As many have already heard via the coordinated Schwartzenegger, Armstrong, Leipheimer, Hincapie, and Zabriskie twittering, the 2010 Tour of California Route has been unveiled. Steephill.tv really took the lead on getting the early draft route details out to the public, so you should head on over for the latest.

Given Steephill's work on figuring on the route, the real surprise for the day was Armstrong confirming for the race. He had indicated a desire to race the Giro instead, so this is a pretty big win for the ToC in terms of PR. There is certainly going to be a talent drain over previous years due to the scheduling conflicts, but where Armstrong goes, many follow.

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They're slowly uploading to the Gran Fondo site. A couple of scenics, and then a bunch of shots of a bunch of people, some people I know, a whole bunch I don't. 'Twas a fun and impressive event. If you saw me taking your photo, hopefully you'll find it here -- if you don't, it means I screwed up the shot.

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Photo by Ken Conley

Click for more Cross Vegas 2009 Men's Race photos

Ryan Trebon did his best to repeat at Cross Vegas but found himself outmatched by Jamey Driscoll and the Cannondale squad. Driscoll attacked with Chris Jones and Cannondale's Tim Johnson stayed in the chase group to mark moves. The two yo-yo'd off the front, with multiple attempts from the chase group to close it down, but the grass of Cross Vegas is tough turf to chase on. Trebon was isolated in the chase group and couldn't break free from the rest of the chasers to bridge up.

Click for more Cross Vegas 2009 Men's Race photos

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Katie Compton continues to clean up on the CX circuit as she repeated her victory at Cross Vegas. Luna's Katerina Nash and Georgia Gould put in a great effort to round out the podium, which gave the spectators the chance to see Luna's Podium Dudes escort Nash and Gould to the stage.

Click for more Cross Vegas 2009 Women's Race Photos

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Click for more USA Crits Finals 2009 Photos

Mellow Mushroom's Laura Van Gilder outkicked the pack for the win in the women's race. The field was relatively small, and the attacks came fairly fast early on with TIBCO's Brooke Miller and others stringing out the pack. Eventually Mellow Mushroom's Kristen Lasasso got off the front and the field was content to let her dangle there until the finishing laps. It proved the right tactic for Mellow Mushroom as Laura Van Gilder was able to take the win and clinch the USA Crits overall crown.

I didn't stick around after the first couple of laps of the Men's race as I had plenty of photos to process from Interbike itself.

Click for more USA Crits Finals 2009 Photos

Posted by kwc at 2:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I only spent a day and a half at Interbike this year as I had other things to tend to this year. I didn't take too many photos as I was saving my energies for shooting races, but here are some things that got me to break the camera out.

LOOK 464 Track Bike

A relatively inexpensive aluminum LOOK track bike, for those that can't afford a 596.

Storck Aero 2

I know I might come off as biased for pointing this bike out as I've previously covered Storck, but this bike is all sorts of sick. Plenty of TT bikes have brakes inside the fork nowadays, but who has integrated, carbon leaf-spring brakes? Add on Shimano Di-2 electric-specific customizations and you have one helluva bike at a mortgage-worthy price tag.

Dahon Folding Helmet

It's a helmet, that folds. Not something I need for my arsenal, but kudos for the ingenuity.

They also have a bike -- wasn't in the booth when I visited -- that can charge your iPhone off the front hub dynamo.

Prologo Nago Evo TTR

Saddle of Spartacus, World Champion

Rock Racing

I can't see myself riding coated in RR logo, but what I liked about this bike was a production bike where all the components have an integrated design: Prologo saddles, Lightweight wheels, cranks, seatpost, cockpit, etc... You can even get matching helmets. Everything fits into the overall design. It took getting a lot of manufacturers on board to do something like this.

Giro Prolight

This was all over the peloton at the Tour de France, though Lance interestingly stuck with his Ionos. Perhaps he thought the Ionos looks better... which it does.

It really does feel different to have almost nothing sitting on your head, and I liked the elastic, no-adjustment strap that swoops around the back of the head. I was less sure about the feel of the chin strap, which felt a little too tensioned as a result.

At $200, this one is mainly for the "racers".

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