Snelling, Merced County, California

How to get there from Fremont:

Mission Boulevard south, take I-680 north to Interchange with I-580 east at Dublin / Pleasanton. Continue on I-580 east for 20 miles, crossing over the Altamont pass. Merge onto I-205 East towards Tracey and Stockton for 13.5 miles, where merge onto I-5 north. Stay on I-5 for only 2 miles before exiting onto State route CA-120 east, signposted to Manteca / Sonora. Go 6 miles on CA-120 then take CA-99 south, signposted to Modesto / Fresno. Stay on CA-99 south for approximately 20 miles to exit at the Keyes Road exit, 7 miles south of Modesto. Go east for 11 miles to Montpelier Road, where turn right (south) on to Turlock Road for another 8 miles to turn left (East) onto Highway 59. Pass through the town of Snelling and go approximately 1 mile to Henderson Park, which will be on your right side.

To get to Merced, remain on Highway 99.

Time to location by car from Fremont (Niles):

2 hours 20 minutes if leaving early in the morning. Parking and other info:

All parking is within the parking lots for Henderson Park. No parking should be necessary outside, but if you do have to, please park east of the park entrances to avoid conflict with the race starts.

The fields for Snelling have been getting progressively larger over the past couple of years and spaces for later arrivers have been at a premium. The park has bathrooms and drinking fountains available for water. Registration is located under the covered area adjacent to the parking lot. Expect some lines due to the popularity of this race.

For race warm up you can ride east on the road outside the park. There is plenty of space. Of course, rollers or trainers would be convenient. The epic rainy race of 2001 had about 50 people on trainers under the covered area. It was quite deafening.

The Course, road by road:

There is a parade/neutralized section to the course from the race HQ.

The peloton lines up in the east exit of the park and rolls out with a left turn onto road J16. Instead of riding through Snelling on the main road it passes onto 2nd street, which becomes Emma. Turn right onto Montgomery (route J16 north) which bears left, jogs 90 degrees right after ½ mile then jogs 90 degrees left after ¾ mile. Go 1 ¼ miles east to pass the junction of Fields Road. Montgomery becomes Keyes Road at this junction. The race is normally de-neutralized at this point.

The course is on the following roads.

Keyes, Olson, Los Cerritos, Figmond, Fields and back onto Keyes. The loop is 11.2 miles and has a few rollers and small hills, but nothing to worry about in the normal course of affairs. Velopromo's official course description describes the roads as being in excellent to fair condition. I would downgrade the fair to basic. I think Bob Liebold needs to ride down some of these roads on a bike instead of in his comfy van. The worst sections are on Los Cerritos Road and Figmond Road, which comes close to the poor quality of the Copperopolis RR roads. It's not unusual to see drinking bottles bouncing down the roads and many a poor rider beside the road with pinch flats.

Proceed east on Keyes for two miles. Road surface is good, the road is slightly rolling. Turn left (north) onto Olson Road and ride 2 ¾ miles. Turn left (south-east) on to Los Cerritos Road and continue for 4 ¼ miles to turn left (East) onto Figmond Road. Continue for 3 miles to turn right onto Fields Road. The finish line is located at the top of one of the small rollers about 5/8 mile from this junction on Fields Road. Continue for 1/4 mile to turn right (West) on to Keyes Road. The feed zone is located further along Keyes Road, again on one of the small rollers.

For race distances for respective ability and age categories, see either the NCNCA magazine or visit the NCNCA website road racing pages.

Other stuff you might need to know:

The roads are closed for this race, so the peloton rides over both sides of the carriageway. If the wind blows, which it invariably does, it normally will be coming from the west or north. This makes the legs on Keyes Road and Olson Road difficult. The really bumpy sections on Los Cerritos Road and Figmond Road are tailwind sections and as such you have to be alert. In 2002, the masters 35+ 1/2/3 race went the complete length of Los Cerritos in the left hand gutter in one long line, it was very hard. If your at the back of the peloton when therace turns right onto Los Cerritos, you may have a lot of trouble staying in contention.

The agriculture of the area is fruit orchards. This means that if the weather has been fine that the air will be abuzz with bees. if you have an allergy to bee stings, be warned.

Gearing for the race is a standard 53/39 on the front with an 11 or 12 up cassette. No special considerations are required; no hills are that steep or long.

The weather can be changeable. We stayed overnight in Merced for the 2001 edition, the Friday was really nice. On Saturday it poured and got cold. I rode with just about every single item of clothing I could find, cap, long gloves, knee warmers with plastic bags stuffed up the front, 2 long sleeve and 1 short sleeve jersey and a rain cape. It was so cold I could not talk, my top lip froze. So be prepared. See the check list and racing in the rain articles on our useful stuff pages. Some people may want to stay in the area, especially considering the following days Merced criterium. There is no accommodation available in Snelling, but there is plenty of motel accommodation in Merced.

Velopromo's weekend HQ is at:

P.S. Happy Inn, 740 Motel Drive, Merced, 209-722-6291

Some other motels on Motel Drive are:

Best Western, 1033 Motel Drive, Merced
Holiday Inn, 730 Motel Drive, Merced
Super 8, 1983 East Childs, Merced
Days Inn, 1199 Motel Drive, Merced

A disadvantage of these motels is the close proximity of the Union Pacific RR and Highway 99. If you're a light sleeper, best to find somewhere further away, such as:

Travelodge, 1260 Yosemite Way, 4 blocks away from Highway 99 & RR

Snelling is a small town but it does have a gas station and a couple of stores.

A map of the area: