Originally Posted by
DiabloScott
I think they have some number in mind for the amount of cars they can let in. Last year there were big stretches of SGR with cars parked along the side of the road - it wasn't too much of a problem because they were mostly cycling fans who understand bikes and traffic but it wasn't ideal. If I were in charge I'd sell tickets to park at the various picnic areas and everyone else would have to park on NGR.
Four days to the start, you'd think they'd have rosters out by now, but I don't see many. Horner and Boonen are out, Pinotti and Gilbert are in.
RadioShack Nissan for Tour of California: Matthew Busche, Laurent Didier, Markel Irizar, Bob Jungels, Ben King, Andy Schleck, Jens Voigt and Haimar Zubeldia.
Vacansoleil-DCM for Tour of California: Kris Boeckmans, Thomas De Gendt, Juan Antonio Flecha, Tomasz Marczynski, Lieuwe Westra, Bert-Jan Lindeman, Boy van Poppel and Wesley Kreder.
So I decided to take a ride up to the jx today and see for myself, and I think I'm more confused now... I saw the sign, and it says "spectator motor vehicle traffic will cut off at 2PM (may be earlier based on parking availability)". So, instead of just taking that at face value, I had to go ahead and make it more complicated by talking to the ranger and asking if that also included bikes/peds. Initially he said it was just cars, then he thought about it and said it may include bikes, etc if the park gets too crowded. I don't know how they can judge capacity of the park, but I'll just be sure to be early.
Since he didn't sound super sure of his answer, I'll ask a different ranger the next time I go up, try to get a definitive answer.
However, they are NOT allowing bikes past Devil's Elbow at all, so I hope no one is planning to ride to the summit then come back down to their viewing spot. May as well just ride to your spot and hang out there. I think the best area is going to be anywhere along Summit Road from Juniper to Devil's Elbow (a fairly steep, sustained stretch, and hopefully when they will be racing full gas).
Also, what happened to Horner? Thought this was his big goal for the year? (I know, Google is my friend, maybe I'll just look it up
).
Edit: looked it up haha. Sucks for him...