Tour of California to skip West Marin and Mount Tam in favor of...

The cycling racing route through Marin County has been cut from the 2009 Tour of California.

[Mike]

Great! The less bicycles on the roads in West Marin the better.

[Marin climber]

They could still come over the GG Bridge, get their photo op, and race through Marin. There must be some other reason that they're cutting the Marin stage .... maybe the hills here are too tough for them, now that there's more drug testing?

[Curt]

It's very common for stage races to change routes from year to year. The usual reason is simple economics, as cities compete to host a start or finish. I'm sure the organizers have wanted to cross the Golden Gate from the beginning, and the race has finally achieved enough visibility to make this possible.

There's no way that the hills of Marin are too tough for the racers. The Marin stage is relatively easy compared to many of the races these guys do.

[Timmy]

I hope the suicide barrier is up in time in case some trailing racers become despondent and decide to jump off the bridge!

[Billy]

Mike - Agreed... Plain and simple. I do however, wish that we would have some sort of race through Marin, whether it be rally-car, bycicle, or even an extended run. I think Marin county has a lot to offer such a race, and even if you dislike the place for whatever reason, Marin county has beautiful forests, open space, and wonderful rolling hills that would provide for an awsome race! While I do not agree with displacing the locals, for that one day, it was pretty neat to see some good bikers having some fun riding through my neck of the woods. I can understand the GG Bridge is a bit more of a national landmark, but I will miss the riders personally. I hope in the future they will consider, at least for just 1 year, to extend the route from somewhere around Ft. Bragg to Santa Cruz...

For once, a serious post...- Billy

[Lance]

Mike wrote:

Great! The less bicycles on the roads in West Marin the better.

Can't take the heat?, get out of the kitchen!.....