Tour of California Stage 7 Route Info

At long last the Amgen Tour of California has posted the route info for Stage 7 for Saturday May 21, 2011 from Claremont to Baldy.

As rumored the peloton climbs eight miles up Baldy Road and makes a hard left onto Glendora Ridge Road. That first mile up GRR to Cow Canyon Saddle can put a world of hurt into any rider. The tricky technical descent down Glendora Ridge Road can be a turning point. Tight windy curves with the the bend at mile marker 6 begging for speed, but even the best can be blown away here with a crash into the stone wall. At the fork the ride makes a sharp right turn down the backside of Glendora Mountain Road to East Fork and down Highway 39. They cruise along Sierra Madre with those two European like roundabouts with the nasty gutter edges of half an inch lining the road. Expect some crashes along the way.

At the edge of the city they race down Grand Avenue to Foothill Avenue and back up Glendora Avenue to enjoy the bucolic nature of our quaint downtown promenade. They pedal along Sierra Madre for a mile or two and then its a momentous left turn onto Glendora Mountain Road with its fabled l'Alpe du Huez curves. Its a ten mile uphill race as they wend through the forest gaining nearly 2500 feet of altitude. The vistas of Mt. Baldy loom larger as the city dwindles below.

At the fork they take the right to Glendora Ridge Road to cover already toured terrain but this time gravity and altitude conspires against them. The first four rolling hills of Glendora Ridge Road is merely a warm up to the "wall" with a crest of 4500 feet elevation at mile marker 8.3. A bit of a reprieve with the alpine like rolling section ends with a steep descent into Baldy Village. A left onto Baldy Road the tour races through the idyllic features of Baldy Village. Back out into the forest once again. The last challenge of the day comes at the left hand turn at Ice House Canyon. It punishes those strong enough to last this far with eight switch backs to the tune of 15% grade as the thrill of a mountain top finish awaits those who can survive and strong enough to endure to the Ski Lifts. Its a total of 75.8 miles or 121.9 kilometers of pure climbing fun.

The Queen of Stages this year our road is the best.
Amgen Tour of California Stage 7 Route Map