A press release today from the 2012 USA Pro Cycling Challenge announced this year's race route, mostly touting the record-breaking elevation gains and crazy-ass mountain passes the riders will once again have to endure.

My colleague J. Adrian Stanley already posted on this earlier today, but I wanted to follow up with more details of this year's course finish in downtown Colorado Springs.

The release included a map of the Stage 5 Colorado Springs finish, which will be reminiscent of last year's prologue course, in that it winds through Garden of the Gods and into downtown. But this year's course differs by coming off Colorado Avenue and heading north on Cascade Avenue into Colorado College, before turning back down Tejon Street into a Colorado Avenue finish. Should be great for fitting a ton of spectators comfortably into downtown.

If the screen shot below doesn't cut it for you, take a look here where you can zoom in for detail: 12_COS_Route.pdf

• Matthew Schniper
• In last year's inaugural USA Pro Cycling race, bike enthusiasts turned out in large numbers downtown.

Stage 5: Breckenridge to Colorado Springs – Friday, Aug. 24
Stage 5 will see two returning host cities, but in new roles. A rude awakening is the only way to describe the start of Stage 5 in Breckenridge. After a short flat section through downtown, the riders will have to face the daunting 10-mile climb up Hoosier Pass, which tops out at 11,500 ft. The summit is followed by a fast descent into Fairplay and with that, the high mountains are left behind and a day for the sprinters and breakaway specialists awaits. A fast rush across Colorado’s high plains end with a Sprint Line in Woodland Park where the riders may hit their fastest speeds of the week, and from there they continue downhill to Colorado Springs through the shadow of Pikes Peak. Once in Colorado Springs the route will take a technical uphill run through the Garden of the Gods, home of the 2011 Prologue. >From there the route takes a quick downhill run to downtown for the 2012 race’s only finishing circuits. With the peloton passing through the finish line three times as they blast around downtown Colorado Springs spectators will be treated to a thrilling elbow-to-elbow competition that can reach up to 35 mph.

As usual, it's snowing in Colorado and baseball is starting. Or, it's 80 degrees in Colorado and baseball is starting. Or it's one in the morning and the other by game time.

Point is, baseball is starting. The Colorado Rockies are back and, with the addition of soft-tosser Jamie Moyer, are either popularly thought to be sure bets to win the World Series, or finish fourth in the division — I forget which.

But if you've done the smart thing and bought your tickets to Opening Day early, then you don't need to sweat the fact that they're sold out. (You can still easily find a few, by the way, on Craigslist.) Feel free to sweat the opponent, the hated San Francisco Giants; think about sweating whether the schedule magnet or team towel is a better get; and maybe sweat a few other things you might not know to, um, sweat.

To that end, and with six days to go, here are four tips to further your full enjoyment of Opening Day at Coors Field:

• Come to the ballpark early, as there is expected to be a heavy demand for parking throughout downtown Denver.

• Coors Field parking lots will open at 10 a.m., with gates to the ballpark opening at noon. (Game time is 2:10 p.m.)

• Ignore the above tips and use public transportation for all your travel needs. If you're coming from the Springs, park at an early light rail station and take it all the way to Union Station. See RTD-Denver.com for more.

• The Opening Day Fest begins at 11 a.m. on 21st Street, between Blake and Market streets. Find games, activities, food and live music, which gets going around noon; the pre-game show begins at 1 p.m.

As to who you'll be watching, here's an update from Troy Renck at the Denver Post:

By delaying activating Jamie Moyer until Saturday and Drew Pomeranz until April 15th, the Rockies will open the season with an extra reliever and bench player, clearing the way for Tyler Chatwood, Eric Young Jr., and Jonathan Herrera to make the team.

For all of you bracket-busters out there, the long ride known as March Madness is coming to a close.

Tonight in New Orleans, top-seeded Kentucky and underdog Kansas will play for the NCAA men's basketball championship, tipping off at 7:23 p.m. Mountain Daylight Time on CBS (Channel 11 locally).

Obviously, that final pairing has eliminated the long shots from millions of bracket pools across America. Kansas was a No. 2 seed, but given its history of success in the NCAA Tournament, KU was a popular choice for many bracketeers who didn't want to take the easy pick of Kentucky.

So now, for the Indy's online March to the Championship contest as well as our own inside-the-office pool, the outcomes probably will depend not on who picked the right team to go all the way, but who had the most Final Four teams and/or nailed the title game finalists.

If you're among the 600-plus entrants in the March to the Championship, you should receive your final score by e-mail, then compare it to the standings that will be published in Thursday's issue of the Independent. My prediction tonight: Kentucky, 80-74.

For basketball purists, of course, the college season doesn't end tonight.

The actual grand finale, unbeaten Baylor facing Notre Dame in Denver to wrap up the Women's Final Four, very well might turn into a better game than Kentucky-Kansas. The Baylor-Notre Dame battle starts at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Pepsi Center, televised by ESPN. My pick: Baylor, 68-60.

And it's hard to remember when the city of Denver has ever looked better as a sporting venue than as home to this Women's Final Four. It actually makes you wonder if the NCAA should consider making Denver the permanent host city, or possibly part of a small rotation.

• FLICKR / Wednesday Elf - Mountainside Crochet

Like any responsible news site, we test and vet pretty much any piece of information we're going to present to the public. Want to write us a letter? We'll call you and make sure you're a real person who really wrote us. Want to tip us off to some great dish? We're going to make sure the restaurant's still open (mostly because we want to go eat it), and that the dish costs what you say. We even fact-check our syndicated content — you're not getting anything past us, Advice Goddess!

But sometimes we come across a piece of information so blindingly full of truth, so clearly speaking the word of goodness and information, that we don't even have to wonder. And so it is with this lovely gem posted on Denver craigslist.

The main reason why Peyton signed with the Titans instead of with the Broncos is because Peyton didn't want to get stalked and sexually harasssed by Lil Bobo. Heck just ask Tebow, Lil Bobo has been writing and e-mailing Tebow nonstop sending him flowers, candy, stuffed teddy bears, and nude pictures of himself.

It's just an intriguing bit of work that demands deciphering!

Where has this poster been all day that he thinks Peyton Manning signed with the Tennessee Titans? (Oops, here it comes again: Oh, God — yes!!) How did Manning know about Lil Bobo, and is the Bo-man (or woman) an equal-opportunity stalker, or they just stick to quarterbacks in controversy?

(Dude sounds creepy-generous either way. Nude pictures I can handle, but candy and teddy bears is a little much.)

Either way, it seems like Tebow's the real winner here, even if he gets shipped out to the hinterlands to back up Danny Woodhead in New England. (Don't worry Patriots fans: Tebow's not very disruptive at all.) Anyway, he's been spared. Then all of the diminutive Bobo's attention will be focused on the same place as everybody else's: one Mr. P. Williams Manning, long may he prosper.

Colorado's first NCAA game against Nevada-Las Vegas will be the finale of four opening-round games Thursday in Albuquerque, N.M., but you'll need cable TV to see it.

Colorado-UNLV is scheduled to tip off at 7:57 p.m. Mountain time on Thursday, televised by TruTV (Comcast channel 40 for digital, 740 for high-definition). Here's the full schedule Thursday in Albuquerque at The Pit:

Wisconsin (4) vs. Montana (13), 12:10 p.m.

Vanderbilt (5) vs. Harvard (12), 2:40 p.m.

Baylor (3) vs. South Dakota State (14), 5:27 p.m.

Nevada-Las Vegas (6) vs. Colorado (11), 7:57 p.m.

——————ORIGINAL POST, 5:24 P.M. SUNDAY——————

Exactly a year after being snubbed and devastated when the 2011 NCAA Tournament bracket came out, this time Colorado couldn't have been happier.

CU, after winning the Pacific 12 Tournament title on Saturday to make the field, rose to a No. 11 seed in the South Regional, after forecasters had assumed the Buffaloes would be more like a 13th seed. Colorado also drew the nearest sub-regional site for next weekend, going to The Pit in Albuquerque, N.M., and facing No. 6 seed Nevada-Las Vegas on Thursday.

If the Buffs can make it past UNLV, they would likely face No. 3 seed Baylor, which plays South Dakota State on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Colorado State will go to Louisville, Ky., for a sub-regional with a much tougher assignment, facing Murray State (30-1), which might be the entire tournament's most under-seeded team.

If you're working on an office pool or entering the Independent's contest at marchtothechampionship.com, here are some quick thoughts for your bracket, by region:

SOUTH:

Best bet: Kentucky, the overall top seed, should have no trouble advancing far into the tournament.

Best early matchups: UNLV (6) vs. Colorado (11), Notre Dame (7) vs. Xavier (10).

Upset special: Virginia Commonwealth (12) over Wichita State (5).

Team to watch: Colorado is in a good position to make some noise on the first weekend, then perhaps beyond.

My pick: Kentucky (1).

WEST:

Best bet: Michigan State and Missouri, the top two seeds, could follow form and meet for the regional title. But this looks like the toughest bracket overall, without question.

Best early matchups: Assuming they don't lose their openers, Louisville (4) vs. New Mexico (5), Florida (7) vs. Missouri (2).

Upset special: Don't see one in this regional. But some are saying Memphis (8) could knock off Michigan State next weekend.

Team to watch: Five of the top six seeds here won their conference tournaments. Don't forget the No. 6 seed, Murray State.

My pick: Missouri (2).

EAST:

Best bet: Chaos. This looks like a regional that could be hard on favorites. Don't count on top-seeded Syracuse making the Final Four.

Best early matchups: Gonzaga (7) vs. West Virginia (10), Vanderbilt (5) vs. Harvard (12).

Upset special: Montana (13) over Wisconsin (4), then on the weekend, Gonzaga (7) over Ohio State (2).

Team to watch: Vanderbilt.

My pick: Florida State (3).

MIDWEST:

Best bet: More chaos. This quadrant is filled with teams that were disappointments in their conference tournaments.

Best early matchups: California (12) vs. South Florida (12), actually one of the First Four games; St. Mary's (7) vs. Purdue (10).

Upset special: Belmont (14) over Georgetown (3), perhaps Ohio (13) over Michigan (4).

Team to watch: St. Mary's, but it has to face Kansas in its second game.

My pick: Kansas (2).

After hours of scouring the Internet to follow how forecasts are envisioning Colorado's place in the NCAA basketball bracket, one site has emerged as the most informative.

It's The Bracket Project's Bracket Matrix 2012, which compiles more than 60 projected brackets from sources around the country.

Click to it and you'll find Colorado as most likely a No. 13 seed, with Colorado State as a No. 11.

CU thus would face a No. 4 seed in the first round, and the consensus there offers four tough opponents: Louisville, Wisconsin, Indiana and Florida State. Louisville just wrapped up the Big East tournament title, while Florida State knocked off Duke on Saturday and is playing North Carolina today for the Atlantic Coast tourney championship.

Colorado State, as a No. 11, would face a No. 6 seed in the first round. The consensus No. 6 group includes New Mexico, Florida, Creighton and Nevada-Las Vegas.

If the online predictions are any indication, the selection committee might have some difficulty figuring out how to deal with Colorado in determining the NCAA Tournament bracket after the Buffaloes' unexpected march to the Pac-12 tournament title and automatic bid.

Check out the many guesses across the Internet, and you'll see Colorado being given anywhere from a No. 9 to a No. 13 seed in the 68-team field. CU will find out its seeding, opening opponent and initial destination sometime after the NCAA Selection Show begins at 4 p.m. MDT on CBS.

Two sites actually have made the same prediction for the Buffaloes, assigning them a No. 13 seed, playing in Albuquerque, N.M., against Georgetown, a No. 4 seed. Another puts CU into a first-round matchup at Portland, Ore.

Almost every source also has Colorado State in the tournament as an at-large team, probably with something in the range of a No. 11 seed.

——————ORIGINAL POST, 6:20 P.M., SATURDAY——————

Let the Madness begin, and this time the University of Colorado will join the party.

Colorado wrapped up a stunning sweep of four wins in the four days, holding off Arizona for a 53-51 victory on Saturday to capture the Pacific 12 Conference basketball tournament title. That gives CU the league's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.

Colorado, now 23-11, did not have a realistic chance to make the NCAA field any other way, with an RPI rating in the 70s nationally and a strength-of-schedule rank of even worse. But the Buffs defeated Utah, Oregon and California to make the championship game, then out-battled Arizona from start to finish.

CU only led by two points at halftime, but built that edge to 10 points in the first five minutes of the second half, which turned out to be the pivotal portion of the game. But the Buffs finally began showing fatigue in the closing minutes, as the Wildcats closed the gap from 50-38 to 51-47.

But the capper came inside the final minute when CU guard Carlon Brown drove to the basket for a thunderous dunk. That turned out to be the difference after a few mistakes allowed Arizona to actually have the last possession with a chance to tie or win. But the Colorado defense clamped down, and an off-balance shot in the final seconds didn't have a chance.

Colorado now must wait until Sunday afternoon to learn where it will fit in the NCAA bracket, probably as a seed in the No. 11-12 range. But that won't be as bad as a year ago, when the Buffs thought they would make the NCAA field with an at-large berth, only to be left out when the selections came.

Being seeded that low probably won't guarantee Colorado a chance of playing close to home, though there is one possibility with the nearest site for the first two NCAA rounds in Albuquerque, N.M.