spare cycles

Stage 3 of the Tour of California is shaping up to be a gem. Here's the approximate route:

• Sausalito
• Golden Gate
• Highway 1 to Half Moon Bay
• Up Tunitas Creek to Skyline and La Honda Road
• Back to Highway 1 via Pescadero Road
• Bonny Doon Road climb
• Down Empire Grade Road to Santa Cruz

More details in the Merc (thanks AV list)

We've begged for it and now we have it: the 2009 Tour of California will finish atop Mt. Palomar.

Here's the route:

• Stage 1 (Feb 14): Sacramento
• Stage 2 (Feb 15): Davis - Santa Rosa
• Stage 3 (Feb 16): Sausalito - Santa Cruz
• Stage 4 (Feb 17): San Jose - Modesto
• Stage 5 (Feb 18): Merced - Clovis
• Stage 6 (Feb 19): Visalia - Paso Robles
• Stage 7 (Feb 20): Solvang
• Stage 8 (Feb 21): Santa Clarita
• Stage 9 (Feb 22): Rancho Bernardo - Escondido

The big standouts:

• 1 more stage, no more prologue
• The race finally makes it to San Diego (County) with a finish in Escondido.
• Sausalito - Santa Cruz! I'm excited to see the Cruzians get their stage finish, even if it means that Palo Alto lost the bid.
• No more Big Sur route (Monterrey - SLO), perhaps due to last year's death march. Sausalito - Santa Cruz will probably provide some Pacific Coast Highway scenery to compensate
• Most of the stage routes are brand new, though a couple (San Jose - Modesto, Davis - Santa Rosa) appear to be reversed routes from last year.
• Modesto-Clovis could have some good mountain climbs in it. It will be the first time the ToC hits the Sierras.

And here's the press release

Tour of California 2008

Tour of California 2007

Tour of California 2006