The fourth annual Tour of California, sponsored by Amgen, will be racing through the state this week, and the first leg of the race will be this Sunday as it passes through northern California’s wine country. You can catch Lance Armstrong and his Astana cycling team as they use the race as a primer to train toward Lance’s attempt at his eighth Tour de France title.
This initial stage will begin at12:00pm today in Davis and head into Napa County, skirt the shores of Lake Berryessa, climb over the Mayacamas Mountain range and down into Napa Valley and the wineries. While of course you are welcomed to arrive early enough to go where you would like over the length of the course, and settle in before the course becomes closed, there will be a number of more accommodating viewing areas which will support crowds and also allow for more predictable dispersal after the race.
The best plan of attack for getting settled in to see the action is to head over the Golden Gate Bridge and head over to Napa Valley on Highway 128. The first large viewing area you’ll come to is at the intersection of Knoxville Road and Highway 128. Lance, along with a couple of his big name teammates such as local boy Levi Leipheimer, and last year’s Tour de France winner (temporarily) Floyd Landis, should be passing by this location roughly near 1:30 if all goes according to plan.
There are a couple of additional viewing locations which have been suggested by Tour organizers: Pope Creek Bridge which offers viewing from the hillsides as the riders cross the bridge, Oak Shores which is a park with picnic tables, Dufer Point, along Lake Berryessa, Capell Cove, which offers viewing of a hill climb section, and also Turtle Rock, which offers an expansive viewing intersection along with a bar well known for its egg rolls, and a country store. If you miss Sunday’s event, don’t despair; the second stage of the Tour will occur on Monday and will take place just north of the Golden Gate Bridge in Sausalito as the Amgen Tour of California leaves from there to head south over the Golden Gate Bridge on its way to Santa Cruz.
