Chasin' California Gold

California, Pennsylvania is a nice little community nestled in a valley along the Monongahela River. It was named after the state of California because the town's founding coincided with the California Gold Rush of 1849. Among the towns and communities along the river, California is the diamond among the coal. Most of the communities fell into decline and disrepair as the coal and steel industries fell by the wayside and became shuttered. But the saving grace of California was that it is also the home of California University of Pennsylvania (aka Cal U).

Today, and for about the last eight years, I make my living buying beat up houses in California, fixing them up, and renting them to the students attending Cal U. Over that time I developed a strong liking for the borough and everything about it. I love the location in regards to the river, I love going to the top of the hills and looking over the town, and I love the small town "feel" it has.

The last year or two I've been entertaining the idea of trying to get a bike race organized in California, and I was looking at a road looping around the Cal U campus as a desirable race route. Just within the last few weeks that idea suddenly took shape into reality as Mayor Durdines approached me about bringing the route into town. I introduced him to JR Petsko who organizes and promotes local bike races and now between the two of them it appears it's going to happen sometime in August.

I am excited about this race, called the California Grand Prix, and am looking forward to competing in it as it'll be like racing at a home crowd. Here's a picture of the route, you can click on it for a larger view. Thank you Mayor Durdines and JR for making this happen. There's going to be a lot of riders coming to town chasin' that California gold!