'nother

I'm in, even if I have to get out my CX bike to get up there through mud and/or snow. I won't be testing any PRs going up Kings to get there, as I'll be carrying photo + weather gear (apparently) but I'll be there...

chrisoco

I am good to go if there are other commitments. I am not really a fan (but I am not not a fan, either) but Tunitas is so close to where I live and it is a day off so I feel compelled to check it out. I'd be coming by bike.

My one concern is how early would we have to get there before the racers come through? To wait for an hour or 2, no problem. To wait more than that, I may not want to do that, even in the sun.

'nother

Some buddies and I are planning to park somewhere down below (not sure if the town of Woodside is a realistic option) and start up Kings around 7:30-8...may depend on just how good/bad the weather is. That should get us to the top 8:30 - 9 or so.

I would plan to be *at the top* no later than about 9:30 - 10 as access is usually shut down for at least 30 minutes ahead of the riders...unfortunately no one knows exactly when they will arrive and the route sheet may be a bit misleading as that's calculated using averages over the whole course, not realistic climb times.

There is not a tremendous amount of sun over there, even on sunny days. Plan for cold, at minimum, and maybe wet & wind, too...

BlastRadius

I'll probably park at Canada/92 and ride down to Woodside, up Kings Mt Rd, and down to the steepies.
I'll with a Kings Mtn newbie so we'll probably leave Canada/92 around 7:30-8am on CX bikes.

VaultGuru

I spend a lot of time with clients in WA. Compared to those guys, the amount of rain we are getting is like a cloudy day to them. I honestly don't know how they ride in those conditions day after day, especially what they have been through in December and January. Doesn't make it any easier for us, or the riders, but it is a different perspective.

I posted the question in the Pacific Northwest forum - How do they ride in the rain all the time?. The answer coming back was - the same way we ride in the heat in the summer. They don't know how we can do that.

'nother

Not it's not...what you're saying still basically amounts to "HTFU, wussies!"

Rushfan

+1.

I was in Seattle working most of September and October and was shocked to see so many pasty looking, super fit riders. Down here, anyone that fit is very tan or freckled...

uspspro

I'll be there for sure.

I'll also be on Sierra for the next stage. Hoping for snow on top of Sierra

Mhendricks

I was up on Sierra and Lower Mount Hamilton this past Tuesday. Sweet day to ride and they were working on parts of the road. The weather then was around 50+ but come Tuesday, it may be diabolical.

johnny99

Let's see how HTFU those racer boys are. The current weather forecast is for snow on Skyline this weekend. Tunitas tops out at around 2000 feet and 3-5 inches of snow is expected at 2000 feet. The worst of the storm is Saturday afternoon through Sunday morning with upwards of 3 inches of rain possible in 24 hours, so maybe that will wash away the snow (if it is not cold enough to snow again).

https://www.wrh.noaa.gov/warnings.php...ther+Statement

...WINTRY WEATHER IS EXPECTED TO IMPACT AREA HILLS AND MOUNTAINS
TONIGHT INTO EARLY SATURDAY MORNING..

...A SIGNIFICANT EASTERN PACIFIC STORM SYSTEM IS EXPECTED TO IMPACT
CALIFORNIA OVER THE PRESIDENTS HOLIDAY WEEKEND..

WINTER WEATHER ADVISORIES ARE IN EFFECT FOR AREA HILLS AND MOUNTAINS
TONIGHT INTO EARLY SATURDAY MORNING. IN THE NORTH BAY MOUNTAINS..
EAST BAY HILLS AND SANTA CRUZ MOUNTAINS EXPECT SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS
OF 3 TO 5 INCHES BETWEEN 2000 AND 3000 FEET...WITH 6 TO 9 INCHES FOR
ELEVATIONS OVER 3000 FEET. IN THE SANTA LUCIA MOUNTAINS SNOW
ACCUMULATIONS OF 2 TO 5 INCHES CAN BE EXPECTED BETWEEN 2000 AND 3000
FEET...WITH 6 TO 8 INCHES FOR ELEVATIONS OVER 3000 FEET.

mellum76

I'm with Jack: I'll be sitting on the fence until we get closer to Monday. I'm all for seeing Lance...but not so much in the cold drizzle.

chrisoco

Well it may be a tough weekend for us cyclists and definitely tough times for the pros but at least this is good news for the ski resorts and the looming drought facing the state. Now if it would only start raining and I mean pouring dollars, many more of California's problems would be solved.

caloso

Saturday forecast graph from NOAA:

mellum76

And here's the tv schedule for us not-so-hardy souls...

https://www.amgentourofcalifornia.com/tv-schedule.html

scorpio516

At least its still at 40% chance of rain.

reidconti

That doesn't make sense. I ride in 100 degree weather the same way I ride in 60 degree weather. Shorts, short sleeves. Last year I saw 102+ on my bike computer several times during bike to work week.

The rain causes all kinds of problems, keeping dry, having adequate ventilation, visibility (to see out, and for people to see you), keeping warm, keeping traction, and on and on and on.

All I know is, I like to do my outdoor activities when it is pleasant out, which is why I moved here from Seattle Hoping we get a decent weekend in sometime soon so I can get back out there on the bike.

nachomc

Guess I'll stay warm in the pub along L st Saturday

skiph

So where is that forecast for...Sacramento area, Santa Rosa, San Jose....?

caloso

Sacramento. As that's where the race will be Saturday.

backinthesaddle

I'm planning to go to Santa Rosa on Sunday for the women's criterium and the closing circuits of stage 2 -- but only if it's not raining hard. If it's raining I'll stay home and watch on Versus. And right now it looks like rain is likely.

Anyone else planning to be in Santa Rosa?

Anyone who knows Santa Rosa know a good place to watch, and to park my car while I'm watching?

pacificaslim

My heart tells me to stay home in Pacifica and watch the race come through town and the sprint. But it will probably be a lot more "fun" up on Tunitas so I bet I'll join you guys.

I wish they'd have better info for us on road closures because I could easily drive from Pacifica to Skyline/Tunitas (via 280) in 40 minutes and they'll probably take about 90 minutes to get there, especially if the weather is bad. But since I don't know how close we'll be allowed to get by car and how far I'll have to bike and even if we'll be allowed to bike or walk "down" Tunitas from Skyline to find a nice place to watch from... I guess I'll have to skip Pacifica and just head up to Tunitas really early like you guys, on my cyclocross bike as well.

artichoke

looks like MASH SF is planning on 'riding along':

https://www.cyclelicio.us/2009/02/mas...n-tour-of.html

haha
that 'outta be interesante.

johnny99

The weather forecast is improving. A couple of days ago, the NWS was forecasting 2-3 inches of rain per day over the long weekend. Now they are forecasting only 2 inches on Sunday and 1 inch each on Saturday and Monday. Also, Skyline may only get snow on Friday night, then temperatures get warmer.

It will still be wet and very windy and around 40F on Tunitas.

caloso

It's absolutely gorgeous in Sacramento right now. Hope this storm window stays open for another 30 hours.

DiabloScott

Santa Rosa is definitely going to be rainy on Sunday.

I was in Santa Barbara this week and read a local newspaper story about how not hosting a ToC stage was no big deal. They mostly claimed that the city was busy on previous events but that the fans didn't spend that much money and hotel occupancy rates didn't go up much.

And this morning I saw a news story saying how happy Santa Rosa was to be hosting a stage and having Levi as favorite son and how easy it was to raise the kind of money they needed to for the priveledge and what a boon it is for the local businesses.