Since July is Tour de France month, I thought I’d spotlight a bicycling jersey company. I met the owner Jen Benepe of Hotvelociti Cycling Apparel last year. I loved the fun and colorful designs of her women’s jerseys and was happily given a women’s jersey to try out and review! It was awesome and is now one of my favorite pieces! The fit was great, material soft and comfy and I think I actually rode faster……
Learn More……

If you don’t already subscribe to this newsletter you should! There are usually some really great articles about the outdoor industry that are very positive.

An excerpt from this week’s talks about promoting local vacations and the rise in campground reservations;

Surge in Campground Reservations
Creates Opportunities for Outdoor Businesses

More evidence is emerging that Americans are turning to the outdoors for a respite from tough economic times, or perhaps because of them. Advance reservations for nearly 89,000 campgrounds on federal lands were up 26.1% for the period of January 1 to March 22 compared to the same period last year, according to data from the National Recreation Reservation Service. The overwhelming majority of the reservations came in online via reserveamerica.com. Read more…..

Orbitz Worldwide Travel named Solvang one of the Top 5 “US Domestic Destinations with International Flair” and the city has been recognized by Sunset magazine as one of the “Ten Most Beautiful Small Towns in the Western United States.”

Solvang attracts over a million visitors annually with its thriving Danish community, unique shopping, distinctive architecture, award-winning bakeries and regional wines….Did I mention the bake shops about 2 per block!

We arrive early in order to get parking. We have made several friends along the way this week and meet up with 2 friends from Santa Rosa who have a spot picked out right on the finish line. You must guard these spots as they become more valuable as it gets closer to start time (some folks even lock their beach chairs right to the race railing!).

The best thing about this stage is that all of the team buses are parked right on the main street so the opportunity to see your favorite rider in one of the local bake shops is high.

This stage is one where you basically stand in one spot, for hours, and wait for each rider to come though. Race leader Levi Leipheimer (AST) took a big step closer to his third consecutive Amgen Tour of California title by acing the stage with a winning time of 30:40, eight seconds faster than U.S. National Time Trial champion David Zabriskie (GRM). Gustav Larsson (SAX), who won silver at the Beijing Olympic Games in the time trial, had the third fastest time, 16 seconds slower than Leipheimer, who padded his advantage in the General Classification over Zabriskie.

Some pics of the highlights-

After lunch at one of our favorite cafes, we headed back to SLO, one more night away from home, and another Tour of California under our belts…till next year…..

I think that today was my favorite day of any Tour of California! The adventure began as we decided to do something a bit different….

During these long stages the riders need to constantly refuel themselves, consuming up to 5,000 calories during the ride. You don’t really see much on T.V. about the “Feed Zones” so we decided to look at it up close today!

We took off down the highway in search of the smaller roads they would be riding. We knew about what mile marker the Feed Zone would be. South of Fresno is very wide open land, with many large dairy farms…we drove for miles in this open space before finally coming upon the road signs. No one was there at all since it was 8:30 am and the racers were not excepted through this area for another 4 hours!!!

So, we opened the tailgate, boiled some water and make coffee and hot mochas J

In case you have never seen this at all, the riders slow down just a bit from the 25+ MPH they are traveling to swing over to the side of the road, while still riding, and grab a bag of food and drinks that is being held out for them…quite a tricky process. They quickly go through the bag and discard any thing they do not want or need…the balance gets tossed on the road (that’s where we come in)!

As cars started to arrive, and a few spectators like ourselves, curious as to this process, we positioned ourselves along the road where we hoped the riders would be going through their food bags. Now, if you have ever stood in line for hours for something good you will understand. The competition was not much, but I was really determined to get a few ‘goodies’. We were pretty certain we were positioned just about right in the grand scheme of things!

Here they came up the road. I saw a few water bottle fly over the road on the opposite side of the road, darn it. No worries they were just about in front of me when one rider tried to fling the bag in my direction, but it was caught by one of the photo motorbikes, darn it missed that one too!

Then, as the main Peleton whizzed by the stuff started flying up the road everywhere. I was across the street at a dead run, grabbing bags, water bottles, etc

Now, keep in mind that:

1)       there are still support cars on the road

2)       there is an older gentleman who is now also caught up in the moment and running stride for stride with me (wasn’t counting on that)!

3)       I have promised a girl who parked next to us that I would trade her something if I got a Rock Racing souvenir

It was a chaotic mess for about 5 minutes and I found myself about ½ mile down the road as the Feed Zone sweepers showed up. They dashed out of their vehicles, grabbed all the swag and drove away…the nerve!

Anyway, here’s a look; (notice the 3 Astana bags? Yes, one of those IS Lance Armstongs!!!

That’s all for today…stayed tuned for Solvang results tomorrow.

PS Jeff Louder rocked again today in the breakaway!!!!

Here we are at 10 am on the top of the hill at the first King of the Hill. This is where the riders get extra points for crossing the summit first.

Today the skies are clear and the Sierra Nevada mountain’s looks especially beautiful this morning. This stage has the riders going up over 4 mountain passes and they will be put to the test. The climbs aren’t that long, but one tops out at over 3,000 ft elevation.

Some of my favorite pics from this spot-

For now, we have the truck parked, the banners up and the snacks handy. I’ll be promoting http://www.bicycletour.com/ from up here on top the summit…just 2 ½ hours till the riders get here!!!

We will be moving on next to the finish in Clovis and hopefully a spot right on the finish line…..

Another day on the road and yes, more rain!

Shout out to Jeff Louder who was in the breakaway pack for the entire day! Jeff is the son of Carol Louder, owner of Macabi Skirt, one of our OutdoorMind clients. It was very exciting to follow him today, knowing how proud Carol must have been!!

Here is a short breakdown of our day viewing the Tour of California, we had 5 viewing spots today!

1. Caliveras Road climb (that’s Lance in the black/yellow helmet on the left front).

1. Viewing from the freeway at Sunol and 680
2. Patterson Pass and Midway Road

1. Highway 132 and some intersection in the middle of farmland

1. And, a chance viewing at Carpenter and Kansas Street while running down the street!…no time for photos there! 

All in all another awesome day J

OK, I can’t really use the same first sentence of yesterday so I’ll change it up a bit…. wet, wet and cold! How’s that?

I can’t believe those guys had to hit the road again today in this weather…starting with an 8:30 am crossing of the Golden Gate Bridge! We were on the freeway at the time and that was hard enough….

Today’s stage had 2 good climbs and since we had such a great time on a hill before, we thought we’d give it another try. The road this time was very narrow and in the redwoods…very misty, dark and cold…another perfect spot of our friend the easy up. This time the table was turned however as we asked a few guys who seemed to have a pretty good spot staked out if we could join them. First question they had was what did WE have to offer…well, we just pointed to the huge easy-up in the back of the truck and the rest is history!!!

We had timed our arrival a bit later today and only had to wait about 2 hours for the arrival of the group (yesterday was about 4 hours). Again, the parade of vehicles raced by with updates on the riders, leader and following Peleton. We found out later that Lance T-boned a downed motorcycle and about 15 others had crashed right before this climb. They were all fine and back in the group.

They riders wizzed by (looking very cold and tired), the awning came down and everyone ran off to the warmth of their cars! We sped off up the road to try and catch the finish in Santa Cruz (where the sun came out!).

I’ll add some pictures here then off to the wharf for some seafood, sleep and another day to follow the Tour of California!

Wet, wet, wet…. that’s all I can say for today. I know we need the rain and all (for California River rafting this summer), but it really stinks to sit out in it all day.

Off we went at 7 am to get an early start to the one of the climbs on today’s route, Pope Valley. It really is beautiful there this time of year. After 2 hours, we arrived at a spot we had scouted last month, great off road turnout, very steep slope, and perfect!

We were expecting a few other friends and at the last minute decided to make it a tail-gater. With the use of an ‘easy-up’ from our local Breathe California’ friends we started to set up. Another couple we did not know stopped and asked if they could join us so we said yes!

A few minutes later, the awning was up, water was boiling for hot chocolate and the fans all started arriving. Let’s just say that we were the favorites of the day and the crowd gathered in numbers under our tent! We had a Canadian couple that supplied the wine, cheese and crackers. Another group brought some rope for hanging our Adventure Sports Online banner…everyone had something to contribute to the party! It was also such a great location that the official photographers with the Tour set up shop there as well!

If you’ve never been to an event such as this, it is very hard to really describe the excitement that builds as you wait. There is quite an assembly of vehicles that precedes the arrival of the riders. Overhead a helicopter is tracking them, Highway Patrol and Road Marshals, motorcycles…it’s very much like a huge parade. Once the riders FINALLY get to where you have been patiently awaiting their arrival, it’s all over in about 15 seconds!!!!! Crazy…..

Here are more photos of today’s stage-

Hello to all from cold and cloudy Sacramento!

The weather did not keep the crowds, estimated at 70,000 – 75,000, away for Day 1 of the Tour of California and we were right there along with them. Of course the big news is the return of Lance Armstrong, but there are many others to watch.

We decided to play it safe and arrive several hours ahead of time and were surprised to find parking, a bonus. After a nice warm breakfast, it was back to our ‘secret’ parking space. Since the wind was blowing and the temperature a bit nippy, we read the newspaper from the cab of our S10 pickup!

The course in Sacramento was a 2.4-mile loop around the State Capitol. Many of the riders did some of their warm up practicing the course and we watched Lance and his Astana Team do a few laps.

After scouting the course we found the perfect spot to watch the riders coming off a nice turn and stood there for the duration of the race…about 3 ½ hours…man, you really have to be a fan of this sport!

Today’s stage winner was Fabian Cancellar with a time of 4:32, amazing…

Tomorrow we will be off early to catch a spot on the climb of Pope Valley. Weather calls for a new storm…lots more wind and rain showers. So much for riding in sunny California!

I’ll include a bunch of photos of the ride below J

Signing off for today…will add images as I get an Internet connection along the way!

Hi everyone!

This just in from the Tour of California website:

“The eyes of the cycling world will be firmly focused upon Sacramento come Valentine’s Day when Lance Armstrong will start his first road race on American soil since he returned from retirement. And quite a scintillating show they shall be treated to at the 2009 Amgen Tour of California prologue on the streets of the Golden State’s capitol. Armstrong won seven Tours de France in part due to his extraordinary time trial abilities, but the fast and flat 2.4-mile/3.9 km course is perhaps better suited to a power rider like Olympic gold medalist Fabian Cancellara, who won last year’s prologue. The route passes Sacramento landmarks including the State Capitol, the Capitol Mall and the Tower Bridge and should take about five minutes to complete. With the start and finish lines only blocks apart, spectators will not only enjoy the rare opportunity to see their favorite cyclists ride one at a time against the clock, but they can watch them start and finish.”

Knowing that just a few miles away are some of most famous, fastest and most talented cyclists in the world, is making it hard to focus on my work today! Not all of you are as crazy as I am about cycling, but you will be if you have a chance to stand 2 feet away from one of the riders as they zoom past you at 35 miles per hour.

I plan on taking a road trip next week…..you guessed it! To follow the race for as many of the days as I can manage. Along the way I will be spreading the word about our own website BicycleTour.Com and AdventureSports.Com with psotcards to pass out to the crowds and a nifty banner I had made for our truck.

Each evening I hope to post images and a summary of the day, from my perspective…should be fun

Stay tuned

March 10, 2009 at the Sacramento Convention Center

OutdoorMind will be exhibiting along with over 200 other businesses in our area. Metro Expo is the foremost business-to-business trade show in Northern California. Increase your visibility among Sacramento’s decision makers in a full range of industries during this dynamic one-day event. 

In 2008, Metro Expo assembled over 200 exhibitors and more than 1,500 regional business owners and managers.

For more information or if you’d like to attend go to: Metro Expo