Photos and videos of the event can be viewed by clicking the links below:

Gilroy Dispatch Newspaper

ACTC Photos of Riders

ACTC Photos of Volunteers

The Great Western Bicycle Rally is held each Memorial Weekend and this year will be on May 23-26. It is one major club events each year.

As an ACTC member you are invited to join in the club activities at the Rally in Paso Robles. The club trailer will provide light breakfasts and snacks each morning from Saturday Monday. All miles ridden at the rally will count as club mileage; sign-up sheets will be provided at the campsite. Saturday night ACTC will once again be “hosting” the Wine and Cheese Party. Carol Borders will need about 40 people to work two hour shifts; we’ll pass around a sign-up sheet at the May meeting. For information about ACTC camping and dinner, contact Paul Vlasveld at 408-247-6472, For other GWBR information, contact Carol at (408) 259-8933. See you in Paso Robles!

Don Axtell leads a one day club ride down to the event on that Friday. See here for ride details.

Registration and camping fees for the GWBR should be paid directly by club members to the GWBR organization through their website.

One of the benefits of belonging to a bike club is the ease of which to post older bikes and items for sale to members.
However, you are reaching a very small minority posting your to ONLY your bike club e-list or newsletter.
To cast your net as wide as possible to both sell or find an item for your bike, you should know about other internet sites.

I’ve created a list of both internet and mortar/brick bike sites for those not aware of safe alternate sites to buy and sell specifically; used bicycle merchandise. Of course there are arguments against buying ‘used’ due to metal fatigue,
recalled items, etc., but for the most part, this is extremely safe and the only way to locate a certain older part or bike.

I’ve also added a few sites for new merchandise as there are great buys on certain items.

Most importantly, I’ve personally used these sites hassle and problem-free for a number of years, without one horror story of getting ‘ripped off’ as either a buyer or seller.

Note on shipping items USPS: Specifically due to 9/11, all postal items over 12 ounces MUST be brought to a post office for mailing and will not be taken from your door or from a corner mail box.

If you are a buyer of an item not local, it is not unusual for a private party seller to wait a reasonable amount of time for your check or money order to clear, BEFORE your item is sent. This is how I do business, and it is another step that protects me against fraud. The peace-of-mind a seller will have is immeasurable when they know your check/money order has cleared; and they are more willing to sell to someone who isn’t in their city or state.

Enjoy these sites and I hope ACTC members will add a few of their own. As of 4/08; all these links were updated and active.

EVERY ITEM RELATING TO BIKES:
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/
SF BAY area + Sacramento, San Diego, LA, Orange County, etc
One of the best FREE classified web sites-hands down. I often browse the out-of-state areas, including SoCal; as buyers usually have no issues shipping items within CA.

I have purchased small items from Portland, Seattle, Phoenix, Orange County with no issues.

If you do find something from Craigslist, take precautions and watch for the possibility of fraud. Do ‘due diligence’ before sending money to private sellers who will not give you a land line phone number or home address. (A PO box, and cell phone number could be a dead giveaway for fraud). And of course IGNORE anyone from Europe or other continents willing to send you payment for any item.

Craigslist has excellent information right on their page about avoiding fraud. Please read it BEFORE using Craigslist.
Also, if the price seems too good to be true, walk away from the deal. You don’t want to support theft. Use the Search function in Bicycles to punch in exactly what you want.

www.ebay.com
You can register free, but must have a credit card number for billing for both buying and selling. I use a card with a very low minimum to avoid fraud.
Note: Some auction sellers are known to ask exorbitant shipping fees to pad profit margins. Note seller ratings BEFORE bidding.

ROAD BIKE ITEMS (and some mountain)
http://www.theprosstuff.com/ A site run in Colorado where teams and pros sell their cast-offs and sponsored goods. A good variety of items all neatly catorgized–more heavy with OEroad’ than mountain. Note: many items have club or sponsor names.

ALL BIKES (Brick and Mortar):
Trips for Kids Recyclery Thrift Shop Store in San Rafael, CA
http://www.tripsforkids.org/thrift.htm
A great place to find older bike parts and donated bikes at decent prices.
100% of proceeds goes to TFK: a non-profit dedicated to taking marginalized city kids on mountain bike rides.
They sell both new and used parts, clothing, accessories, bikes, tandems, parts, etc. The selection is hit or miss, but they do have lots of choices and you are free to browse their areas in the back of the shop on your own. No on-line sales or credit cards, but they accept personal checks with ID and printed info on the check. There is no parking at the shop, but
unlimited street parking around the store.

http://www.bicycletrader.com/classifieds.html
The Bicycle Trader used to be a printed publication until it went 100% web.
These guys were the first on the block to see a niche for the buy/sell/trade bicycle and parts market. This site is very popular with those who trade/sell in vintage bikes-an area getting very popular with collectors. Vintage cycling is it’s own niche, but I had to mention it because it was the first of its kind.

MOUNTAIN ONLY
http://classifieds.mtbr.com
NOTE: cost involved to post your item I’ve noted high prices here for items sold, but if you are looking for a certain off-road bike, frame or part, this might be where you need to start. These are all private party ads and show very active sales.

PARTS/ACCESSORIES: ALL BIKES
http://www.bikeforums.net
A large on-line forum with a small area for buying and selling from private parties. Sign up for free and log on to both buy and sell.

Specifically for Women
Team Estrogen/Community. A great ‘women’s only’ space for both selling and buying. Click Discussion Forums to get into the sales area.
http://www.teamestrogen.com/community.asp
Also:
http://www.terrybicycles.com/forums/
The Terry site is great if you are a very small/petite woman rider looking for high-end Terry bikes, etc.

TANDEMS:
http://www.tandemmag.com/classified/
The defunct Tandem Magazine has an extremely active website hosted by the publisher of this old publication. The classifieds are used frequently to sell (what else?), tandem bicycles all across the USA.
Note: servers can’t handle photo uploads.

The Tandem Network
http://www.tandemtour.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=3
A good-sized forum dedicated to all things tandem. Free to join and post your bikes/parts right away.

Local Magazines:
http://www.cyclecalifornia.com/Week_ahead.html
Cycle California is a free cycling publication found at many cycling shops that list local swap meets in their Calendar Section (at the back of the pub). They have a small classifieds area, but there is a cost to post if you don’t
advertise.

NEW ITEMS/LOW PRICES
REI: http://www.rei.com/outlet/
This is REI’s outlet area for blow out bike clothing, parts and accessories at sometimes very low prices. You don’t pay shipping if you live near an REI and have your item sent to the store.

Sierra Trading Post (outdoors + cycling):
For outdoor shoes, clothing and a sprinkling of cycling items, this place has good prices on close-outs, out of season, blems, etc.

WEB SITE TO PRICE COMPARE BIKE ITEMS ONLY
Everyone likes price comparisons! To price NEW parts only, this great site locates the exact item you type in, and gives you prices of the item at many stores (brick and mortar and internet).
http://www.bestwebbuys.com/bike

Bay Area Bike Swap Meets
I would be remiss in not mentioning a number of regular Bay Area bike swap meets; some meeting twice a year (in Spring/Fall), but if you’d like to know more information, you can email me directly!

If you have ANY questions on any of the sites, please feel free to contact me.

Linda Kahn

Franz Kelsch
ACTC Webmaster

From Ken Yeager, County Board of Supervisors:

Greetings,

Today, the Board of Supervisors unanimously supported a memo that Supervisor Blanca Alvarado and I wrote regarding trails. It directed County of Santa Clara staff to participate in the Three Creeks Trail (formerly the Willow Glen Spur Trail) Technical Advisory Committee with City of San Jose staff. As long-time advocates of this important project, we wholeheartedly support these efforts to move forward on the development of this trail, and they welcome the opportunity for continued collaboration with the City.

The City is requesting a contribution of $4 million toward acquisition of parcels along the eastern alignment. Any potential contribution would come from the Parks Charter Fund and would need Board of Supervisors approval. Such funding would enhance the County’s existing investments, which are intended to develop much-needed urban trail connections within Santa Clara County .

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to call me at 299-5040 or contact me via e-mail at Ken.Yeager@bos.sccgov.org.

Ken

Once again rain pounded the start city all night. Things were beginning to wind down and we were thinking about getting home to our families.

Just one more stage to go, and our van Captain announced that we dodged a bullet…we would have the start and the finish, keeping us out of the Millcreek Pass KOM area. At almost 5,000′, the weather was going to be brutal. I talked to assistant technical director Eric Smith after the race. He told me that he pre-drove the course at 4 AM, and it was damn cold at the top.If you ever wanted to be a pro cyclist, this is the time to review your priorities…you just can’t sit out a stage when the weather doesn’t cooperate.

The weather was a mixed bag at the start, with cool temps and a few passing showers. We were inside the neutral zone, so it would be uneventful for us. The peloton soft-pedaled by me at a right hand corner…I heard lots of chatting in French and German as the boys past by my flag. Per usual, they were so close to me I had to hold my flag arm straight up as I would have clocked them if I had continued my flagging motion.

The van picked me up and we proceeded straight to Pasadena. The Captain and I were stationed right by the Rose Bowl at a downhill to flat transition. I have never seen the Rose Bowl before…a bit of sports history and architecture that has to be seen to be appreciated.

We listened to race radio, and it didn’t sound pretty…42 degrees and hail coming out of the mountains. We hunkered down as a steady rain threatened to drown the spectator’s spirit…but Pasadena, as many other cities in the Tour, were prepared to tough it out and cheer for a dogged bunch of riders who were probably looking forward to the end of the stage.

For about four laps a Bissell rider stayed away, but the fifth time around Big George and his small entourage caught. The finish was about 4 km from just across the parking lot at the crow flies. We heard the announcers rooting George on, and by the cheer from the crowd we knew one of the favorites had clutched a victory.

It was now time to shed our Tour decals and supplies in the Rose Bowl parking lot. All the marshals prepared the vans to be returned to Hertz. Many people needed to be shuttled to the airports for evening flights. For the rest of us, a party was planned in Pasadena.

Some got dressed up for the event, and others like myself just attended in jeans. I heard the teams started showing up at 9 o’clock or so, but I had already left for the hotel. The final scene I viewed at the party was priceless…Phil and Paul kissing one of the female organizers as if they were podium girls…what a hoot.

A few observations about the week…
This year’s experience was completely different than last years. We had no KOM’s and most of the time were relegated to the flatter terrain. Given the weather, that was probably okay with me!
This is a fun experience, whether you are a traveling marshal or a local volunteer. But if you are seeing lots of racing action, you aren’t working hard enough! If you want to just spectate and take pictures, best to do it on your own. Marshals also get little snippets of the total race picture…I can’t wait to watch the Versus tapes and see what I missed.

The Tour organization is massive and they are good! It was surprising how smoothly everything goes even when crunch time comes.

Thanks for reading this past week…I hope you enjoyed. Be sure to drop a line and tell me how you liked the series, if you hadn’t done so already. Marshal Rick signing off for this year’s version of the Amgen Tour of California Marshal Report!

As I wake up this morning, one mile from the start of the final stage to Pasadena, the rain continues to fall. Last night it was really coming down. This has certainly been the coldest, wettest Amgen Tour of California (AToC).

Yesterday we had drops in one of the wealthiest communities in America and one of the most impoverished towns the tour goes through. Montecito is just outside of Santa Barbara and just drips with money. If the folks in Woodside ever need some tips on how to spend, I think that they could find some mentors down here. Montecito was the end of the neutral zone, and we saw four riders go off the front right from the get go.

Our next drop was in Santa Paula, about 20 miles south of Ojai. This appears to be a fairly poor community who loves to see the tour coming through…at least the residents do. Of course it was Saturday, but everyone came out of their houses for the event of the day. One of the marshals procured a box of bright yellow bells Friday and we each took a couple to hand out to kids.

The police force seems to be small in this town, so they contracted with Oxnard police for some extra forces. My impression is that the Oxnard cops really looked down their noses at the folks in this town; one commented to a marshal that he would never live in Santa Paula because it was full of felons. However, it seemed like a great place today as the peloton roared by.

A funny story I heard about Santa Paula; last year the Tour officials had not secured the proper permit to ride through the town. As the Chief Marshal was driving into town, he got a call from the mayor, who was running down the road to meet him with the permit in hand. Apparently he was anxious to be on the tour this year! Many of the small towns we go through are very enthusiastic. Earlier in the week almost every resident in Patterson turned out for us.

Celebrity sightings today were Jimmy Conners walking his dog on course in Montecito, Larry Hagman and Efrem Zimbalist Jr in Santa Clarita. I didn’t even know Larry and Efrem were still alive, but apparently they like bike racing. It was a great circuit finish…Super Mario and Fast Freddy may have touched wheels, because a pileup happened about 4 km into the second lap. Mario pulled himself back up to the group and pulled out a top 10 finish and got a big round of applause from the crowd for his effort. Freddie didn’t seem so lucky and finished last, struggling to get to the line.

We have the start and the finish of the race today. We haven’t had a KOM yet this race, but with rain and high winds expected, maybe we are lucky. Today’s KOM is the highest of the race at about 5,000 feet.

TT day in Solvang…this one will be the tell-tale for Levi.

My roomie David and I had the windows wide open in the overheated hotel all night, the the rain kept on coming. When I woke up this morning, I dressed in my rain gear prepping for a wet day. As we drove south from SLO toward Solvang, the skies brightened up some…a good sign for everyone. The winds were light and everything appeared to be looking up.

Solvang was a madhouse…they really go out for this event and the crowds were thick. We procured our supplies for the day (we get liquids, box lunches and fresh batteries for race radio) and headed out to our drops, where we would spend the day.

The rider count is down to about 105 riders now, so we aren’t going to be out here too long. At 11:15 an amateur TT started…although everyone was probably moving at a good clip, they seemed to be going in slow motion compared to the pros. I saw Big George warming up…he really cut his hair short!

One of the things I like to do before going on the course is wander through the team car area. Having the credentials helps with chatting up with the riders and crews…they know we are are out there to help them and show their appreciation by giving us a little respect. Not that they would not normally…I find most of them to be very humble and friendly, at least when they are not under pressure. The other day I spent a few minutes chatting it up with Teddy King of Bissell, who rides with some friends in Rochester, NY.

The TT cranked along with me at a right hand corner signaling to the riders and the motors leading them out…things didn’t get too exciting until the final 10…David Millar was coming by fast, but Levi was blasting away at the competition again. I gotta say, the little guy is tough. He dusted the others and took the stage.

Probably the highlight of the day was when our van picked up a couple of photographers that were hitching a ride…we got to spend about 30 minutes winding through the streets with none other than Graham Watson, pic taker extraordinaire. Very cool.

I also got to spend some time with the ACTC Vagabond, Jerry. He was dressed in street clothes and driving a car! He is doing well and headed north for awhile.

Tomorrow is Santa Barbara to Santa Clarita…you’ll hear from me then!

Click to see video

Wednesday, February 20, 2008 was the big day. The crowds were there on Sierra. We gathered at Connie and Eric’s house. Here are some still shots of us eating, watching the race progress on the internet, and enjoying the wonderful sunny weather while we waited for the riders to arrive.

Soon we could hear the helicopters approaching and we knew the action would soon begin. I switched the camera over to video to catch the excitement of the sights and sounds of everything that was about to happen. Most of us stayed until the last rider and the broom passed before going down the hill to Piedmont.

Piedmont was flat, smooth and fast. You could see and feel the speed passing the cheering crowd.

Kris and I headed downtown to the finish. We were just in time to see most of the crowd leaving after the award presentation. The band was still playing and tricksters were flying their bikes thru the air.

I’ve put this all together in one short video that I hope you will enjoy. The opening music is the Washington Quickstep. Today is George’s, the first president’s - not the rider’s, birthday. Quickstep is one of the favored teams.

Click to see video

Most of you were at Stage 3 from Modesto to San Jose, so I won’t bore you with the details. I will pass on the gossip that came up this morning…the Mt. Hamilton/Sierra one-two punch may not appear in future ToC tours…there were gripes about it being too tough/too early in the season. Maybe Bettini griped…he was looking very tired on Piedmont yesterday.

I also heard that the University Police on the top of Mt. Ham was going overboard with the spectators, telling cyclists that they could not be up there to watch. I guess CHP took over the situation and tour organizers kinda told him “uh, we kinda like the spectators up here!”

I started Stage 4 off at Bixby Bridge on Big Sur. My crowd consisted mostly media looking for the big money shot on the bridge. That never materialized, as the gusts were probably hitting 50 to 60 mph, cloudy skies and bands of rain passing through. Rock Racing came through about an hour before the peloton, with Tyler Hamilton leading the group. Micheal Ball was supposed to be riding with them, but apparently found the comfort of his Rolls too much to pass up.

One car rolled up and asked what time I expected the peloton. The driver proudly introduced himself as my nemesis, Elk Man. He was eying Bixby Bridge, probably in hope of getting some TV coverage. You may have seen him yesterday on Mt. Hamilton.

What Elk Man didn’t realize was that I was the marshal who had him physically pulled off the course in San Jose last year and detained by the police. I reminded him of that incident, and  informed him that we wouldn’t have any problems as long as he stayed off the course. I guess he didn’t care for that too much and headed down the road in search of a better location. I love Elk Man hunting…

I was dropped off about 9:00…the first sighting of the small breakaway group was about an hour and a half later. There was six riders about 30 seconds ahead of a chase group…the last rider in the break actually got blown to a dead stop in the middle of the road as he came around an exposed bluff. He circled his bike once and jumped back on…. it was like this for these guys all day.

My van picked me up about an hour after the caravan passed by me. We headed north and cut over to Salinas, then south on 101 to SLO. We appeared to be the first marshals to arrive in SLO, so we manned the course from 300 meters to the finish line. I was stationed at the 50 meter mark at a crosswalk…the judges want nobody inside the french the last 100 meters, so we knew we would have to shut down the crosswalk as the race got within city limits. However, we still had an hour and a half to go before the race reached us.

The crowd, considering the weather, was great. They had stood out in the cold rain for quite awhile before we arrived and were prepared to continue to do so until the sprint. The announcers were earning their money keeping the crowd enthused and interested. We watched as they were handed fact cards about each racer, passing tidbits of information to the crowd.

Seven hours after the start Rollins crossed the line, with Big George leading the chase group. It was anti-climatic to say the least, after all the waiting.

The flu is taking down many of the members of both the teams and the support staff. Health Net told on of the marshals that a few of their riders were riding sick.

Tomorrow is the Solvang TT, and the weather doesn’t look like it was improving much. Keep your fingers crossed…it should be exciting with some TT specialists chasing after Levi’s yellow jersey!