View Full Version : ToC: Are they really making them ride through the desert?
MattTuck
05-13-2013, 04:11 PM
Looks suspiciously like the Tour of Oman...
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-lIsFAxc5NnY/UZFWmLk0roI/AAAAAAAACvE/2kZYRlJOcn0/s912/TOC.png
572cv
05-13-2013, 05:05 PM
41 degrees C. Wow.
enr1co
05-13-2013, 05:16 PM
Of all the more scenic, interesting landscape and terrain in CA, the organizers route it through the desert- pretty sad.
Anarchist
05-13-2013, 05:24 PM
Can you think of another way to get to Palm Springs? One that rambles along the coastline?
maunahaole
05-13-2013, 05:29 PM
California is not all beach.
krhea
05-13-2013, 05:35 PM
I'm just happy the US actually has a race of this stature. If it means a stage in desert then so be it. As someone said, Cali isn't all beaches and blondes, there does happen to be a very large portion of desert within the state.
chengher87
05-13-2013, 05:39 PM
Hilarious. TV coverage showed Craddock shoving ice down his pants.
MattTuck
05-13-2013, 05:46 PM
I'm just happy the US actually has a race of this stature. If it means a stage in desert then so be it. As someone said, Cali isn't all beaches and blondes, there does happen to be a very large portion of desert within the state.
I agree, in theory. But in practice, 111 degree weather in the desert may not be the safest conditions for the riders... and there may not be a race anymore if teams refuse to make the trip on account that half the field has to withdraw due to heat stroke. Obviously, the organizers can't control the weather, and this was probably a reaction to the cold from last year.
Still, I think there are enough non-coast line areas in CA that aren't in the desert.
maunahaole
05-13-2013, 05:50 PM
Once it gets hot, it is hot everywhere that isnt 10-20 miles from the coast.
Gummee
05-13-2013, 05:52 PM
Last year this time, y'all were kvetching that they cancelled the stage to Tahoe because of a snowstorm...
This year its too hot.
Make up your minds!
M
verticaldoug
05-13-2013, 05:53 PM
I record this on the dvr and watch later. Commercials are about 50/50 with the racing.
Normally, I pass on the ToC as a wasted race (ride around beautiful countryside, only to all come together in a town for a couple laps and a sprint finish) but this year the course looks better. I almost enjoyed watching some of the Mt Palomar stage yesterday.
Anarchist
05-13-2013, 05:57 PM
As is the case with any race, towns and cities bid for the right to host a start or finish, and the route is based around those winning locales.
The organizers don't throw darts at a map and say let's run through Hemet because it'll tick off a bunch of guys on a bike forum.
Of course, they could just run a loop from San Francisco to Monterey for 6 days, every year. How long would that last?
CaptStash
05-13-2013, 06:16 PM
I had hoped to make the Palm Springs stage, but work didn't cooperate. I will be on Mt. Diablo with my bro. on Saturday to watch the mountain top finish. It should be fun watching them fly up "the wall" at the end. 20% uphill sprinting fun!
CaptStash....
Ken Robb
05-13-2013, 06:51 PM
It's about 78F near the beach at our home today. !00F 10 miles inland. That is record-breaking heat that is expected to end before the weekend. Most years at this time the weather would be perfect for riding with almost zero chance of rain. Tough luck for the participants. They dutch guy who won yesterday said he had an advantage because he trains in Spain.
Louis
05-13-2013, 07:15 PM
But it's a DRY heat.
maunahaole
05-13-2013, 07:26 PM
The first year I rode the Davis double, it was something like 85 at zero dark 30 and was cracking 100 by 10am. Folks were dropping like flies on the second half of the ride. If you live in the central valley, you ride in heat like that every day all summer.
ofcounsel
05-13-2013, 07:27 PM
It's about 78F near the beach at our home today. !00F 10 miles inland. That is record-breaking heat that is expected to end before the weekend. Most years at this time the weather would be perfect for riding with almost zero chance of rain.
Yep, most years in May, it might be low to mid 80's on today's stage route. But record breaking temperatures for the last couple of days make for miserable riding conditions. I've ridden most of the roads in tomorrow's stage -- Palmdale to Santa Clarita -- if the heat keeps up, it's gonna be another miserable day.
I agree, in theory. But in practice, 111 degree weather in the desert may not be the safest conditions for the riders... and there may not be a race anymore if teams refuse to make the trip on account that half the field has to withdraw due to heat stroke. Obviously, the organizers can't control the weather, and this was probably a reaction to the cold from last year.
Still, I think there are enough non-coast line areas in CA that aren't in the desert.
Maybe the reason the race is called the Tour of California has to do with it being a race that each year tours different parts of California.
charliedid
05-13-2013, 08:11 PM
But it's a DRY heat.
Said the man from St Louis
Louis
05-13-2013, 08:49 PM
Said the man from St Louis
True - I've heard fairy tales about something called a "dry" heat, but I can't say that I've ever experienced it myself. ;)
vqdriver
05-13-2013, 09:24 PM
yes, we live in a desert. there's no getting around that. unless you're touring the cali coast, it's just a reality. hot day today.
fourflys
05-13-2013, 09:52 PM
I'd take that heat after the winter in Alaska... Palm Springs really is cool, but I'm glad I took the car up that road to the tram... :eek:
downtube
05-13-2013, 10:27 PM
Brutal day for these guys.
cachagua
05-13-2013, 10:38 PM
But it's a DRY heat.
The response I was WAITING for! Thank you, my day is made.
Louis
05-13-2013, 10:40 PM
The response I was WAITING for! Thank you, my day is made.
Glad I could oblige. :)
Ken Robb
05-13-2013, 11:23 PM
I have lived in Alabama and now in SoCal. I don't like the desert much so I live near the beach but-----------the difference between 95-105F in the desert (dry heat) and 95+ in Alabama with high humidity is huge. My few visits to St. Louis makes me think July there is a lot more like Alabama than SoCal.
Gummee
05-14-2013, 09:04 AM
True - I've heard fairy tales about something called a "dry" heat, but I can't say that I've ever experienced it myself. ;)Once you get used to it, its not as bad as heat + humidity like us east coasters get.
Stepping out the door of the airport in say Vegas from here? Like stepping into an oven. :nod
M
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