Sports Basement

Join the Basement for the Amgen Tour of CA

by Clair McDevitt, Interim online community manager

The Amgen Tour of California rolls past (or near) three of our stores on its way through Northern California next week, and we’re stoked to have a front row seat for some of the action. Want to join us? Here are the details on our cheer squads and other events.

While we don’t have a store near the Tour kickoff in Santa Rosa, SB co-founder Tom Phillips will be watching the action from a couple of local watering holes. You can find him Sunday morning at the Sweet Spot Pub, 619 Fourth St., and in the afternoon at the Toad in the Hole, 116 5th St. Tom says, “Track me down at either and we’ll have a pint. If you’re wearing a Sports Basement shirt I might even buy you that pint!”

On Monday, May 14, watch the start of Stage 2 action from in front of Sports Basement in the Presidio. We’ll have a cheer squad set up on Old Mason Street from 10:30am-11:30am. Bring your noisemakers and homemade signs to cheer on the pros as they fly by the store on their way down the coast. Get there by 11am so you don’t miss the lead pack. We’ll have some snacks and caffeine to share. RSVP here so we know how much coffee to order.

On Tuesday, May 15, our Sunnyvale Store will have a booth at the Stage 3 Tour festival, at the Berryessa Community Center, 3050 Berryessa Rd. in San Jose. We’ll be there from 9:30am-1pm, with cool bike products on display and cycling staff to answer all your bike-related questions. We’ll also be the official entry point for the Tour raffle. Enter at our booth for a chance to win this awesome prize package:

Two $150 Southwest Airlines vouchers
One Night Hotel Accommodation for two people in Los Angeles on May 19th
Airport Pick Up at LAX on May 19th
Two VIP Hospitality Passes for Stage 8 in Los Angeles on May 20th
Media compound tour during Stage 8 in Los Angeles on May 20th
Green room access to watch the awards presentation backstage during Stage 8 on May 20th
Press conference access during Stage 8 in Los Angeles on May 20th
2 GRAMMY Museum® at L.A. LIVE passes
2 ESPN Zone L.A. LIVE Game Cards
Airport Drop Off at LAX on May 20th

On Tuesday morning, ride a section of the Tour with the King of the Mountain Cycling Challenge. Join 400 amateur cyclists, including CEOs of major Silicon Valley companies and elected officials from the region, as they climb the steep Sierra Road hill in East San Jose for the Silicon Valley Leadership Group’s King of the Mountain, which benefits Fit for Learning, a Santa Clara County Office of Education anti-obesity program. Race details and registration info are here.

Also on Tuesday, our Walnut Creek Store will host a cheer squad on Mt. Diablo. This is the first year the tour route has included the mountain, and we’re very excited. We’ll be on the course in full “Diablo” fashion – devil ears, red Sports Basement t-shirts and lots of cowbell. Join us starting at 11am at the roundabout on Northgate Rd. We’ll have front row seats to watch the cyclists bomb down the mountain.

All of our stores are participating in a raffle hosted by the Tour. Anyone who goes to the Amgen Tour of California – San Jose Facebook page and ‘likes’ it gets a 10% off coupon to use in any Sports Basement store. Coupons are also available by scanning a barcode found on posters in each of our stores. This 10% coupon also entitles customers to one raffle entry for an HTC Highroad cycling team jersey.

With two cheer squads, two raffles and other fun events, we’ve got something for every fan of the Tour. See you on the course!

Clair is the interim online community manager and works in women's fitness at the Presidio store. She's a race walker, cyclist and avid Giants fan.

Posted on 5/11/2012 in All Stores, Cycling, Events | Comments (0)