2018 Tour of California - So Cal edition...
 

looks like we get a grand two stages. dunno if the opening long beach stage is prologue-style or they'll head down pch and head over to santiago canyon road and loop back to long beach. guessing the former. the second stage finishing atop gibraltar again looks to be a fun one. will prob make a mini-riding vacation out of it while catching the race up gibraltar.

I'll probably do the same. I'm usually in Santa Barbara every mid May anyway for a weekend cycling vacation with a group of my old high school friends, so this could work out perfectly.

No IE rides? guess they want an easier course this year :)

^^^ :thumb:

Gibraltar
 

I'm planning to drag my 2 year old and wife up to this spot early monday, since her folks live nearby... we shall call it a visit with benefits

Any suggestions where to or not to park? I've ridden this road once before, and there are plenty of spots to pull off, especially after the rattlesnake park

Mon., May 14 Stage 2 Ventura to Santa Barbara County (Gibraltar Road)

^if the finish is at the same spot on gibraltar this upcoming time as it was in 2016 (and it should be...just before a little downhill then the junction with east camino cielo where there is-comparatively speaking-room to park/manuever until the road heads nw and uphill on east camino cielo), i think your best bet would be to take hwy 154 up to san marcos pass and turn off onto east camino cielo. road is winding heading se towards the junction of gibraltar/e camino cielo and there will be occasional cyclists so keep it under 20 mph please. it'll be about 5 miles or so from the 154 turnoff to where you'll be able to see the finish area just before the junction. i'd flip the car around in the direction you came from and walk that < .5 mile to the finishing area if that's where you wanna catch the action. i'd avoid parking on/near gibraltar itself since what goes up must come down and a vast majority of the traffic will look to descend gibraltar directly into santa barbara vs heading farther east towards hwy 154. sun/wind gets pretty intense up there so cover your bases.

This would be the first time I've ever attended a race like this (Long Beach), so I decided to check out the Start/Finish VIP tickets. The convenience fee is $17 per ticket and they want $6.50 for regular mail delivery. Base ticket price $209. It also says I'm signing up "early" so I'm guessing this is some sort of special price?

Needless to say, I will not be paying $450+ for my wife and I to go and see the race (at least the Start/Finish). I've been looking all over the site to try and find a route map of the Long Beach stage and I'm not finding anything. Can someone point me in the right direction?

guessing the long beach opening stage will be a shortish prologue in the area west of ocean blvd where they stage the long beach grand prix (since all the infrastructure is already in place for such an event). the actual stage details haven't been announced yet. if it is in that area, bleachers will likely be brought in. the area is easily accessible from both the north and south by the bike path and that's what i'd/'i'll take to avoid the traffic crush that day.

ooga-booga,

Thanks for the input. I guess I'll wait until the route comes out to see where I'll end up. I would think there's got to be some places where one can kick back and view part of the race without it costing them a fortune. I do not see them selling tickets/passes for anything other than a "VIP" level access.

I do think we'll go down and experience the Lifestyle Expo and see what it has to offer.

TMT

Yeah, the VIP tickets are just a sort of beer garden at the finish line. Great location! But seriously, what a waste of money if it's your own. :) Just go - spectating at a cycling event is free.

there's also this a handful of blocks away from the area. just sayin.' don't kill the messenger...

https://twitter.com/BeachwoodBBQ_LB

I think the wife and I may just take the bus downtown, enjoy some beverages and then catch an Uber home. Maybe make a day of it, lol.

if you're not riding...that's the way to go. def don't want to drive down there, it's either cycling
or walking/uber-lyft. the pre and post ride energy is palpable and fantastic.

now thinking it's 50/50 that stage two starting in ventura and ending atop gibraltar rd. in santa barbara
will be severely modified or moved due to the thomas fire fallout. holding the race will undoubtedly bring in some
much needed tourism dollars but dunno if the local city/county governments want to or can deal with the costs/hassles
of providing infrastructure, street closures, police/paramedics, etc at this point. by the time the
race goes of in may, there may still be greater priorities in the region than grabbing a day's worth of cash. i'm assuming
the race has a backup plan and that there is a force majeure clause with any involved municipalities/counties. fires don't
damage the roads but the heavy equipment deployed to fight the fires does.
could possibly be a few short stretches of road in need of repaving adding to the complications.

I think they will be fine for the race unless we get more storms like that one.

I was just discussing our plans with my wife, and after all the damage in SB/Montecito et al, I'm sure the spirit of the event is quite lukewarm for the locals and local economy.

Hope it comes together, as I was planning to take your advice regarding the reverse route off 154. I've been up and down those roads on 2 wheels before.

hope it comes together as well. was planning on riding in the area earlier in the day and then catching some of the race in the afternoon.

Guess I'm too new
 

I was looking at this race. I have cerebral palsy so I ride a pretty generic bike. I tried a Cannondale but just couldn't get it yet because of cerebral palsy. It's my dream to someday do a century. I so want to do this!!

here we go:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/gibraltar-climb-still-in-the-works-for-tour-of-california-despite-fires-mudslides/

The course is two blocks from my home :-)


https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer...900000004&z=15

Got a bike coach
 

Can't do a century this year but my coach says I'm a natural on the bike and I should be able to do the 30 mile. It's a beginning

I did the VIP thing for Baldy last year - mainly because I had 15 pounds of camera gear with me and wasn't in the mood to hike 4+ miles up to the finish. It was kinda pricey, but the experience was pretty cool.

This year I'll prob just ride up Gibraltar and watch as I don't really plan on photographing it. Not sure what's going on with L'Etape California yet though this year.....I rode it last year, which was brutally hard (same route as the Baldy stage), curious to what the route will be this year, as I'm assuming it'll go up Gibraltar - although I'm not sure if parts of the route have been impacted by the mudslides.

Folsom on labor day weekend

Yeah, I got the email today - ugh. Not sure about that one.

I’ll pass. In my case, it would mean $1k weekend.