The satellite image currently being used by Google Earth was taken on Nov. 21, 2009, which happens to be the same day as El Tour de Tucson.

Jeff, a TucsonVelo.com reader, sent me the tip as well as a KMZ file where he added a few points of interest. You can download the KMZ file and open it in Google Earth to see for yourself. Check out the video I created using Jeff’s file.

If you have trouble viewing the video, try this link.

Elaine Filadelfo, a spokeswoman for Google, said they didn’t have any idea the race was going on when they picked the image.

“That is a coincidence – but it sounds like a very fun coincidence! Our imagery comes from 3rd party data sources (you can see who it is from the bottom of the screen typically) and they do the scheduling of imagery so you can try checking in with them. We tend to choose our images based on how recent they are and how high-quality they are,” Filadelfo said.

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Welcome to the site, Arizona Daily Star readers. Here are a few links that might interest you:

• About the site
• BICAS warehouse may get new leaseholder
• New bike lane design on Tucson street
• Congressional candidate talks bikes
• Land designation threatens mountain-bike routes
• Videos: Cyclovia & GABA bike swap
• Bikes from sun up to sun down (with photos)
• Push for platinum topic of discussion at City Council study session
• County working on fix to Rillito path at Campbell
• Rolling stop bill DOA; Reps will try again
• TPCBAC move gives bike boulevards added weight in RTA rankings
• Video: A day at the races with El Grupo