tollhousecookie

I seems to me that europe has all the famous climbs. Is there any stage races in the U.S. that compare? Why doesn't the Tour of California utilize the Sierras? We've certainly got the roads and the scenery that would rival the Alps.

johnny99

When they Tour of California was first planned, they considered stages through Yosemite and Lake Tahoe. But the only slot they cold get on the UCI calendar was in February, when snow is a big problem in the Sierra Nevada. Perhaps as the race gets more popular, they can get a summer date when the big mountain passes are open.

Second Mouse

2008 Tour of Utah

Stage Four - Snowbird Road Race
Saturday, August 16th
Park City to Snowbird
Course: 4 Climbs - Mountain Top Finish
Length: 99 miles, 159 kms
Climbing: 14,778 ft., 4,504 meters

Should be fairly brutal.

ericm979

Everest Challenge: Saturday 120 miles, 15,465’ of climbing. Sunday 86 miles, 13,570’ of climbing. Actual racing distance (excluding neutralized start and neutralized last descent after timing finish is 92 miles Saturday and 61 miles Sunday.

Three of those climbs go over 10,000' elevation. It's in the eastern sierras, so there's awesome climbs and scenery.

Not really a pro race though, if that's what you were looking for.

Duke of Kent

Too early in the year for the Pro field, and too cold.

Mort82

Everest is in the states?

FatguyRacer

We need famous stage races before we can even begin to talk about famous climbs.

So one day events might just be it. Like the Mt Washington Hill Climb.

mattm

tomorrow i'll be rolling out at 5 am to tackle three local passes - 400km & ~13k ft (4km) of climbing!!

not a race, but who ever finishes first will not be going slow, i can promise you that!

here's the profile, with max elevation at about 4k feet:


i know, this is off-topic kinda, but wouldn't you brag about this ride if you were about to do it?

Mort82

I'm an attention ***** too, of course I would brag!

jrennie

It's not that the mountains in the Tour or Giro or Vuelta are monolithic slabs of granite near impassible by bike but the stories and dramas that have unfolded on those roads that makes them epic. Nearly 100 years of racing is going to make a place develop a mystic about it. Legends are told from the actions not the terrain.

ericm979

The Everest Challenge stage race is. everestchallenge.com

ElJamoquio

I did several of the Sierras a week before ToC this year. They could be open. They choose not to be.

tollhousecookie

I'm planning on a ride with a 13,500 ft. elevation gain at the end of June. I'll brag (maybe) if the climbing gods are with me on that day....thanks!!

merlinextraligh

last climb second day of EC is the hardest climb I 've done.

And I've done Ventoux, Galibier, L'Alpe De Huez, Izoard, and Col d Aubisque, among others.

tollhousecookie

The terrain does dictate effort and the drama. But it's true, we haven't nearly the racing history that europe has. Be nice if the Tour of Cali started some or.......

tollhousecookie

VERY cool !! How was Alp Duez ? I'll probably never be there. Throw me a bone.

Usetacould

Although not nearly as storied as those in europe, I would contend that there are some pretty vicious climbs that have races on them in the southern Appalachians. The biggest race would be the Tour of Georgia with the hardest climb being Brasstown Bald.

johnny99

One big difference between European stage races and American stage races is that American races usually only have 1 big climb per day (and sometimes only 1 big climb per week). On the other hand, European races sometimes have back-to-back mountain climbing days with multiple big climbs each day. Here is the Alpe d'Huez route profile. Note that the Alpe (at the finish) is the 3rd biggest climb of the day. Total elevation gain for that day is over 5000 meters (over 15,000 feet).



This year's Tour has 9 mountain days (5 "high mountains" and 4 "medium mountains").

Ritterview

The ToC is considering a ride out of Clovis, but this across the Valley and over the Coast range. If they wanted a Sierra climb, they could consider something along the lines of the Tollhouse Century route, which would include your eponymous and epic Tollhouse grade. At the elevation of 5000 feet snow would be unlikely in February, but overall the weather and road conditions could be dicey, and people would need drive nearly an hour from Fresno to get in position to see this climb.

The ToC does use coastal climbs (e.g. Mount Hamilton), which are pretty good. I wouldn't expect anything in the Sierra's as long as the ToC is in February.

merlinextraligh

We did L'Alpe de Huez in 2003, the day before the Tour came through. (pretty much on the course of the stage posted above.)

It was very cool. Even the day before there were probably already 50,000 + fans in place tailgating.

You can clock in at the bottom,and at the top and get your offical tiem with a certificate.

The steepest part is at the bottom. The first 2 k is about 11-13%. It settles down after that. If you're riding it as a TT, the classic mistake is going too hard that first 2 k. (which I did, and suffered the next 13k.)

The scenery is nice, the climb is very hard, but not the hardest. It's the history and folklore that sets it apart.

Seeing all the names painted on the road. Imagining what is was like when Coppi rode it. (and I did ride past where Coppi got off and walked.)

The day we did it, we toured an exhibit on the top with history of all the stages won on L'Alpe, then found a bar with Eurosport in English, and watched the end of that day's stage. All in all a very cool day.

merlinextraligh

I've done Brasstown Bald Buster Century twice, and ridden Brasstown a few other times.

It's steeper than any of the HC climbs in the TDF. ( although there are some Cat 1 and 2 climbs in the TDF that start go get as steep, the Col de Marie Blanque as an example) But its not nearly as long as the HC climbs in the TDF.

Brasstown itself is 3 miles. ( while many of the TDF HC climbs are 10 miles or more.)

If you add in Jacks Gap, which runs up to Brasstown, its a bit longer, but then you're seriously watering down the average grade.

And by the way, I am the oldest, fattest, guy in Florida to have ridden a good percentage of the world's most famous climbs.

dark13star

One difference is our road grades. Even in the rockies, where I am, the grades are generally less steep than in the Alps. The will put a road up anything in Europe...

tollhousecookie

Thanks for climb descriptions. VERY COOL !!

Mooo

The Rockies are generally shallower than the mountains of the eastern US, and yeah, I've lived and ridden in both areas. Middlebury Gap is kind of fun, as I recall, but more challenging are some of the back roads, if you can find the right sort, that just go up and down, relentlessly at 10-15% with no vistas on top and gravel on the bottom. No reward, no momentum, just grind, all the (harsh adjective) time.

This looks interesting, though: https://www.northeastcycling.com/six_gaps.html
( an excerpt: "The road is cut into the side of the mountain and rises at a fairly persistent 20% grade, some areas exceeding 24%." - how do you not love that!)