"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - ToC Santa Clarita Start Cancelled?

My wife is hanging out in the lobby at the hotel the riders are staying at, and the current "gossip" is that the route from Santa Clarita to Pasadena is impassable and they may just bus everyone over to do laps at the Rose Bowl tomorrow. Discuss..

International level crit racing!

What, did it Snow at Mill Creek or something? Does that stop the Tour de France?

edit: If they're still using the 5 mile circuit around the Rose Bowl and not just the flat 3 mile loop, that would be a great way of showing the international pros what a typical Southern California "road race" is really like :D

I didn't hear that, but we left when it started raining and they cancelled the concert. I was so flustered with herding all of the kids that I never called Kim. :(

We may be out there again tomorrow. Oddly enough, the kids WANT to go if it rains. Nevermind, they're kids. I guess that's not that odd. :p

Nothing about it on the AToC site.

I'd guess that even if it snowed overnight, the road would be passable by the time they got there sunday. A lot of people, including my group secretary, commute through there to Pasadena, and I don't recall any recent times when the road's been impassable.

It could be a much more unpleasant ride than stage 4 though-- I rode GMR today and got caught in light cold rain up at about 4000' and it was no fun (we were a bit underdressed). I was certainly feeling for the racers plight tomorrow as we rode down (very chilly!).

According to the race director in a video interview on Velonews, they're going with the "elevation" plan and sticking to the course.


If they change it, I hope they post word first thing tomorrow morning so I know where to go!

At one point a race official was talking on his cell, saying that they were "worried about the weather, and worst case scenario, they would do 9 laps around Pasadena."
Then later on, at 7:30 or so, somebody else told me they were not starting in Santa Clarita, and that they were taking everything down & bussing it over tonight.
I left a little later, and it looked like they were dismantling most everything.
I think the start is the same place is the finish, and they won't leave everything up, but it still was a lot they were taking down.
Even though the pass may be passable, it may not be good to have the riders do it.
From Ben Day's diary:
"The weather conditions have slowed things down and the the course profiles this year have definitely made this tour a whole lot harder than the previous two years. This may not be the best thing for the race. The allure for the Euro teams is solid racing in good weather and this tour has been quite a bit more than solid and definitely not sunny. I am sure they can overlook the weather as a one-off, and no, this isn’t the most mountainous race in the world, but for these guys, it’s February, and there is a long season to go yet. " (He dropped out today, ill.)
http://www.toyota-united.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=48&Itemid=32
I'll be prepared to go either place.

After assessing the safety of the course early this morning, Stage 6 of the Amgen Tour of California will proceed as planned.

Chuck HODGE
Technical Director

After assessing the safety of the course early this morning, Stage 6 of the Amgen Tour of California will proceed as planned.

Chuck HODGE
Technical Director

Excellent....we're hoked up here at BF with the latest from said, 'horses mouth'

After assessing the safety of the course early this morning, Stage 6 of the Amgen Tour of California will proceed as planned.

Chuck HODGE
Technical Director

Nice! Thanks for the update Chuck. :)

What time (EST) does it start today and can I watch it on the interwebs live?

What time (EST) does it start today and can I watch it on the interwebs live?

I'm new to cycling, so I'm not sure if this is the best place to watch, but I'm planning to follow here:
http://www.amgentourofcalifornia.com/docroot/tourtracker2008/AdobeTourTracker.html