['nother]

I don't think there's anything inherently better or worse about either sport that makes it more or less popular. About the athletes being covered head to toe, well, if you'd seen the guys in their TT skinsuits at yesterday's Stage, you would have had a hard time identifying them without their numbers or the caption on the screen.

As I mentioned before, I think the popularity (or lack of) of various sports is largely a result of the cultural climate. Right now it seems to be more "in" to be the pilot of a loud, fast car. But who knows, maybe when the oil runs out people will find some enjoyment in bike racing to renew its popularity.

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[sbhikes]

the bottom line is What about NASCAR makes it popular...
It's all about the Viagra.

No seriously, car racing has the following:
1. A place you go to see it. The same place every time. A nice big stadium.
2. At that place you can get beer and food and go to the bathroom.
3. The atheletes (I guess that's what they are) are driving a car. People love cars. There's a lot of romance around cars.
4. The cars they drive are super-powered. Lots of people love the idea of suping up their cars.
5. Auto-racing is masculine. Full of horsepower, machines, metal, rubber, smoke, crashes, loud noises etc.

Now this bike race?
1. It's what, 600 miles long? Who can watch the whole thing? You gotta find a spot to go watch, and then you'll see about 10 seconds of it. It's not an afternoon outing with the family.
2. There is a chance you'll get beer and food where you watch the race, but it's not likely. If you're lucky maybe you'll get a porta-potty.
4. The athelets are riding bikes. Although most people think fondly of their bikes, many of them have not had one since youth. There is a lot of romance around bikes, but not nearly as much as there is around cars.
5. Practically nobody ever considers suping up their bikes to match these multi-thousand dollar bikes the racers are riding.
6. Bike racing isn't quite as masculine as car racing.

Bike racing is almost more about a place than the racers. The romance of France makes the Tour de France appealing to lots of people. The cobblestones give it a little excitement. Will they crash? And those beautiful mountains!

Perhaps with the ToC it was hoped they could capture the romance of California. The vinyards, the coast. But is a place enough to get people to identify with the sport? I don't think so. You need more personalities.

[genec]

And I suppose you have a problem with that, Mr. Eye Roll? Who are the big sponsors that you would approve as meeting your exacting criteria for being allowed to put up the cash to sponsor your pleasure?

Its not about me "approving" the sponsor per se...
I just wonder if perhaps the sponsor is the draw, not the event... What would happen for instance if Bud sponsored the TdCalifornia?

Coors used to sponsor the Colorado race... way back when I was fairly new to cycling... I knew of the race and the beer...

A bit of history I found on the net:

The Coors International Bicycle Classic has been credited with launching the careers of notable cycling stars: Greg LeMond, Davis Phinney, Jeannie Longo, Alexi Grewal, Steve Bauer, Andy Hampsten, Phil Anderson, Raul Alcala, Connie Carpenter to name just a few.

The Coors Classic was carried live on CBS and NBC Sports and was the first sporting assignment for John Tesh, launching him off to Emmy-award winning network TV coverage of the Tour de France. The race was featured in a Warner Bros film, American Flyers with Kevin Costner. It's legendary custom race merchandise was sold in hundreds of stores around the world and in its last two years, the Classic's collectible merchandise line exceeded $1 million in sales worldwide.

So the right sponsor, and a good promotor, in this case, Michael Aisner, can get cycling onto the major networks and into the public eye.

[sbhikes]

If tonight's news is any indication, the people who went down to see the bike race were really excited about it. There were a lot of kids in the news segment and they seemed to think it was way cooler than they expected it to be.

I couldn't go because I had to work (insert MAJOR eye-roll here for the painful meetings I sat through today). But tomorrow morning I think I'll try to go see them take off.

[Dchiefransom]

The American Flag is a nice touch. As long as you have Old Glory waving in the background, anything you do or say is okay. Just like our elected officials. :rolleyes:

So was Bille Joe Bob Cletus here complaining about bicyclists in general or bicycle facilities?


Having ridden many of the roads in stage two, and will ride them again in the future, my guess is the truck belongs to a local. Popular cycling roads out in the boonies can draw hundreds of cyclists on almost any weekend. Many locals in the area get upset that we are taking up "their" road.

[I-Like-To-Bike]

If tonight's news is any indication, the people who went down to see the bike race were really excited about it.
In today's TV listings for Sports, the local newspaper listed a delayed tape broadcast of the Final Stage from Redondo Beach on ESPN2. I was all set to learn about what I've been missing. But lo, the race was replaced with the PGA Golf Tour from New Zealand. Well I guess there wasn't enough golf coverage since there were only three other Golf tournaments being broadcast today from AZ, CA and FL. And trying to squeeze an hour of cycling on a cable TV schedule which had already one Arena Football game, two car races, one PBA bowling show, two Bassmaster fishing shows, 5 golf games, 5 men's college basketball games , 3 women's college basketball games, two NBA games, one indoor track meet, and the Winter Olympics, well I guess cycling just doesn't make the cut as a sporting event worthy of being broadcast.

And the big sporting news here is none of the above as the paper is filled with pictures and articles of local boys doing well in the State High School Wrestling Championships. All left over space is reserved for local high school and college basketball. The Olympics and NASCAR aren't even mentioned til page 5 in the sports section.

Is the CA Race being broadcast anywhere as a sporting event?

[PaulH]

Maybe it will help advocacy in California. However, had it not been for BikeForums, I never would have heard of the Tour.

Paul

[sbhikes]

I don't know about broadcast, but the event was both in the front page section and the sports section the other day. But yeah, it did seem to be more of an event in general than a sporting event.

I did go down to see the start of the next stage yesterday. It was cool to see all the families out on their bikes, coming down to see the big bike race.

Somebody at a booth tried to give me a free water bottle, though. I said I already have enough, so no thanks. They said, well you can use it in your car then! I looked at here like huh??? And said, "I don't drive. I'm a bike commuter." And then she looked at me like huh??? Does not compute.

So the big bike race as advocacy? Who knows. It could go either way. But it did seem to generate interest in cycling people and non-cycling people.

[Helmet Head]

Yes, the TOC will help cycling advocacy. BIG TIME. Much more than, for example, a million miles of you-know-whats.

Perhaps only in CA at first, perhaps particularly only in the areas it visits (but since that includes the bay area and the L.A. area - that's a lot of it), but it will spread.

The crowds were HUGE. I attended the prologue (stood at 100m to go just below Coit Tower) and the finish of Stage 1 in Santa Rosa. I also watched the coverage every night on ESPN2.

Stage wins and golden jerseys for Levi Leipheimer, George Hincapie (2!) and Floyd Landis (GC winner).

GO FLOYD!

[Helmet Head]

Somebody at a booth tried to give me a free water bottle, though. I said I already have enough, so no thanks. They said, well you can use it in your car then! I looked at here like huh??? And said, "I don't drive. I'm a bike commuter." And then she looked at me like huh??? Does not compute.

So the big bike race as advocacy? Who knows. It could go either way. But it did seem to generate interest in cycling people and non-cycling people.
Diane, am I misunderstanding, or are you equating "cycling advocacy" with "car-free living advocacy"?

['nother]

it did seem to be more of an event in general than a sporting event

That's the only way it's going to "survive" . . . at least for the first few runs. It has to appeal at least marginally to a much wider audience than cycling fans. Maybe after a few years that will translate into more cycling fans, which would be great, but for now I think it is going to be an advertising event that also includes a bicycle race.

[sbhikes]

Diane, am I misunderstanding, or are you equating "cycling advocacy" with "car-free living advocacy"?
She was basically at an alternative transportation booth advocating for using your bike in place of your car (not exactly car-free living). You think she'd understand that someone visiting a booth at a bike event might actually use a bike to get to work.