PEDAL DANCER GUIDE PAGES

14 May 2015

The moving of a Time Trial

Can you host a Time Trial in 48 hours - please?

And make that a time trial course which is part of an American Tour UCI 2.HC stage race. With 18 teams of 8 riders each and lots of support cars and personnel, team buses, supply trucks, VIP tents, sensitive timing equipment, TV trailers and cameras, a LOT of fencing, and an entire Expo "Lifestyle Village". We'll need numerous new volunteers and plenty of local police. Oh and don't forget to tell the caterers we moved to another city 2.5 hours away! And the neighbors, we gotta tell the neighbors ... a time trial will be in town all day this Friday during normal business hours.

Can you imagine? Only Santa Clarita, California would say - sure, we can do that.

Amgen Tour of California is moving their time trial! Official Press Release

Stage 6: Friday, May 15 – Big Bear Lake (ITT) CHANGE OF LOCATION TO Santa Clarita (route map to be announced on May 14th). 
  • Weather forecast for Big Bear: windy, rainy, thunder, possible snow, highs of 50˚
  • Weather forecast for Santa Clarita: rain and scattered rain, 53-65˚
They moved it down a mountain and two and a half hours away and it will still rain on the time trial, but I am certain all the support trucks and the riders will be much happier at lower altitude. A place where all can safely stay overnight in a hotel and not have to navigate up a snowy mountain side, in a bus, to race a bike outside in very cold windy conditions.

The look of Santa Clarita
The look of Santa Clarita - it's relatively flat and dry
Santa Clarita, California

If you have to move such a huge operation as a pro cycling time trial, Santa Clarita is probably the city to help you out. Did you know that Santa Clarita has been a Host City for 7 out of 10 years of the Amgen Tour of California, sometimes hosting two stages in a year.

ATOC 2015 - Santa Clarita - Stage 5 & 6
ATOC 2014 - Santa Clarita - Stage 6 & 7
ATOC 2013 - Santa Clarita - Stage 3 & 4
ATOC 2011 - Santa Clarita - Stage 8
ATOC 2009 - Santa Clarita - Stage 7
ATOC 2008 - Santa Clarita - Stage 6 & 7
ATOC 2007 - Santa Clarita - Stage 6

Santa Clarita was not a Host City for the inaugural Tour of California in 2006 - which started in San Fransisco and finished in Redondo Beach - but the city quickly became a staple location of the race in following years. We all know people make a city, and so I'd like to give high praise to city officials and race organizers for being gutsy enough to change plans and keep everyone safe. I imagine them working around the clock to pull this feat off.

Last week I drove through three snow storms from Colorado to California to get to this race, but I was not looking forward to driving up that mountain in a California spring storm. A mountain I am familiar with, yet I was terrified of that drive as a child (I am a native Southern Californian); they did the right thing by changing locations.

Let's all go to Santa Clarita! and Mt Baldy! and Pasadena!

Location of Santa Clarita in California
Location of Santa Clarita in California


About Santa Clarita

Santa Clarita is the third largest city in Los Angeles County (mostly because Los Angeles County is made up of a lot of cities). In the 1800s, this was gold and railroad country, as mission and ranch land spread across California. Oil was soon discovered in the area, followed by Hollywood movie sets and bigger stars. In 1928, the second worst disaster in California history occurred in this area when the St. Francis Dam collapsed and spilled its waters all the way to the Pacific Ocean near Ventura. With a warm dry Mediterranean climate, Santa Clarita is one of the top areas in the nation for wildfires. It is also a very well organized city to be able to organize resources for an event like this in two days!

Please come out and show your support for this very hospitable city.

Stage 6: Santa Clarita, Presented by Lexus
  • Friday, May 15 – Santa Clarita Individual Time Trial
  • Start Location: vicinity of Santa Clarita (to be announced May 14th)
  • Finish Location: vicinity of Santa Clarita (to be announced May 14th)
  • WOMEN Start Time: 12:30p.m. 
  • WOMEN Estimated Finish Time: 1:06 p.m.
  • MEN Start Time: 1:00 p.m.
  • MEN Estimated Finish Time: 3:42 p.m.
  • Miles: 306 mi
  • Kilometers: 10.6 km
  • Elevation Gain: minimal
  • Website:  www.amgentourofcalifornia.com
  • Lifestyle Village open: 11:00a.m. - 4:30 p.m. (located near finish line)
Stage 6: Santa Clarita Time Trial Maps and time table
Santa Clarita Time Trial route map 2015 Tour of California
Santa Clarita Time Trial route map 2015 Tour of California
Stage 6 Profile Map
Stage 6 Profile Map

More about the new course

Short, 6.6-mile time trial set for Amgen Tour at Six Flags By Caley Fretz of Velo News


Road Closures near Magic Mountain for Time Trial in Santa Clarita

Road closures will be in effect Friday between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. on:

- Feedmill Road;

- Southbound lanes of The Old Road;

- Turnberry Lane;

- Southbound off-ramp from Interstate 5 to Rye Canyon Road.

For more information, visitSantaClaritaTourofCA.com.

2015 Tour of California route map


Men's Race Route Maps 
Women's Race  

The enormous amusement park of Magic Mountain is near Santa Clarita
More Race Information at the Pedal Dancer Guide Page: TOUR OF CALIFORNIA