Christmas at Mt. Baldy in May

We love bikes and we love watching bike races. Two weeks ago Skyler was in heaven because both the Giro d'Italia and the Amgen Tour of California were happening at the same time. The cool part is that we've been able to watch stages at both of these races in the past. Two years ago we got to watch the last day of the Giro d'Italia in Rome. That was our first professional bike race and it was more exciting than expected. So awesome! To see the Amgen Tour of California, we didn't have to travel as far. Last May we watched Stage 7 of the Amgen Tour in downtown LA. It was fun, but not nearly as awesome as watching a bike stage in Europe.

Over the past few months, Skyler has been building a road bike. He started with just a frame and built from there. Every few days he would bring home a new part to add to the bike. I've never seen him so happy UNTIL May 21, the day he got to ride his completed bike. This just happened to coincide with Stage 7 of the Amgen Tour of California, which took place at Mt. Baldy. This was as close as the race got to us, so we decided to pack up the bikes and watch it.

Getting to the race wasn't easy. No cars were allowed up Mt. Baldy so we had to ride up. Not a problem...we rode up Mt. Baldy last year as a training ride. It was the hardest climb I've ever done, but I was excited to do it again.

This year the weather was unpredictable again. I wasn't sure if I should wear two layers and cycling pants or a tank and shorts. I packed for both, but was so happy I stuck with a jersey and shorts. It was hot. Climbing for over an hour up a super steep hill isn't easy to do, but when it's hot it's even harder. We also packed a ton of food because we planned on being on the mountain all day. This was an awesome day, so of course there are a lot of photos.

So the reason why this post is titled "Christmas at Mt. Baldy in May" is because I've never seen Skyler so happy. He was giddy was excitement to be riding his new bike to a professional bike race. He was actually cheering and yelling and laughing the entire way up the mountain. I can imagine this is what he was like on Christmas morning as a kid.

Skyler's new bike

You can get a little glimpse of the steepness of this mountain. I don't have the exact details of the steepness, but it's a couple thousand feet up in just a few miles.

So we made it to Baldy Village and hung a left towards Glendora Ridge Road. We rode another 1/2 mile to where the King of the Mountain point was. The cyclists get points at certain points throughout the stage. King of the Mountain is always at the top of a climb. People were lining the sides of the road. All kinds of people come out to these races. Lots of people dressed up.

This guy was featured on TV at every stage of the race. We saw him several times that day and he was always running around in his cycling shoes. That can't be comfortable. Throw a pair of flip-flops in your jersey, buddy.

It was hot. I can't imagine wearing all black. But I'm not a dedicated costume-wearer.

Richard Nixon in Speedos. A deviled fried egg.

Skyler's boss. What? Yes, it's true..Skyler's boss is awesome. He is a cyclist and triathlete too. Pretty awesome.

We could see the cyclists as they began to climb up Mt. Baldy Road, like Skyler and I did. Luckily, they weren't as slow as us. Everyone was ready, cameras in hand.

And here comes the first cyclist, wearing the red jersey symbolizing he's in the lead for points for King of the Mountain.

The steepness of Mt. Baldy Road really separated the cyclists. The next group of riders were 1:40 behind.

And here they come! At one point I was so busy taking photos that Skyler yanked me back so I didn't get ran over by the cyclists. I hear broken toes are fairly common at races.

They kept coming.

The support vehicles were next in line. I'm pretty sure these are Skyler's dream cars, as long as they come equipped with $40,000 of bikes on top.

After all the hoopla passed, we packed up our stuff and began riding towards our second spectating point. Our plan was to ride to the top of the mountain, where the finish line was at the ski resort. The cyclists wouldn't be back for a few hours, so we had time to do it.

Races categorize the hills as Cat 1-5, with Cat 1 being the hardest. This last hill was beyond category, which means SUPER steep. The hill is so steep that some of the support vehicles can't make it up. The first 3 miles of this part climbs 1000 feet. We rode for a while, just past the first switchback. It was steep! There are only 14 more switchbacks after this point...yes, I said only 14, ha! We decided that this spot was as good as any to watch the cyclists come by.

Of course we saw lots more crazy characters. I don't know what the deal was with this gorilla guy, but, again, it was way too hot to be wearing any extra clothes.

We were less than 3 miles from the finish line. We propped our bikes up against the mountain and enjoyed a picnic lunch waiting for the race. We had a great time chatting with the people nearby and we even hung out with a woman who was a professional triathlete. She was doing push-ups on the side of the road to make good use of her time.

People used chalk to write on the road, just like in Europe. Skyler pointed out that this stage of the race was probably the most European one. It was away from the city and it had some killer climbs.

After a while we saw the helicopter get closer to us...the cyclists were coming! We had our cowbells and cameras ready again. The cyclist in the lead was about to get caught by a group of riders, so there was a lot of excitement right then.

They're about to catch him!

Being a pivotal moment of the race, TV cameras were everything. Skyler ran alongside the cyclists for a minute, which earned him some sweet TV time. (See video below.)

After over 70 miles of brutal climbing and descending, the mountain had separated the cyclists. It was almost 30 minutes from the first cyclist to the last one. We had a blast cheering them all on.

After all of the cyclists had finished and all of the support vehicles had driven by, we began our descent down the mountain. Remember how I mentioned this was a beyond category climb? Well, that also means the descent was super steep too. But the cool part was that as we were riding down the mountain, so were the pros. We were riding with the pros!

The wind was blowing and I was a little nervous flying down the mountain so fast. My brakes got a good workout. But we made it safely to the bottom and headed straight to the nearest In-N-Out. I seriously love cheeseburgers, especially after I've earned it. Great day is an understatement.