Saturday, May 24, 2014

Wendy's Tour-de-Licious 2014


It was two years ago when we did the first Tour-de-Licious traveling from Sacramento to Kings Canyon National Park.  Wendy Sigerson, a professional caterer, approached me again for a repeat and it was an easy sell.

I conferred with Dave and Kristina Vandershaf about a route and Dave came up with an 8-day loop through Northern CA and Southern OR beginning and ending in Yreka.

If you know Dave, it was a doozy of a tour covering 355 miles with over 25,000' of vertical.  Five days had major passes to surmount.

Sixteen hard-core riders and wannabes signed up for the tour.  Many were repeaters from the last tour and some were new.  The Wendy Tours are known for fantastic food combined with hard-core riding.

This time, instead of doing a loaded tour, we had a sag truck to haul all our camping gear.  A very wise decision.

In spite of couple days of rain, the tour went amazingly well.  The route through the Klamath Mountains was incredibly scenic and remote.  It was a rare instance when we encountered a vehicle.

The best part of the tour was the group of 17 really clicked.  Cycle touring is really fun but when all the personalities are affable and cooperative it is a real bonus.

To view the complete album, click on "Wendy's Tour-de-Licious 2014" below photo:

From Wendy's Tour-de-Licious 2014

Sunday, May 11, 2014

2014 Amgen Tour of California Stage 1


The Amgen Tour of California visited Sacramento for the sixth time in nine years. Sixteen teams with 128 world-class riders are participating in this year's tour.

Stage 1, a 120 mile route traveled north along the Sacramento River, turned east to Lincoln and Auburn, and southeast on Hwy 49 to Cool and El Dorado Hills, before returning to Sacramento on the Jackson Highway.

The race ended with three circuit laps of two miles around the State Capitol and Mid-Town.

Nasty 20+ mph head and cross winds made for a challenging day for the riders. It was reported that one of the light-weight riders was blown into a ditch on the Jackson Highway.

To view the race album, click on "2014 Amgen Tour of California Stage 1" below photo:

From 2014 Amgen Tour of California Stage 1