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EN Tour of California 2012 is LIVE! Details and Registration Here

2012 Tour of California Training Camp



Amgen has announced the host cities for the 2012 Tour of California so now it’s time to kickstart this camp! 2012 will be our SIXTH year hosing a camp for the Tour of California. The short description is:

  • You will ride 3 to 5 hours per day on the route of each stage...about 2 to 3 hours ahead of the pro peleton.
  • Along the way you’ll be cheered by crazed cycling fans on the top of KOM’s and at intermediate sprints.
  • You’ll experience two mountaintop finishes, in Big Bear and Mt Baldy.
  • You will have the unique experience of being chased, literally, by the pro peleton.

There are many high volume training camps. The EN ToC is the ONLY ONE that happens during, in, and around a pro cycling event!



Dates:

The Amgen Tour of California beings on Sunday, May 13th and ends on Sunday, May 20th. Campers will meet in San Francisco, Sunday, May 13th and begin riding on Monday, May 14th. We will ride through the following Saturday, May 19th.



The camp ends on Saturday so you can fly home that evening and have a day to reset before going back to the real world on Sunday.



Cost: $3395
  • EN ToC Vets: 25% discount for registration before December 31st. Vets will be given first priority.
  • EN Members: 15% discount, before January 31st

Includes:

All riding, SAG, transportation, training food, and lodging from Saturday, May 13th, through Friday, May 18th. If you choose to stay in LA on Saturday, May 19th before your Sunday flight, that lodging expense is not included in the camp.



Not Included:
  • Airfare to/from the camp.
  • Dinners each night...because we don’t want to put you on a budget after you’ve been riding all day!
  • Transportation to/from the airport, though we are usually able to use the camp vans to get everyone to the airport at the end of the camp.
  • Bike shipping. See below.

Ready to register?

Payment:
  • Email rich@endurancenation.us and then please send a non-refundable $500 deposit payable to Endurance Nation, 607 Parker Avenue, Monrovia, CA 91016.
  • Your remaining balance is due in full by March 1st, 2012.

Questions?

Please post to this thread or email Rich



Draft Itinerary:

Many stages have admin miles on the front end, or boring, flat, into a headwind stretches before two laps of the finishing town (which they won’t let us ride), etc. Also, you are not a pro cyclist sitting in a peleton with 170 other pro cyclists. Finally, each day we have to drive from where we stopped riding to that night’s hotel, usually in the start town for the next stage. For these reasons we ride “the best parts” of each stage rather than every mile of every stage.



That said, you can expect to ride 3-5hrs per day, every day, on extremely challenging terrain and you WILL be quite thrashed at the end of the camp! Historically, campers have logged 22-30hrs of total saddle time each year of the camp. This is a not a wine and cheese, hobnob in the VIP tent kinda camp. We RIDE.

  • Stage 1, Sunday, May 13th: campers and admin vehicles assemble in San Francisco in preparation to begin riding the following day. Lodging near the race start in SFO.





  • Stage 2: Monday, May 14th -- San Francisco to Santa Cruz County: we will ride all/most of this stage. Lodging this night near the Stage 3 start in San Jose.





  • Stage 3: Tuesday, May 15th -- San Jose to Livermore: we will ride all/most of this stage. Lodging this night near the Stage 4 start in Sonora.





  • Stage 4: Wednesday, May 16th -- Sonora to Clovis: we will ride all/most of this stage. Lodging this night is TBD.





  • Stage 5: Thursday, May 17th -- Bakersfield Time Trial. Rather than watch the time trial we will roll our own stage, as an opportunity to cycling incredible roads without the pressure of the pro peleton chasing us. We expect to ride 40-60 miles in the Sequoia National Forest, in the Sierra Madre mountains above Bakersfield. Lodging this night is TBD.





  • Stage 6: Friday, May 18th -- Palmdale to Big Bear. This is a monster stage with a mountain top finish in Big Bear. We will use the vans to insert you into the course and you’ll ride to the finish in Big Bear. Lodging this night in Monrovia.





  • Stage 7: Saturday, May 19th -- Ontario to Mt Baldy. You will ride from Monrovia to the mountain top finish in Mount Baldy. You’ll be joined and cheered on by well over 10,000 other cylists on the switchbacks up to the Mt Baldy ski lifts! We’ll then drive back to Monrovia, get cleaned up, pack the bikes and get you to the airport.


Questions?

Please post to this thread or email Rich



Other Admin Notes:



Getting to/from the camp:
  • In: please fly into SFO airport to arrive no later than 5pm Sunday, May 13th.
  • Out: please book yourself on the last flight out from LAX on Saturday, May 19th.

Bike shipping:
  • We have no ability to transport bike boxes during the camp. For this reason, all bikes must be shipped to Rich’s house, where he’ll assemble them and bring them up to SFO to meet you.
  • Please ship your bike to arrive at Rich’s house no later than Friday, May 11th
  • You’ll then pack your bike on Saturday, at the conclusion of the camp, and then either fly it home with you, or Rich can drop it off at either FedEx or UPS. If you chose to use this option, please bring a pre-paid shipping label with you to the camp.

Comments

  • Check went in the mail today. E-mail to Rich this morning. My big carrot for the year. Going to bring 4watts/kg to camp by hook or by crook. Working the numerator and denominator like crazy right now.
  • Haven't heard any buzz on this. Is it a go or a no for this year? Sent e-mail and check to Rich. No response to e-mail and check remains uncashed after a month. Are you waiting to see how arm feels after surgery?Hope everything is healing well. Let me know. If camp is questionable will make different plans for May.
  • And if check is missing I will cancel it.
  • Kevin,
    Check your email, thx
  • Some stage details announced, including the famous/infamous NorCal Mt. Diablo climb that some of our EN NorCal peeps love:

    www.cyclingnews.com/news/higher-har...california

  • The May 15th Stage is rolling through my town. The tour is riding past my house! I live on the street heading up to Mount Diablo. Same week as IM TX so I need to check my timing, but it's pretty cool. Maybe I hand out free swag to the EN folks cruising by image
  • Folks, I was talking to coach Rich today on the phone and he let me know that the 2012 tour of California camp is pretty much canceled. It seems like there wasn't very much interest from past years participants, and not enough from new folks either. Total bummer this camp won't be happening. That said, if any of you want to host me as I ride my own way thru California, you let me know. :-)
  • great views from my house - free lodging image
  • Confirmed. 2012 ToC isn't happening. After the Tour is over this year we'll do a better job of getting this on everyone's calendar very early, doing our lay-away deal, etc. It's THE definition of epically cool, for sure!

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