"You want it to be one way. But it's the other way."
Delaware and Grant streets. Yonder is Ohlone Park, including the section we used to call the Experiment Dog Park–you know, for experimental dogs. In foreground is a piece of neighborhood art that wouldn’t have been possible had the sign said “Dead End.”
Update 11:45 a.m.: The Tour of California organizers just announced that a 50-mile version of Stage 1 will roll out from the Stateline, Nevada, start line at 1:15 p.m. The route will head around the southern end of Lake Tahoe, turn north on Highway 89 to head north up the lake’s east side, climb to a Category 4 King of the Mountain summit above Emerald Bay, and finish with an uphill finish at the Northstar ski resort.
We are sitting comfortably in Berkeley, a good 180 miles away from the action, but we note that according to the National Weather Service reporting station at Lake Tahoe, the snow has never let up since it started last night. Current conditions: light snow, temperature of 30 degrees F., wind from the south at 10 mph, gusting to 22.
Here’s the revised course map:Tour of California Stage 1 map
And here’s the revised course log: 11 AToC Stage 1 log south side only.xls
Earlier: Above, an image posted to Twitter this morning by Team Garmin. Yeah–that’s near Lake Tahoe and the planned start of the Tour of California this morning.
It snowed all night in the Sierra and now the organizers have decided to shorten the stage and delay the start for several hours to give the weather a chance to improve. If weather and road conditions are still bad at noon, the stage could be canceled outright. Here’s the latest Tour statement:
Due to severe and unsafe weather conditions in the Lake Tahoe area, the start of Stage 1 of the 2011 Amgen Tour of California has been delayed. If the weather improves, a shortened stage will be started at 1:15 p.m. PT. We will continue to monitor the weather conditions and state of the roads and make a final decision at noon PT, with the riders’ safety as our number one priority.
The new route will continue to take the riders from South Lake Tahoe to Northstar up the west side of Lake Tahoe. The stage will be approximately 50 miles. There will be no changes to the timing or the finish line at Northstar. The Lifestyle Festival at the finish will still open at noon PT, with the Amgen Breakaway Mile also remaining on schedule for 2:30 p.m. PT.
– Andrew Messick, President of AEG Sports, presenter of the Amgen Tour of California
Up late tonight–not unusual–reading up on what’s supposed to happen with the first stage of the Tour of California in the morning. The race is starting at Lake Tahoe to give it some true alpine flavor. You know, like that big race they have in France every summer (and also, the big races in Italy, Spain, and elsewhere, not to leave anyone out). No one could have guessed when the route was chosen last year that a winter-ish storm would roll into the state this weekend. But it did. I’m listening to rain down here at sea level and looking at weather reports of snow up along Interstate 80 clear over Donner Summit to Lake Tahoe. So now, the race organizers say they’ll wait until 9 a.m. to decide whether the race will proceed on a mountainous circuit around the lake or be abbreviated to avoid sending 168 racers sliding around a potentially snowy, icy course. We’ll see.
The Tour of California organizers have just released a statement on how they’ll respond to the onset of potentially dangerous winter weather on the planned Stage 1 course around Lake Tahoe on Sunday:
“The 2011 Amgen Tour of California is scheduled to kick off Sunday, May 15, in South Lake Tahoe at 10:30 a.m. PT. As everyone is aware, there is a storm front predicted to reach the area. Therefore race organizers, in conjunction with the commissaires, teams and public safety organizations, have developed a number of contingency plans with the safety of the riders and fans being the number one priority. The weather is constantly changing in the Sierras, and our team will be assessing weather conditions throughout the morning. A decision on any changes to the route and timing will be made at 9 a.m. PT tomorrow, and will ultimately be based on what is best and most safe for our riders and spectators. Details will be distributed on the official race website and via email.“
– Andrew Messick, President of AEG Sports, presenter of the Amgen Tour of California
I’ll only note that as the clock strikes midnight, the latest weather reports show light snow at Lake Tahoe Airport and at Blue Canyon, on Interstate 80 at about 5,200 feet west of Donner Summit. The National Weather Service office in Reno notes that on May 15, 1984, the town of Truckee recorded 4 inches of snow. Winter can last a while in the high country.
Some other links on weather and race speculation:
Cyclingnews: Contingencies in Place for Amgen Tour of California Weather San Jose Mercury News: Tour of California may have to change course for first day because of snowstorm Los Angeles Times: Snow, ice threaten start of Tour of California cycling race ESPN.com: Tour of California can’t get a break Sacramento Bee: Tour of California officials ponder options
Delaware at Acton. I don’t know anything about the art stump. But it looks like plenty of people in the neighborhood (kitty-corner from the North Berkeley BART station) do. And the stump is associated with someone named Stewie.
Chestnut Street near Hearst. There’s enough space on the curb in front of a residence to allow two cars to park there. But that’s not to be left to chance or common sense. Hence the politely worded request (or strangely worded prescription) to barbarian drivers. We have a similar situation in front of our house. Since I’m annoyed with the daily traffic from BART patrons who use our street as a parking lot (sometimes with a pretty aggressive show of entitlement), I make it a point to park in such a way that just one car fits into the two-car space.
Solano, between Ramona and Pomona (Albany, not Berkeley). Literary exhortation from local nursery: “In the spring, at the end of the day you should smell like dirt.” –Margaret Atwood.
OK–it’s easy to figure the reasons someone decided it was a good idea to ditch Osama bin Laden’s corpse at sea. First, there’s the putative sensitity to Muslim tradition: the body of the departed must be put to rest with in a day. Second, you want to avoid a lurid body-viewing spectacle that could inflame opinion, Muslim and non-Muslim alike. Third, you want to avoid creating a mecca for would-be jihadis to visit.
But if the reaction of my mild-mannered and not rabidly political spouse is any indication, getting rid of the body without first providing some very public and very convincing show of proof that the official account of bin Laden’s demise is accurate is a serious mistake. “They just said he was buried at sea,” my not-rabid partner said. “Why would they do that? I want to see some evidence that he’s really dead.”
We don’t live in a world where anyone’s going to be willing to just take the government’s word for something this big and let it go at that. Without a body, someone in the White House better be ready to offer a complete narrative of how this all happened complete with the gory show and tell they want to avoid.
South Fork of the American River, along U.S. 50 on our drive back today from Lake Tahoe. We spent an abbreviated yet somehow leisurely weekend with a friend at her family’s cabin on the south shore (and when I say “on the shore,” I mean it–they are right on the lake). Anyway: Lots of snow in the mountains, still–the state estimates the snowpack is still about 150 percent of its April 1 average. That means lots more water will come coursing down the rivers in the weeks to come and that California will enjoy one year nearly free from drought anxiety; “nearly free” because there’s always next year, and who knows whether it will be dry or wet? “Nearly free” because the constant lesson of California history is there will be more people who want the water tomorrow than there are today.
Yes, all that from looking the South Fork flowing by. In other news: gorgeous river; gorgeous day.
