The Radavist

For the past week, Rapha and I have been covering the 2014 Amgen Tour of California. In that time, I’ve seen some incredible feats of athleticism from the PROs, met tons of rad people, shot enough photos to fill a book (hint hint) and gone on some very tough rides.

The ride we did up to Diablo – more to come on that – was hard, but the ride we did yesterday was tough. So tough that if our friends at Mavic hadn’t offered support, it would have been a long day.

Deserts can be an unforgiving place. Even with my musette stuffed with extra water, food and camera equipment, I would have succumbed to the bonk goblins if it hadn’t been for Chad and Charlie from Mavic.

Thank you’s aside, we rode from Palmdale to the KOM, made a wrong turn and then hauled freaking ass – I’ve never climbed that fast before in my life – back up to the top.

The race ended and we headed back to Palmdale, finishing out at over 80 miles and 7,000′ elevation.

I’ve been looking forward to this stage since the first time Rapha North America and I discussed doing the Tour of California again. Why? Because Stage 05 ends in Santa Barbara, home to one of my favorite dudes / frame builders, Aaron of Stinner Frameworks.

Our plan was to get into town super early and hit a quick road ride before waiting at the KOM for the Hot Boyz of PRO Cycling to crest. Well, when you’ve been on the road for around a week, plans get shuffled around a bit.

We got to town late, like four hours late, but we quickly assessed the race via the ATOC app and figured we could hammer it up Old San Marcos road to the KOM in time.

Side note: I was over shooting frame builders in their studio, so it was nice getting Aaron out onto a bike. If only I could do this for every “shop visit”…

After literally hammering it up to the top, the breakaway group summited, then the peloton and eventually, the stragglers. The temps were up in the high 90’s and it was hot, hot, hot.

20 miles and 2800′ elevation later and we were ready to hit the road…

Read more in the captions!

PRO bikes just look fast, sitting (magically) by themselves, not that Rohan Dennis needs any help going fast. Even with all the added performance peaks of the R5ca, Cervélo’s made in California professional road frame.

A friend of mine is one of the Garmin-Sharp Pro Cycling Team mechanics and today (uh, yesterday?? – my clock is all off), he let me take some quick photos of Dennis’ lucky 13 Cervélo R5ca.

Built with Di2, Rotor noQ, Mavic Cosmic Carbone Ultimate wheels, 3T bar / stem and topped with a matching Fizik Arione, this bike is nothing short of a dream ride. Especially straight off the mechanic’s stand, I felt like I should have white gloves on!

Many, many, many thanks to Ben from the Garmin-Sharp team for allowing me the honor to shoot this bike. I owe you a beer the next time I see you in Minneapolis man!

How many more of these stages do I have? Are we on the coast yet? It’s been hot as hell… I just want more coffee from the Rapha MCC and some more House Industries caps.

Yesterday was Monterey to Cambria, one of the most scenic routes in the 2014 Amgen Tour of California. The race course snaked its way through Big Sur and the coastal redwoods as they hit two KOMs back-to-back, three total and one sprint section.

I was in the Skratch Labs Neutral Human Support vehicle, watching them work – more on that in the captions – and trying to get a few shots from the passenger’s window. Meanwhile, with no cell reception, we were all forced to soak in the Cali coast…

Read up the captions, because I tried to be clever this morning.

Side note: if you’re on Instagram, follow Skratch and tag your photos with #SkratchNHS and a quick description of what you think “Neutral Human Support” means for a chance to win a bag of product from Skratch!

It’s always a given: mountain top parties. Whether it’s Baldy or Diablo, SoCal or NorCal, there’s always gonna be people / super fans / regular fans / cyclists who congregate en masse at the top (or nearly top) of a peak.

This year, the Amgen Tour of California returned to the hot and sweaty summit of Diablo. Once again, there was a congregation of people both at the tip top and at the various overlooks, parking lots and camp grounds.

Rapha set up their new Mobile Cycle Club, Tillie at the Juniper Campground to serve coffee, blast some tunes and offer a platform for people to park their bikes and fill up their bidons at the water spigot nearby.

You could say the cyclists swarmed, but it was the thousands of pesky – pinching – ear wigs that did that…

Joshua Bryant is a frame builder out of Portland (who looks an lot like this dude Franco650b on Instagram). He specializes in road / touring / randonneur / dirt tourers and coincidentally builds out of the old Hufnagel studios off Burnside.

This frame in particular, dubbed the Fatrob, is a special bird. Built as part of a collaboration with Matt from Folly, it’s a 650b, tubeless, neon pink, SON-powered “get rad machine” – although I didn’t see Joshua get rad on it during this ride. We’ll have to follow up at a later date.

Why do I like this frame? How could you not? It’s pink and a playful mix of old and new school components. Oh and with the Plug, Joshua can keep his iPhone charged to get the ‘gram mid-ride…

It’s been a long, long day. Or rather, yesterday was a long day. So long that I had to cut it into a few posts and sprinkle them on top of The Radavist’s 2014 Amgen Tour of California coverage.

The first chunk is the mid-section and the reason why we all rode up to the Juniper Camp Ground in the first place: to witness the majesty that is the PRO parade / party train that quickly ascends one of NorCal’s most (in)famous climbs: Diablo! Yes, it is a party train… Or at least we tried to make it one.

Now, as mentioned, there’s a lot of content to come from today, er yesterday, so if I shot your photo, don’t worry, it’s coming in a different post. Please don’t email / tweet / gram at me just yet, ok? xoxo

This was just one of the many cool bikes I saw today. I met Youenn Colin today very briefly. He’s a designer at Ideo and painted this bike himself. Truth told I forgot which Scott road bike model he chose to respray.

Design, paint, assemble… amazing. I love the halftone detail!

The time trial. To some, the most significant stage of any race, to others, it’s a prison of pain and suffering. Grown men tear themselves inside out for around an hour for the world to watch. The prison metaphor is very fitting for Folsom, which houses the state prison. Founded in 1880, this penitentiary was made famous by Johnny Cash’s two performances, which still resonate today.

Speaking of performance, the time trail bikes of the second stage of the Amgen Tour of California epitomize technology. From the newest wheels, groups and even the helmets, the PRO racers looked like high-tech spacemen.

Team SKY’s Wiggo took the crown today, with a finishing time 44 seconds faster than anyone else…

If you watched the first stage of the 2014 Amgen Tour of California, then hopefully you watched the women’s circuit race. Zipping through the corners, tight in the front group there were a grouping of red and white jerseys: the girls of Stan’s NoTubes p/b enduranceWERX.

One of these ladies, I’ve known for years and watched her grow in the sport. BrittLee Bowman races road for Stan’s and crushes cross for Richard Sachs. She’s a total babe and is one of the most humble, friendly people you’ll meet on a bike.

Right after the women finished their race, I shot some quick photos of BrittLee and her Rosko steel road bike… I love the “muscle” photo!

Sacramento’s projected high temperature was supposed to be 84 on Sunday, yet it felt like the 90’s. I also made the mistake of wearing all-black (again). It was cooking hot, but how could I complain when the PRO racers were out in the real heat, cranking away calories and watts. Luckily for them, the Skratch Labs team was out with Neutral Human Support.

Us on the otherhand, not so much but we did get to drink fresh espresso at the über-new Rapha Mobile Cycle Club and watch the PRO women race for an hour in a fast-paced circuit race around the State Capitol, which became the highlight of the day for me. Not just watching them cook corners well-done, but to see how engaged the audience was and a majority of the passionate fans were women AND it was mother’s day.

There was a lot of love for the women going around, so I reciprocated that by turning my lens to them.

Stage 01 ended with a phenomenal sprint by Cavendish and everyone’s appetite was whet for Stage 02’s time trail in Folsom…

Ride Along: Hot Boyz of Cycling – Marc Marino
Words and photos by John Watson

Marc Marino is the nicest guy ever. He’s also super hot. Ladies, take note. He’s got it all: tattoos, tan lines and a track bike. On a serious note, Marc’s a good friend and I always enjoy spending time with him, especially at the Amgen Tour of California.

Today, I forced Marc out into the course to shoot some photos before he woofed down his lunch: a donut with almond butter smeared on the top… Check out a Ride Along interview below!

I saw so many LOW track bikes at the first stage of the 2014 Amgen Tour of California – but only had time to shoot one: Benny’s. Looking at this bike, I could tell this dude takes riding and racing at least somewhat seriously. The setup was dialed.

Turns out, the owner, Benny, races for a BMW development team on the road and works at Mike’s Bikes in SF. He’s also a super nice dude, kinda like his bike, super nice…

The Hunqapillar. A touring bike with massive clearances for mountain bike tires, tubing spec’d for off-road ripping (fully loaded) and a gorgeous green and cream paint job. Branded as a “Wooly Mammoth Bicycle”, this machine is meant to rip wakki 1-trakk and still make it to Poppi’s Pizza in time for a cold pint or a toke from the wizard’s pipe.