The “Ride” Of Rope, Ride & Ribbit

Excitement is building in the Mother Lode for the upcoming Amgen Tour and other large events this May.

Darrell Slocum, Media PR Marketing Director for the Sonora Stage of the Amgen Tour, was Wednesday’s KVML “Newsmaker of the Day”.

Rope, Ride & Ribbit is three events within a week. First, the Mother Lode Round-Up Parade and Rodeo on the Mother’s Day weekend, followed by the Amgen Race on Wednesday May 16 and concluding with the Calaveras County Fair and Jumping From Jubilee from Thursday May 17th – 20th.

Sonora was selected as the starting point for the fourth leg of the eight day 750 mile race. Amgen officials expect upwards of 10,000 onlookers to be present at many of the starting points.

The fourth leg will begin at Courthouse Park in downtown Sonora. Bicyclists will swiftly pedal down Washington Street, over Highway 108, to Lime Kiln Road before turning right onto Campo Seco.

South of Jamestown, the bicyclists will travel down Jacksonville Road, over Lake Don Pedro and then turn left onto Highway 120 towards Moccasin.

At the southern junction of highway 49 and 120, bicyclists will turn right and make their way up Highway 49 to Coulterville and then follow the highway as it winds through the towns of Mariposa and eventually Oakhurst.

On Highway 41, bicyclists will swiftly travel out of the the Sierra foothills before ending this leg of the race in the Fresno suburb of Clovis.

The Amgen Tour of California is the largest bicycle race in North America, it starts May 13 in Santa Rosa and ends on May 20 in Los Angeles.

A local Sonora Amgen Tour website was launched by Level One Web Design to showcase news, local events and volunteer opportunities. You can find it by clicking www.atocsonora.com.

The “Newsmaker of the Day” is heard each weekday morning on AM 1450 KVML at 6:47, 7:47 and 8:47am.