I think it’s time for another update about the Amgen Tour of California (ToC).
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I’ve been fortunate enough to be one of many involved in the planning of what happens in Morgan Hill before and during the ToC. There are many, many moving parts to an event as big and prestigious as this one, and there is an army of people locally making sure it’s done right. On May 16 it will all be done right.
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A lot goes into the planning for this huge event locally, like logistics, traffic control, parking, support events, feeding crowds and more. But the priority has always been about how to reduce the impacts to the residents. Considering the magnitude of the event, the number of people directly affected and all the hubbub appears to have been minimized greatly—but if you’re one of those affected it’s a big deal. That is not lost on the planning groups, and to this day the effort to minimize impacts is still underway.
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Groups are working with the schools that might be impacted and the downtown businesses will be getting briefed on what to expect. The restaurants are already discussing how to handle the crowds on race day.
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A plan of street closures and how to move around those areas should be available to everyone in the next few weeks. The street closures are being strategically planned to allow for the best traffic movement the night before and the morning of the event.
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Logistics is another issue. Where do you put news crews that will broadcast the race to almost 200 countries? Where do you stage about 125 racers and support teams with cars and bikes and all their stuff? How do you make sure they’re all fed? That is all being worked on right now too. It’s a big deal.
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I believe there will be more than 1,000 people involved with the event, from the organizer’s staff to the news crews and riders. This whole circus will arrive the evening before our race, after breaking down from the event’s stop near Monterey, to set up for our stage of the race and then break it down and do it all over again when done here and set up in Stockton that night.
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It’s going to be an amazing 24 hours of excitement.
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I’ve been working on the fun part: local events planning.
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There’ll be a “Lifestyle Festival” during the race, which will be a big bicycling related market, maybe with some food booths to entertain the spectators. We have some involvement in setting up local booths at that festival but most of the work has been focused on establishing activities leading up to race day.
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A schedule of activities has been finalized that includes time in our schools to educate and build excitement in our school aged children.
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Look forward to days where students and employees of all types ride bikes to their destination. Look forward to a concert and bike ride with the mayor (and pancakes?), and an opportunity to see what’s up at one of our city’s largest employers.
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I’ll provide more details in the near future but trust me, this will be BIG!
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John McKay is president of the Morgan Hill Downtown Association, a city planning commissioner and co-founder of the Morgan Hill Tourism Alliance. He can be reached at
ta*****@ya***.com
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