You're looking at the business end of Stage 8 of the 2009 Tour of California. That's a bicycle race, in case you're not fully up to speed this morning.
Want to experience one of the best driving roads in California? The Stage 8 route is right up there. Literally. Go to the Tour of California website if you want to print out Stage 8 route instructions before they shut the site down until next year.
Riders pedalled uphill for 11.7 miles up to an elevation of 5,123 feet. The route's noodly bit followed S6, a side road from highway 76 that leads up to the Mount Palomar observatory. Accounts differed, but the truth of S6's average gradient settled somehwere between 6 and 7% along its 21 switchbacks. Once at the top, the riders took S7 down the back side of the mountain to rejoin highway 76.
Who's man enough to tackle such a grade on a bicycle?
Not me. I sat enjoying the seat heaters in our 2009 Infiniti FX50 and watched the sun rise with a warm cup of Joe as thousands of others like me got into position to watch the peleton pass by sometime after a leisurely tailgate lunch.
So who really is man enough to race up such a grade on a bike?
Why, none other than Lance Armstrong and Levi Leipheimer, of course. Here Lance (#2) leads yellow jersey-wearing Levi (#1) past our position. Lance has been off the bike for the last couple of years, so he played a support role in this comeback event. Levi won the race after fighting off a couple of determined attacks on the climb up this grade and another that came further up the course, thanks in part to the efforts of Lance and the rest of his Astana team.
Dan Edmunds, Director of Vehicle Testing @ 7,198 miles
edubya says:
08:28 AM, 02/23/09
Nice catch!
jstandefer says:
08:53 AM, 02/23/09
Noooo!!! Don't advertise this route! It includes several of the San Diego Miata Club's favorite driving roads, and we certainly prefer the least number of people knowing about it. We drive this route at least a dozen times every year, and we always love it. And I'm not going to reveal some even twistier bits leading to and from that route. Call me selfish, but I'm not going to do it! ;-)
mlevere1992 says:
09:11 AM, 02/23/09
Other than cars, Bicycling is my next biggest obsession. It was great watching Lance help Levi win this 3rd ToC in a row. It felt like one of the Grand Tours in Europe and it was in the US! Astana is going to be the team to beat in the European tour.
subytrojan says:
09:38 AM, 02/23/09
S-6 FTW (for the win)!!!
http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j121/USCTrojan4JC/12-22-2006%20Mount%20Palomar%20Observatory/DSC06415.jpg
f1mom says:
10:06 AM, 02/23/09
Dan's better half here with the rest of the story...
Those toasty, wonderful seat heaters do not default to "off" when you shut down the engine. So, when your daughters sit in the car and listen to the stereo for several hours, well, you can guess what happens.
And you can't bump-start this car because it has keyless electronic ignition.
Of course, we didn't discover the dead battery until the race was over and it was time to bail down the mountain. A huge thank-you to the kids from Texas with the jumper cables!
1487 says:
11:56 AM, 02/23/09
those graphics dont seem that sharp. I was in the new RX and its screen was one of the sharpest I have seen so far.
edubya says:
12:57 PM, 02/23/09
Thanks for the update, f1mom.
I've often wondered why carmakers don't do a better job at battery-drain protection. You'd think one of the lux brands like Infiniti might come up with a solution.
1487 says:
06:14 AM, 02/24/09
on my car they default to off when the car is turned off. I dont know why all manufacturers dont do this. I think it all depends on the time of switch that is used. If a vehicle has a dial or button that stays in position when the seats are on I think the seats will come on when the car is started. My car has a rocker switch that rebounds to its naturaly position after you turn on the seats. Once power is cut it resets.
actualsize says:
07:51 AM, 02/24/09
The frustrating thing was this: I was standing outside the car, yards away, with the "key" in my pocket most of the day. With an electronic key such as this you can walk away with the car in the "ACC" or "ON" position and not realize it. Yes, the car will beep at you if you try to lock it in this state, but I was tailgating; I wasn't locking anything.
Apparently the time has well and truly passed when having keys in your pocket automatically means all the accessories are off. That's not very convenient, in my book.
1487 re: the screen sharpness -- It's dark and I'm using a point-and-shoot digital camera with the flash turned off. I've got no tripod, so it's a hand-held shot. Bottom line: The nav screen is sharper than the resulting grainy photo suggests.