#ATOC Day 8....a gorgeous ride and some sight seeing in the city

So...
rule #1 - never call it SanFran, it's just the city and what a gorgeous city it is!

For our last stage, we planned to get out ahead of the Peloton and get into Santa Rosa in time.  We started with coffee at the Fairfax Coffee Roastery, Fairfax is held up as the birthplace of Mountain Biking with Gary Fisher starting out in this gorgeous little village.  The coffee was great and I have been surprised that despite the dish water generally on offer at the hotels, the US does have it’s share of proper coffee houses and they do it really well.

Once again the Bonk Breaker Boys/Helen’s Masters Team joined our group.  We were tapping along at a steady pace, along a beautiful road to Reyes Point; a tranquil area with just a few boats houses on the waterline.  Suddenly the call came that with 40km to go, the Peloton were catching us.  In a split second our pace lifted and we could almost feel the chase breathing down our necks

After another 20km of sustained effort I “attacked off the back” of the last four riders and was left to finish the ride TT style which works for me.  I loved riding  through the streets of Santa Rosa with the crowd cheering me on.

So this is pretty much it, our dream of living the life of a pro cyclist is almost over and it has been an absolute blast.  Mind you it’s not all  beer and skittles.

From long days in the saddle when you just want to fall off the bike and sleep, to times when you cant remember your hotel room number, you look in the mirror and think “Boy, I don’t look too great!”, the daily chores like washing your kit in the bathroom sink and trying to keep your bike running smoothly. And of course being away from home, I miss my kids and Sarah dearly and perhaps even the routine of a day job and being home for regular dinner. We’ve been staying at the Hampton Inn hotal chain mostly and they have been sensational. I wouldn’t swap this experience for anything, I have been incredibly blessed not only to be a part of this Masters team with great cyclists who are now life long friends but also to give back a little bit of hope and inspiration to those who have had to mortgage their health in the hope of a full recovery from some form of cancer.  I met a lovely couple today, Steve and Cathy.  So similar to us and Cathy has had breast cancer recently, but has been 6 months cancer free.  I hope and pray she continues in good health.

My facebook page already has all the video and pics from today so check it out

Keep riding

Mike

#ATOC Day 7 .... the Queen Stage

After a much needed rest day while the pro's time trialled, we were ready to get back into the saddle for  the Queen Stage, a 150km stage with 3 climbs (all with some 16% ramps) culminating in a 20km climb to the summit of Mt Diablo.  This climb is a beauty, a real European style climb with ramps and corners and flats.  At about half way up you look left and think "Really?  All the way up there?" It's a long way.  I was stoked with my form up the climb and the mountain was littered with cyclists and cycling fans.  The last 200m is the toughest and the entry lane to the finish line was cram packed with fans.  Being on the Amgen team, I was allowed through the final check to complete the climb and the fans were screaming at me at I put every last calorie of energy into the summit.  What an amazing experience! My only regret is I had the GoPro on the wrong setting so I missed some amazing footage of the fans, but those few minutes will live in my memory for years to come.
the day ended with a lovely family style meal with Malcolm's family in 20 Sycamore St Mill Valley.  It was just a lovely way to celebrate the approaching end of the tour with some great wines from the napa valley and some really goo food.  Thankyou Hill family, you guys are so dear to us.
The ride today centred around the town of Livermore, a beautiful little all American town.

#ATOC Day 5 - tough day at the office

Some more beautiful scenery today as we head north, but the block head wind for the last 75km was very tough and required focus and discipline.  In return the finish was situated in a gorgeous little beachside resort known as Avila Beach.  I woke up feeling very average and decided discretion being the better part of valour, that I would sit out the morning session and see how I felt later. After supporting for the first couple of hours, I was feeling much better and climbed aboard the peloton for the last 100km.  Tonight Janis, Heidi, JR, Paul and I had a wonderful Thai meal together at the Thai Elephant in Atuscadero and I drove a car on the "right" side of the road for the first time. Lot's of fun!
Highlight of the day was being there was Jens Voights inspirational solo attack at 5km from the finish.  What an amazing cyclist he is!
Also thanks to the Bonk Breaker boys who rode with us all day and helped us out with some great tasting bars
Enjoy the Vid

#ATOC Day 5 from Mike Israel on Vimeo.

#ATOC Day 4 - the best day, George turned up

Video here speaks for itself, see if you can spot the pro

#ATOC Day 4 from Mike Israel on Vimeo.

#ATOC Day 3 - Recovery..kind of

After the hell of Palm Springs yesterday, no one voiced any objections to a slight shortening of the ride today.  That being said we still taped out 80 miles with 5,500 feet vertical; do you like how I am using imperial now?  I even think I could safely ride on the roads on my own now without getting killed, it's only taken me a week to get used to being on the right side of the road, heaven help us all when I get home and start driving again!

The team for Day 3 ready to roll

The start in Palm Dale is in the "high desert" at around 1400m elevation and the one distinguishing feature is all the "Joshua Trees".

The Joshua Tree (yeah as in the U2 album)

Today's stage covered some more beautiful scenery with a 40 km gradual descent into Santa Clarita, yes 40km!!!!  It was one of the riding highlights with 5 of us in a train just motoring through this slightly downward sloping canyon.  There is some video below if you arent already bored of seeing guys descending fast on road bikes.

We did the Breakaway from Cancer mile walk up the final straight.  Again we got a little rock star treatment as we mixed with the community of Cancer survivors and supporters.  We also went back to Rob and Jills place for a swim and a cool off.  They have a lovely home in the hills overlooking Santa Clarita.  Rob's magazine Road Bike Action have been a great support to us with nutrition and clothing. Thankyou so much guys, I hope we can host you in Australia one day!

Well the washing is done, roomy Paul is ready, and I have a massage in 20 minutes to try and bring some very tired legs back to life.

Oh yeah, the pros finish was astounding and Sagan took the win by a whisker from our very own Michael Matthews.

The Americans are crazy over Peter Sagan

Keep Riding
Mike

#ATOC Day 2 - a very long day

Another amazing stage in the Tour of California today.  195km with temperatures north of 35 deg, finishing with a 5km climb average 10% at 47 degrees celsius called the “tram line”.  This climb has a wicked reputation with the local cyclists and sure enough it made for an amazing finish to the pro race.  The commentator wasn’t joking when he said it looked like someone had thrown a hand grenade into the bunch.  There were riders all over the place, but kudos to Van Garderen and the Columbian who rode to an inch of their lives, with the Columbian getting over in the end, for a truly inspiring win.  It’s also been awesome to see Cam Meyer riding so well and finishing strong in the lead bunch.

Back to our Masters team, you can see an awful lot of scenery when you ride almost 200 km and you will get a small taste from the pictures below that barely do this landscape justice. 

The first big climb of the day to Idyllwild was 1000m over 20km.  A beautiful climb and we kept it pretty tight.  After short descent, we rode across the mesa and a series of false flats got the heart rate up.  Thankfully Neil looked after us all and kept the pace steady.  The terrain gradually changed from green pine forests to arid desert with vistas so huge your eye could barely take them in and we were still hovering at 1600m elevation.

Support for the day was amazing and in the heat we needed lots of water.  Pete “Coffee Boy” Pattison took to the van after the first climb and looked after Jon and I all day.  Paul also had a ball and was busy keeping us hydrated and covered in water to get atleast some cooling effect from evaporation.  Every time I poured a cold bottle of water over my head was like getting a new lease of life, but in 10 short minutes I would be completely dry as I could feel the salt drying on my skin.  The tan lines are coming along nicely.  JR was also a great help and our drivers Heidi and Janice again did a sterling job.  This is no task for the faint hearted.

Also big kudos to Neil Shirley and Rich Meeker.  Two of the nicest blokes you could hope to meet in cycling and they did most of the work on the front today.  Malcolm rode strong and even though was cramping up the last climb, rode through the pain.  Finally KK was a great metronome for our bunch of 6 today, he kept us together and kept the chat going.

The descent into Palm Desert was one for the books.  The signpost “Beware downhill speed for the next 10 miles” says it all.   And we had already been descending for 15 mins! 

Another amazing ride and the hospitality tent was a Godsend.  The people there each day who have been impacted by Cancer are so excited about us riding for them and are so encouraging.  We now have a two hour drive to our next hotel.  We are all pretty smashed, but looking forward to a shower, dinner and bed.

Big shout out to Skatchlabs for the bottle to get me up tram line, thanks guys, but it would be remiss of me not to mention Cytomax who have powered the whole team the last two days, you guys are legend, I must have necked about 20 bottles today, thankyou

keep riding

mike

ATOC Day 2 from Mike Israel on Vimeo.

#ATOC Day 1

What a day! So many things I want to record here but time is short so here are a few quick thoughts.  We rolled out with about 20 or so riders and I found myself tapping it out on the first climb.  The first goal was to reach the 80km mark in good shape for the big climb of the day; Mt Palomar.  From a cycling point of view it doesn’t get any better.  As we climbed to 5000ft we marveled at the views but knew we needed to keep the fluids up as the temp continued to rise.  Going over the KOM was great as the crowds cheered us for our efforts and the reward was a 20 minute descent on smooth hot mix round perfectly radiused corners.

Riding through the valley the temp soared to over 40deg and water became the name of the game.  The final KOM was a heartbreaker, down to just 4 riders, we swapped off all the way through the valley. By this stage my water was gone.  The climb was by far the steepest hovering between 10-15% and here the crowds urged us on in the heat with water sprays and one lovely lady passing out iced towels.

The heros of the day were our sojeuners, Heidi and Janice. (and Scott)  They knew exactly where to be and with the temp rising, we were going through 1 litre an hour. 

A welcome pit stop came at the top of the last climb as we regrouped for the final 35km into town.  Some of the riders who had gotten a lift to catch up took up the pace with fresher legs and by about 10km to go I was feeling human again having caught up on my hydration.

The roll down to the sprint finish was somber as we thought of the purpose of our cause.  A quick drink and we met up with the Cancer Walk group and we rode at the head of the walk.

Finally we got changed and headed for the hospitality and how good it was to watch the end of the race in luxury comfort while refuelling the body.  The pro finish was a blast, and it was so good to see the break away hold off the sprinters. My first pro race finish and I was tingling at the excitement of the crowd and the main bunch sprinted for third with Sagan prevailing.

Sitting around the pool  with the team now having had a tuna salad for dinner, feeling very relaxed but knowing tomorrow will be a big challenge, as the forecast is for longer and hotter.

Keep riding

Mike

#ATOC Day 1 from Mike Israel on Vimeo.

ATOC Day -1

Another gorgeous day in the Santa Monica mountains and time to relax and smell the Cactii

Cactii in bloom at the top of Piuma Rd

As the race proper looms large on the horizon, the boys were happy enough to roll for 30 mins on the promise of a coffee shop that can make coffee more to what we are accustomed to.  Upon entering Calabasos, we were charmed with the quaint old western type architecture, that hails back to times when it was nothing more than a stagecoach pit stop.
Peddler's Fork was our target and it did not disappoint.  Only having opened a couple of weeks ago, the stunning 1 foot beams of oak that make up the building with lots of glass make for a perfect setting to relax over a great coffee.  Masi's, Colnago's, Eddy Mercxk's bikes grace the walls.  Air pump, water and bike racks complete with locks are in the "bike" parking area.

Some classic bikes adorn the walls, it's almost a shame they aren't available to ride.

 We met some lovely locals, one lady, Canadian born, but lived in Sydney and met her husband there, struck up a conversation after hearing the order for a "flat white" coffee.
Another couple, Lyn and Brian, were very interested to hear about our adventure, where we were from, and how big are the insects in Australia.  Very funny!
It was such a chilled morning, we all agreed the only option was just to roll back to the hotel for lunch, but my legs still wanted more, or perhaps it was just the idea of setting off on my own to find another climb, so with a few directions from Malcolm, I veered off and set to summitting Piuma Rd.  Another stunning ascent with views to take your breath away.  Again it never really got over 10%, smooth roads, sweeping corners and some very impressive properties with a 10 minute descent back down the mountain to widen the grin.

The view East from near the summit

Looking West to Malibu

 From there it was rolling bergs all the way along Mulholland Highway to the hotel.  Another beautiful ride.  Tomorrow it's time to leave this beautiful area and head south to ready for the start on Sunday.  Last night we met Janice Burns our Sojeuner for all of next week.  This amazing New Yorker has worked as a professional for many of the pro teams and has even been to TDU!  She said she would move to Adelaide in a heartbeat! She also had a very interesting perspective on the whole Lance saga from one who was very close to the workings, so we are very lucky to be setup with her looking after us for the week.
That's it for now
Keep Riding
Mike

ATOC Day -2

Another glorious day in Irvine CA (yes I found out where we are!) and a big ride to stretch the legs.  Really missing good coffee!

The ride today took in Hidden Valley, Malibu and then a gorgeous climb called Latigo Canyon Rd.  There are just some many good roads for riding around here it is unbelievable.  Many of the US based pro teams come here for their Winter training camps and you can see why.  With your very own proper mountain range on the doorstep of the hotels, it is perfect riding terrain and the weather is perfect another sunny day of 22-23 deg

Today we rode through an area that was recently burned out with big bush fires and all the public works vans were busy racing around repairing electrical infrastructure.  It is a busy place and everything is well organised and BIG.  We rode past fields of coriander and celery that stretched as far as the eye could see.

Then it was a long stretch of road following the coast heading south to Malibu.  Some pretty nice beaches here, but not a patch on Sydney beaches.  Finally we took a left and went straight into a very big climb.  We'd been riding pretty easy all day, and noone (except Green P) really wanted to put a big effort in.  It was great just tempo-ing this climb and marvelling at the views as every pedal stroke took us higher.

The descents here are awesome.  The roads are a little worn and you have to be careful as you can get some soil being washed across the roads on the corners, so they really test your bike handling. Pretty much all the corners and correctly cambered and pretty sharp, it's like riding a rollercoaster, (think  Stromlo Skyline but on the road.  One corner yesterday nearly claimed a few of us as it started quite open, but gradually tightened to the point where it was too late to brake and you just had to commit and lean into it.  Some locals who saw Jon's Pinarello jacket came up for a chat and told us that corner claims many a cyclist (and motorist!)

The day finished with a great mexican meal and we were all ready for bed by 9:30
That's it for now.
Keep Riding
Mike

ATOC Day -2 from Mike Israel on Vimeo.

ATOC Day -3

Hi all
Welcome back to my blog, from here I'll be recording a few observations and memories from my big trip to the US of A for the Amgen Tour of California.  I'm here with 4 other great cycling buddies from Sydney to ride the ATOC and raise funds and awareness for the Amgen Breakaway from Cancer initiative.
A quick recap on my journey
- train to the airport all good, only to be greeted by a monster queue at the checkin, something about 12 Qantas flights leaving Sydney over a 2 hour period!
- Flight all good, except no sleep (of course!) A plane seems to be the one place I just cant nod off.  So watched three good movies, Life of Pi, Argo and Lincoln (some good US culture to get me ready!)
- Land in LA early, but they cant open the doors till 6:30am, ho hum.
- one guy on customs desk, Welcome to America! well atleast he was friendly
- Then waiting at the airport till the car hire place opens and finally we are on our way west.
- Check in, very nice hotel, dont really know where we are but then the fun begins..Westlake???

A couple of hours to unpack and freshen up, quick swim in the heated outdoor pool and then we roll out for a "gentle ride".  Straight into the Santa Monica Mountains we head, oh man, so beautiful!  I'll add some video later, you'll see what I mean.  50km later and 1000m vertical, love those climbs, those quiet roads, friendly drivers, smooth roads and amazing views.  Makes Bobbin Head look like an ant hill.

Back for coffee, rest, and ready for dinner, then a very early bed!

Tomorrow we are planning a longer ride (4-5 hours) 120km, should be amazing.  Weather here is perfect 22 deg and sunny.  Thanks to Malcolm Hill our guide, you are awesome!

Much more to come
Keep Riding
Mike

Mulholland Hwy Descent from Mike Israel on Vimeo.
Sorry, this is kind of a boring video, but you get the idea, long sweepy descents are fun!  The video just doesnt do the views justice!