Tour of California

Volvo, VW and driving in the pro cycling caravan (video)

For every cyclist competing in a professional bike race, there’s seemingly a corresponding vehicle. But it’s not an exact parallel. In fact, in top-level races, there are several times more team, organization, media and sponsor vehicles, equipment trucks, fans’ motorhomes, police cars and motorcycles than competitors. Like the cyclists, race vehicles get down time at hotels, but otherwise, they’re all almost always on the move, climbing mountains, negotiating narrow roads and descending at top speeds. Volvo saw an opportunity at this year’s event and provided three V60 AWD T6 Inscription trim wagons for the seven-rider team. Team managers Michael Sayers and Michael Creed are driving the cars during every stage. Scott Schnitzspahn, USA Cycling’s vice president of Elite Athletics, has

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Driving the Tour of California in a Lexus SUV #3

With two days remaining in the nine-day Amgen Tour of California bicycle race, I stopped for my third refuel of the trip. The 2015 Lexus NX 200t F Sport had taken me from Sacramento to Santa Clarita, and the new luxury sport utility had done well for itself. The weather in the previous week included predicted warm and windy conditions and also a two-hour trek in a nasty rainstorm near Los Angeles. The inclement conditions were only outdone by the nastiness of the mess called the Southern California freeway system. And exactly why is it that some drivers speed up when there’s standing water on the freeway and a steady cross wind? My third fill-up 12.89 gallons was priced at

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Tour of California: caravan of cars traverse the state

Beyond many of world’s best cyclists, including top Tour de France contenders, world titlists and Olympic gold medalists, the 800-mile Tour of California, like other cycling events, features a caravan of automobiles, motorcycles and recreational vehicles. An estimated 300 vehicles are traveling start to finish in sponsors’ cars, including Nissan, the co-sponsor of the RadioShack team, and Acura, the co-sponsor of BMC. Each starting and finish city also has its own law enforcement jurisdictions with a sizable array of police vehicles. The caravan of vehicles is nothing new to bike racing, but the sixth annual Tour of California this year began in South Lake Tahoe, California. Inclement weather, including snow, rainy and wet roads, prompted the cancellation of the opening

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