 7/15/09 and 7/20/09. Part three picks up after stage 16, and a scheduled rest day.
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17. This route connects the high desert city of Victorville with the low desert city of Palm Springs. It starts at the Victor Valley Mall, connects to the 247 at Lucerne Valley, following a fairly flat route to the 62 in Yucca Valley. Then it's down a very steep road with a sharp turn towards Palm Springs on the 111. A fairly easy day, neither long, nor technical with only the steep down slope from high desert to low offering a challenge. 98.5/1839.6
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18. From Banning to Carlsbad going through Idyllwild, Anza and Ramona. From Banning in the desert, it climbs high to the mountain town of Idyllwild, then descends on a long route to the Pacific Ocean at Carlsbad. This should be one of the most exciting stages of the race, with long hard climbs, fast descents, and a seaside finish. 149.9/1989.5
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19. This stage starts at the famous Hotel del Coronado, takes a bridge over San Diego harbor, works it's way through San Diego and it's suburbs. A not very hard climb over the coastal mountains leads back inland and after a fairly rural stretch, ends in the much smaller city of Riverside at Citrus Park. 112.6/2102.1
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20. The final stage that goes through mountains, this time the San Gabriels above Los Angeles. Starting at Magic Mountain Amusement Park in Valencia, the route goes through Santa Clarita, a city that has hosted stages in all four of the Tours of California, takes a back road into the Antelope Valley, heads east, before going over the mountains, passing through Wrightwood. The high point will be at Dawson Saddle, measuring in at over 7,000 feet above sea level. The Angeles Crest Highway will have plenty of ups and downs before starting a long, steep descent to the L.A. metro area, passing through the foothill communities of La Canada and Flintridge, to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. 130.7/2232.8
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21. I've never liked the way the Tour de France ends with a, pretty much, meaningless stage into Paris. My imaginary Tour of California ends with a time trial. If the leaders are all bunched together, separated by only a few minutes, a rider in the top ten could easily take the race on the last day. Starting from the Santa Monica Pier, the route goes over to Venice Blvd., and wends it's way across the city of Los Angeles to the Coliseum, sight of the opening and closing ceremonies from both of Los Angeles Olympics. It would be great to build a temporary roadway on the stadium floor. The riders could enter through the tunnel that connects the parking area with the playing field. Just think 100,000 fans in the seats, following the race on the big screen TVs. And then, one by one, the competitors ride into the stadium. And if that's not possible, there are awfully big parking lots that can accommodate lots of fans. 14.01/2246.9.
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I worked this out one afternoon when it was just too hot to go out and ride my bike. There are plenty of great routes through California, and just over the state line that could have easily been included in my imaginary race. I left out the Solvang time trial, a regular feature of past Tours of California, as well as other time trails in Palo Alto and up Telegraph Hill in San Fransisco. In the northern part of the state, there are great routes from Santa Rosa to Leggett along the Mendocino coast. Too, Leggett to Cape Town to Eureka. Crossing the border, Crescent City, California to Grants Pass, or Coos Bay, Oregon. Either Weed or Mt. Shasta in California to Susanville would pass through some great looking country, perfect for television, and the promotion of tourism. With the permission of the National Parks system, Bishop to a summit finish at 9945 feet Tioga Pass in Yosemite, or a route into Yosemite Valley itself. Bad Water in Death valley, the lowest point in North America to Whitney Portal is already used for a foot race, so running the same route on bikes shouldn't be a problem. And how about Needles to Blythe or straying into Arizona with routes from Parker to Yuma.
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I admit it, I had too much time on my hands when I came up with this idea, which doesn't alter the fact that there is room for a fourth grand tour, and that having a grand tour outside of Europe would build a lot of interest in cycling in the United States. And like it or not, money drives competition, and there is a lot of it here.

The Tour of California Part 2

Just to repeat some of the info from part 1. (Published 7/15/09) With plenty of time on my hands, and no way to actually watch this year's Tour de France, I've worked up a possible scenario for a North American grand tour to be run in the fall, late October through mid November. While I've used some of the routes from past Tours of California, mostly I've used Mapquest to piece together a 21 stage bike race around, and in a couple of cases, just outside of California. When I have an exact start point, I'll list the address, otherwise, I've just typed the name of the start and end cities, and allowed Mapquest to pick a starting point. I'm not going to type out all the street names and route numbers, so if anyone is really taken by this article, go to Mapquest, feed in the info, and then set filters to avoid highways and for the shortest route. I've ended each stage with mileage for that day followed by cumulative mileage to date. Part 2 starts with stage nine, following a rest day...

9. Merced to Fresno. This stage almost duplicates a route from the 2009 Tour of California that started in Merced at city hall, the intersection of N St. and 18th. St. and ended in Clovis at the intersection of Bullard Ave. and Pollasky St. Clovis is a suburb of the much larger Fresno, so I just pushed things to the campus of Cal. State Fresno. The route follows CA 140 and 49 into the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Climbing, but nothing really serious. 118.5/912.9.

10. Visalia to Paso Robles. This route follows, exactly, a route from this years Tour of California. Starting point, the intersection of Aceqia Ave. and Church St. in Visalia and ends at the intersection of Spring St. and 11th St. in Paso Robles. The route starts in the San Joaquin Valley, and goes over the coastal mountains. 134.3/1047.2.

11. Monterey to San Luis Obispo. As I've noted before, there are some drives between stages. Monterey is a two hour or so drive north of Paso Robles. The route follows the coast highway through Big Sur and past San Simeon, William Randolph Hearst's Xanadu. Also Moro Rock. This should be one of the most beautiful stages of this imaginary tour. Perfect for television. 137.1/1184.3.

12. Bakersfield to Kernville, going around the southern side of Lake Isabella. Time for a time trial. After a fast, flat getaway from downtown Bakersfield, the route goes up an extremely steep and winding road that follows the lower Kern River, one of America's great white water streams. At the top things get flat again, as the route goes around Lake Isabella to Kernville. Some undulating climbs on the northern side of the lake. 66.6/ 1250.9

13. Lake Isabella to China Lake. This is the one stage where I couldn't get an exact distance. I don't think that the National Forest road this route uses is in Mapquest's data base. The route goes north from the town of Lake Isabella, through Kernville, following the river. Then it makes a sharp right turn into the Sequoia National Forest. The climb is steep and long, with many very steep sections and switchbacks. After it peeks, there is a long and technical descent to Kennedy Meadows, and then climbs again, before starting a long, switch backed descent to the Mojave desert. Safety nets will have to be put up along this section of road, since going over the guard rail would probably be fatal. Once the road ends in the desert, it follows frontage roads along CA. 14 and then cuts over to China Lake, an entrance town for a military base. I'm guessing around 120 miles, though I wouldn't be surprised to be off by 20 miles either way. Estimated 120/1370.9

14. There are lots of National Parks in California, and this is the only route from this tour that goes through one. The Park Service already allows a running race from Bad Water in Death Valley to Whitney Portal, so it wasn't much of a stretch to think that permits would be obtainable for the Death Valley National Park section. The route starts in Lone Pine, gateway to Mount Whitney, goes through the park, and ends in Beatty, Nevada. 114.7/1485.6

15. Las Vegas, to Lauglin, Nevada. This isn't a particularly long or difficult stage, but any tour organizer would be foolish to exclude Las Vegas from the route. Laughlin is another casino town, located on the Colorado River. 95.2/1580.8.

16. Needles to Barstow. I've done some reading about the history of the Tour de France and was surprised that there was a time when the route would often use gravelled roads. In the first five miles out of Needles, there are several short, gravelled sections. Expect flats, but as part of a neutralized role out, that shouldn't be a problem. Following route 66, the most famous road in the United States, it will be necessary to have race referees stationed at several railroad crossings. If any riders have to wait fifteen minutes for a slow moving freight train to rumble by, times will have to be adjusted. Also the longest stage of this made up tour. 160.3/1741.1.

Rest day and part three to follow.

The Tour of California Part 1

Like most American cycling fans, I'll probably never have a chance to see one of the three European, grand tours. While I'd love to join the caravan and follow the Tour de France, seeing all the action, in person, it's unlikely that I'll ever get both the time and money to do so. My only hope, is for there to be a fourth grand tour added, and that it be run in North America.

As a Californian, I think that the best bet for such a race, would be an expansion of the present Tour of California, but as an alternative, a Tour of North America, moved to a different region of the continent every year, would also work. California has the deserts, sea coast, and the Sierras. It also has some pretty large urban areas, media outlets, as well as cities and large communities, just over the state border in Nevada, Oregon, and Arizona. As the three European grand tours often cross borders into neighboring countries, there is no reason why a future grand tour of California couldn't go through Las Vegas. Other possibilities for a Tour of North America could include the Rockies, and the Cascades, straddling the U.S./Canadian border. And while the mountains of the east aren't as challenging as those of the west, a grand tour that finishes in New York City would work. Even the flat sections of the mid west could work, substituting distance for elevation gains. Why not a 21 day, 3,500 mile race that includes, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, and Chicago.

One of the few advantages of being semi-unemployed, is that I can stay at home and follow live updates of the Tour de France. I've also got the time to think about a fourth grand tour. And so, with nothing better to do, I sat down, used Mapquest and have worked out a future, grand Tour of California. I've used some of the routes from the past couple of years, sometimes with minor variations, and I've also moved my fictional race to the fall, to ensure that the high mountains are snow free and the deserts have cooled enough so that no riders die of heat stroke. In some of my stages, I've used a specific start point, and a specific end point, and when I have, I'll give those locations. If not, I've just fed the town name into Mapquest, and let the web site choose a central location. I've also set things to avoid highways, and use the shortest route. I won't write all of the road numbers and street names. If anyone is so taken by my idea that they have to have more deatils, they can go to Mapquest and look it up themselves. I've tried to include as many of the large urban areas as I could and also took into consideration that television money and sponsorships are important, so I did my best to include as much spectacular scenery as possible. All distances listed are in miles. My math isn't good enough to do all the conversions to kilometers. At the end of each stage I'll put down the mileage for that day, as well as cumulative distances to date. When I've used the same route as the 2009 Tour of California, maps can be viewed by going to http://www.amgentourofcalifornia.com/

1. I've started my Tour of California with a true prologue. Any Tour of California has to include the state capital, and the quick 2.4 mile ride through downtown Sacramento is as good as any other way to have a Bear Flag Jersey awarded for the first real stage of the race. 2.4/2.4

2. Stage two also follows the same route as the 2009 Tour of California. Starting at the intersection of C St. and 3rd St. in Davis, it ends at 3rd St. and Santa Rosa Ave. in Santa Rosa, ending with three circuit laps. It goes through the Napa Valley and Calistoga. 107.6/110.

3. If you're going to run a grand tour in the United States, it can't be as lily white, or middle class and above as the Euro tours. My stage 3, is a semi loop of the San Fransisco Bay area, passing through both upscale neighborhoods, and some of the poorer areas in Oakland. It starts at the same place that the 2009 stage 3 started, in Sausalito, 100 Spinnaker Dr., goes over the Golden Gate Bridge, and heads south to San Jose, at the intersection of San Fernando St. and Almaden Blvd. then turns north to Jack London Square in Oakland, and then on to it's finish in downtown Berkeley. 106.9/216.9.

4. There are going to be some drives between start and end points for this imaginary Tour of California, and I've tried to keep them as reasonable as possible. Stage 4 starts in Ukiah and heads over the coastal mountains to Chico, a college town north of Sacramento. The climbs shouldn't be all the hard for pro cyclists, there is a long bit along Clear Lake, and then a descent towards Williams and then onto the college town of Chico. 143.3/360.2.

5. Moving up the I-5, the next start point is in Redding, a small city near the Whiskeytown-Shasta-Trinity National Recreation Area. The route heads east, going over Hatcher Mountain Summit (4368 ft.) and Adin Summit (5188 ft.) and ends in Alturas. This is as far north as this tour gets. I've checked the numbers twice. It's the same distance as stage 4. 143.3/503.5.

6. Moving south, the next start point is at Susanville, a smallish town in the southern Cascades. This is volcanic country, not far from Lassen Volcanic National Park. Expect flats from riding over pumice. Avoiding the four lane 395, takes the route through Quincy, another smallish community , but ends in Reno, Nevada. The first day outside of California. A casino sponsorship is a good bet to help pay for the tour. 147.2/650.7

7. It's time for a team time trail, before any of the teams get down to less than five riders. From Nevada's capital city to the old mining town of Virginia City is only 15.2 miles, but it does end with a steep, though short climb. Virginia City is where Mark Twain got his literary start. 15.2/665.9.

8. This stage starts with another day in Nevada, but then returns to California. With a start in the casino and resort town of Stateline, Nevada, on Lake Tahoe, crosses into Stateline, California, and then starts to climb over the Sierra Nevada Mountains, over Carson Pass (8573 ft.) and then has a very long series of climbs and descents, eventually nearing sea level at Stockton. 128.5/794.4

I've put a rest day after stage 8, and will continue this in another post in a day or two.