bay area cycling news

The wonderfully low-key Low-Key Hillclimbs starts this Saturday with the first run being up Montebello . Low-Key Hillclimbs are not terribly competitive, with a fun group of people that like climbing hills. The last in the group to finish are even slower than I am, which means that you're not going to feel left out! Sign up now, and then join the lkhc Yahoo Group to keep up with the times. Check out some previous years' lkhc photos on flickr .

Word is flying that the Tour of California, always held in late winter, will now compete with Giro d’Italia 's time slot of late May. Late winter in California can be a bit damp , or maybe just crazy foggy . So this is a good thing for fans within California... although most certainly an aggressive move by Amgen to attempt withdrawing fans from Europe's prime races now. Another interesting tip in the article mentions that the Tour of California will become a UCI ProTour race in 2011, which doesn't mean as much as it used to since the Triple Crown races withdrew from ProTour status during the ongoing spat between the UCI and the ASO . Is this the UCI attempting to gain more circulation as more independent races spring up?