Tour of California Stage 5

8" x 10" Oil on panel.

$100 - Shipping to US included.

Peter Sagan was the young star of the tour. This was his first score, but he had been close already. The real surprise came with his win the next day. I had to choose between this shot that shows the blinding sunshine of the day and one of his celebratory wheelies. He is still a kid (thus the white young rider leader jersey.)

From my point of view, I remember this as a hot day. Nice riding roads and we got to zip between the field and the break a couple of times. The finish was just plain hot, but the crowd was good and appreciated the race coming to Bakersfield.

Tour of California Stage 4

10" x 8" Oil on panel.

This view from Stage 4 catches the riders passing Jonathan Devich's camera. The shot captures a nice landscape with the road leading into the picture and curving into the distance. I am somewhat interested in seeing this as a larger landscape, but a detailed rendering of the riders would take quite a while. This painting departs from the others in the series since it doesn't crop the reference scene very much at all.

Stage 4 of the tour covered familiar roads with a nice variation. The start climbed out of San Jose on Sierra Road as in past years. The ride along the ridges on Calaveras Road is a lot of fun on a motorcycle. It is twisty without being overly technical since it is largely level. The stage continued down a different canyon than previous years on its way to Modesto. It seemed like we descended for more than on hour. We really got to work as the radio repeater was spotty in the canyon. It was a beautiful day and a challenge.