Bakersfield's Amgen stage to test cyclists
| Wednesday, Feb 08 2012 11:17 PM
Last Updated Monday, May 07 2012 04:43 PM
Amgen Tour
Stage 5
May 17
Streets in and around northeast Bakersfield are scheduled for closure May 17 to accommodate Stage 5 of the Amgen Tour of California.
Panorama Drive will be closed between Haley Street and Mount Vernon Avenue, as will Mount Vernon Avenue between Christmas Tree Lane and Panorama Drive, said David Lyman, manager of the Bakersfield Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Also, Alfred Harrell Highway is to be closed from Panorama Drive to Lake Ming Road, he said, adding that all of Lake Ming Road will be closed.
All the closures are to take effect race day, with the exception of Panorama Drive, which is to be closed the night before. Alternative routes will be established so that drivers can reach their intended destinations, Lyman said.
"We're working with emergency responders," he said, "so impact to any residence will be minimized."
A glance at the course profile for Stage 5 of the Amgen Tour of California would lead one to believe the 18.4-mile time trial which starts and finishes at Bakersfield College, will be a breeze.
A bit of a downhill to start, a bit uphill to finish and not much character in between.
That would be a false assumption.
The individual race against the clock on May 17 will throughly test riders with high-speed descents, short, leg-burning climbs and a variety of rollers.
"The tops just look like little tiny things," said Bakersfield Sports Foundation President Kerry Ryan of the profile map. "My video depicts a different animal. There are two deal breakers (hard climbs), two medium deal breakers and three or four overpasses (30 or 40-foot elevation gains over a small distance).
"This is going to be pretty good."
The seventh annual eight-stage event starts May 13 in Santa Rosa and winds up May 20 in downtown Los Angeles.
Defending champion Chris Horner and three-time winner Levi Leipheimer are expected to be in the field for this year's race. Horner won last year's time trial in Solvang and Leipheimer has won three time trials.
The time trial in Bakersfield is considered a key test because competitors must ride alone against the clock, unaided by teammates.
As was the case when Bakersfield hosted the finish of Stage 5 in 2010, the bluffs along Panorama Drive provide a dramatic backdrop for the race.
Two years ago, racers finished a stage which started in Visalia with three loops around the bluffs. This year they start with a descent down Alfred Harrell Highway and finish with the climb up the bluffs and the slightly uphill run on Panorama Drive to the finish.
"A time trial has to be fair and this is a unique and challenging course," Ryan said. "There's a few little turns, a lot of elevation. On this course, coming back will be a tiny bit slower."
That's because the race starts with a half-mile-long 7-percent descent down Alfred Harrell Highway where riders (depending on the gearing of their bikes) should reach speeds in the 60-mph range.
Riders then gain elevation with a series of rollers before a 5-percent descent and then an undulating ride into Hart Park. From there it's on past the Kern County Soccer Park, California Living Museum and a quick 7-percent decent to Ming Lake. Riders then climb a road back up to Alfred Harrell Highway and a return to BC.
That 5-percent descent into Hart Park now becomes a climb of just over a mile, followed by rollers and a slight drop before the three-quarter-mile climb on China Grade Loop.
See a video of the route through Bakersfield at http://www.amgentourofcalifornia.com/Route/stages/stage5-2012.html.
