Insanity of Watching the Queen's Stage #atoc

Ok, here it is, the queen's stage, Stage 7 ... Mt. Baldy.  Not only is this the stage that the racers are looking forward to, the cycling enthusiasts, fans, and experts are also waiting for.

With all this excitement and anticipation, it was best to start early, and get up the mountain early enough to grab a good spot.  Of course, everyone else had the same thought.

On the way up, we saw a multitude of campers, motor homes, and fans just making this into a cycling tail gate party.  So carrying a big bulky backpack up GMR and Baldy, didn't quite seem so out of the ordinary.  In fact, it amazed me how many people gave me kudos for carrying that big bulky backpack all the way up the mountain.

We ended up watching the pelaton climb up Glendora Ridge Road, as the made the left turn up from Baldy Road.  It was hot, with no shade, but that didn't dampen spirits of cycling fans up here.  It was madness .. it's almost like cycling fan in LA was here.  I have an idea of how crazy the fans are in europe ... blocking the road to get a glimpse of the riders, then giving the riders a path, just like the parting of the sea.

I really couldn't take many good pictures here, so after a while, I just decided to take in the insanity. I mean, we had Richard Nixon, Batman and Robin watching the race.

The race would continue going down GRR, then take a loop through East Fork, down Hwy 39, then back up GMR, then back to GRR again (another KOM), before making a left up Baldy up to the ski lift.  We figure we could either bake here for another couple hours, or watch at a different location ... we ended up descending to just after the GMR/GRR junction.  It did feel cool descending, with a nice breeze flowing through.

Oh BTW, did I tell you it was hot?  I only had 3 bottles of water with me, and just before reaching GMR/GRR junction, my friend Dennis hollers my name.  They had a nice tent, with water, beer, and donuts .. ah, what I life saver.  We were running critically low on water, so this was such a relief.

Oh, donuts ... he wasn't kidding when he said he has donuts.  It was so big, I had to take a picture of it.  This was even bigger than my lunch!

After the racers climbed up GMR KOM, they would descent, then ascend a short climb to where we were.  I was able to get a shot of Chris Horner and John Atapuma, as they were in the break up the KOM.

Not a bad day ... got to party with other cycling fanatics, watch a world class road race, and get in a good ride.  It was just amazing.