Ride is on? Uh, it's snowing hard, man

I signed up to be a course marshal for the opening Sacramento stage of the Amgen Tour of California next week. At an orientation meeting for race volunteers, Eric Smith, the guy that maps out the courses for each stage, told a story that I could relate to: The fickle, quick-to-change weather at Lake Tahoe.

I grew up on the Nevada side of the south shore of Tahoe, and one of the things I learned from my years living there was this: It will snow unexpectedly. When it isn’t even close to winter. I remember it snowing on Easter, a day typically associated with spring-like weather. And for some reason, it would sometimes snow out of the blue, in June. I was once at the beach at Tahoe with friends, on a perfectly sunny June day, and spotted nasty black storm clouds come over the mountains on the west side of the lake and head eastward toward us like a runaway train. The wind kicked up, dark clouds came, the temp dropped to icy cold in a heartbeat, and before we knew it, we were running to the car in the rain, with hail on its heels. Hey, supposed to be summer here!

Eric’s the guy that gives the final OK to start each stage of the Amgen tour. In May 2011, the first stage was to start at South Lake Tahoe. Riders would go around the lake one and a half times, and finish at the North Star ski resort, in the mountains a few miles north of the lake. And even though it was May on race day, not so surprisingly, the temp was frigid, snow was in the air, and Eric had to figure out if the snow starting to fall was going to stick on the roads and put the riders in serious danger of slipping and crashing.

To check out the first part of the course, he drove out toward Emerald Bay on the twisty Highway 89, a two-lane road through the woods that climbs to the ridges above Emerald Bay via very tight, steep switchbacks.

“Out there, the sky was blue, it was nice,” Eric told us. “The roads were wet, but it looked good.”

So he radioed back to the start line where all the riders and support cars were lined up, waiting in the cold. He gave the green light to start the race.

“We turned around and started to drive back,” he said. “And it was suddenly complete white-out.” Snow coming down so hard he could barely see ahead. He called off the stage, and the tour instead started under clear skies the next day in Nevada City, in the Sierra foothills northwest of Tahoe.

I was bummed the Tahoe stage had to be called off. The TV coverage would have shown the cycling world the stunning beauty of the Lake of the Sky. Good news is, this year, the women’s professional tour is beginning its Amgen tour at Tahoe. Just hope it doesn’t snow this time. There’s a drought going on, so it probably won’t. But as Eric will attest, snow is a possibility at Tahoe, even in May.

Stage management

Eric Smith also gave some of us Amgen TOC stage volunteers a play by play of how a stage race starts. Teams all ride together at about 20 mph, and then when all is in order, the front of the peloton gets the “go” flag and the race is on.

“Before the race starts, they ride in place at about 20 mph,” he said. “Then when the race starts, they’re immediately riding at 40 mph. I don’t know how they do that, but they do it every time.”

And, he said, local road cyclists often try to keep up with the back of the peloton at the start, he said, “But they drop off after three or four minutes.”

The “broom wagon,” is the car at the end of the line of team cars and medical cars that follow the peloton during the race. If a rider can’t keep up with the peloton during the earlier stages of the race due to injury or a mechanical, either the broom wagon picks them up, or the rider’s team car does. But late in a grueling stage race,  some riders get popped off the back of the peloton. But it becomes a problem, said Smith, when lagging riders cause a long gap between support cars and the peloton.

“That’s when we pull up next to the rider and say, ‘How’s it going? We have some cold drinks and we can pick you up right now.'” And for a bonked rider who has been spit out the back of the peloton, that’s welcome offer.

Hey that guy looks like a pro

Riding on the bike trail a few weeks ago, I got passed by a young rider on a very slick looking dark blue and optic yellow painted bike – couldn’t see the brand -- and he was going around 20 mph. I caught his wheel, and followed for a mile or so, then passed him on a long straightaway that had a nasty headwind. I just wanted a workout battling the headwind, and by the time that section ended on a wind protected but long uphill pitch, I slowed down and made my way up it as I got my breath back. This guy, who looked like one of those small pro peloton climbers from South America with three lungs, passed me easily and smiled as he did so. I recovered and again tried to catch his wheel. The trail was then heading generally downhill, so I got enough momentum to eventually reel him in after about three miles. At another flat section with big headwinds I passed him and hammered it all the way through the section. I kept a strong pace up and over a bridge and got back on the trail on the other side of the river. I figured the guy turned off or something. If not, he surely would have passed me again by now. So I pedaled on for about three miles and out of the blue, the guy passed me again. He was on a strong pace and at this point, after I’d ridden about 40 miles and climbed 1,200 feet, I was feeling it. No way could I crank it up to catch his wheel. He rode fast, free and easy, and I just watched him disappear on the trail ahead of me. But hey, he helped me pick up my pace. At least for a few miles! Amazing how fast and fit the guy was.

Til next time, remember to strap on a helmet every time you get on the bike. And then, keep the rubber side down, ride safely and then be sure to have a blast.

-- Mark Eric Larson