Stage 1: Davis to Santa Rosa
Second day of the tour, our first day of riding, and, as always, an adventure! With a forecast of rain, wind, more rain, and temps in the low 50′s, we began the day with the squad kitted in full battle gear: gore-tex, layers, and full rain gear. Coach Rich decided to toss Coach Patrick into the scrum on the first day. Welcome to Cali!
The first 20 or so miles were flat-ish, through vineyards, but with gusting head and crosswinds. Coach Patrick took the first sprint points of the tour, with a win in Winters, while Coach Rich managed to get the van stuck in the mud about 7 miles into the day…but a quick call to AAA saved the day!
The crew continued on to tackle the first KOM, a Cat 4 with a short steep climb. The riders then descended into Napa Valley for more vineyards and crosswinds. Next was an incredibly scenic tour of the western shores of Lake Berryessa.
The group then turned its sights towards the Cat 2 climb on Chiles Pope Valley Rd. Very steep, very tight, TONS of specatators and did we mention STEEP? We called it a day at the top, as a cold, windy and tough day is a more than good enough at the start of seven days of epic cycling!
All told, half the riders got in just over 50 miles, with the other half logging about 70 miles. Some great miles over super great terrain…just a bit wet!
Shacked up in Pacifica for the night, and the wind is howling outside. Let’s keep our fingers crossed!
Please check out our Tour of California photo gallery!
Popularity: 6% [?]
