Tour of California: Stage 6
Saturday, February 25, 2006
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Stage 6 was from Santa Barbara to the finish at Amgen in Newbury Park. Dan and I parked about a half mile away and rode our bikes up the southeast (short) side of Balcom Canyon to get a spot near the top. We had ridden up that side 3 or 4 times before but it is still a tough little climb. The northwest side is way worse. It is a very steep 2 mile or so climb, averaging probably 12-15% grade, and a punishing 20%+ if you take the wrong line through one of the switch-backs. I did manage to ride it once, but we decided not to push our luck on this day and just hung out and waited for the tour to arrive. Surprisingly, there was a single break-away rider ahead of the pack.