Fifty Plus (50+) - Rochester Omnium

Friday time trials are happening right now barely 1/2 mile from
my house....and here I sit at work. Insufficient labor for me to
take vacation. :(

Saturday Twilight Criterium tomorrow night.....prior commitment.

Road Race Sunday.....Taking Daughter to College in Albany.

I'm gonna miss the entire event.

Lenny's sad.

Here's the link for others: http://www.rochesteromnium.com/

The TT wasn't interesting enough for me to take off work today.

I get out of work tomorrow at 2:00 and the crit starts at 2:30, although I usually skip the Juniors, Cat 5, and Cat 3/4 races, eat, change and rest a bit, then catch the Masters, Women's and Cat 1/2 later.

I'm having the biggest difficulty with the Road Race. (Map (http://www.rochestercrit.com/races/roadrace.html) ) Where to view it from? I'm half tempted to ride to Honeoye, watch the start, ride a direct route to the finish, and watch there too. I'd love to watch the climb out of Dansville, but that would require a car to beat the racers there.

It's that last "finishing loop" of two laps of a six-mile course that's the toughie. I know, and have ridden every inch of that course and can't decide as a rider what part I like best, let alone as a spectator. Well, the bit on Elmwood would be boring.

Two places I'm considering are inside the loop, so I can dash back and forth. First there's the short piece of Trustee Rd from Wilson Blvd to Intercampus Drive, with the turns and speed bumps. Then I could dash down the sidewalk between the powerhouse and the cemetery to Elmwood and Lattimore.

Or, I could dash the other way down Intercampus Drive to Lattimore. I do like hammering the short climb on Lattimore from Elmwood to Crittenden, and think it would be fun to watch the racers do the same.

I could watch from there, then dash across the parking lot, through the bushes and come out on Moore Dr in Genesee Valley Park at the finish line.

Thinking about it, if I wanted to work in hill repeats of Wilson Blvd, I could watch from the turn by the guardhouse at the Elmwood Ave end, then race the racers to the intersection of Wilson and Intercampus. That's a nice descent they have there, with a wicked speed bump, storm grate and off-camber 90° turn at the bottom.

Actually, the ped bridge over Intercampus between Tower Rd and Hill Court Rd wouldn't be too bad, if you were willing to be stuck in the one place. They'll be screaming down that descent.

Then again, I like riding the part through Highland Park--from the cemetery across Robinson St, then the drop down Alpine St with the 90° at the bottom to Bellvue and that wicked climb, cresting at Reservoir Ave and dropping again to Goodman St. OMG! It's better than a roller coaster. It's hard to shift fast enough to keep up with the changes in grade. (Or at least it is for me.)

Then there's the curvy bit in Genesee Valley Park between East River Road and the bridge over I-390...

<sigh> There are too many possibilities...

Yesterday I saw the most beautiful thing I've ever seen on my commute. A team of six, in full kit and matching bikes, effortlessly smoking up Wilson Blvd behind the cemetery towards McLean St in a perfect two-wide by three-long formation. They were gone before I could get my camera out of my jersey pocket.

Hoping to ambush some along there and along the crit loop on tomorrow morning's commute.

Edit: Hmmm... Now I'm thinking.

Wait at Bellvue and Alpine or Alpine and Reservoir for the first lap, scoot across the park, cut through the cemetery, come out behind the powerhouse at Trustee and Intercampus, and watch the second lap go by there.

Then shoot the other way down Intercampus, cut through the parking lot to Lattimore and Crittenden, watch then come up that, then cut back across the parking lot, through the bushes to the finish line on Moor. That could just work...

And I'd better take Yellow Bike. It's faster and easier to flick through the corners....

Interesting...


Riders outside of the rolling enclosure will not have protection. Rolling enclosure will extend to 5 minutes behind the main peleton. Riders not within the enclosure envelope by the finishing circuits will not be allowed to enter and will be placed according to their arrival position at the circuits.

Huh. The crit has the richest purse

Here's a link to the time trial results..http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080809/SPORTS/808090330/1007
Unfortunately, the word in the port area is that many of the local
merchants lost a lot of money due to lack of business during
the trials. Some of the local eateries had even put on extra
staff to handle anticipated crowds that didn't seem to
materialize. We'll see what next year brings.
The Saturday night Crit. is in it's fourth year and is
very popular with both the racers and the spectators.

Unfortunately, the word in the port area is that many of the local merchants lost a lot of money due to lack of business during the trials. Some of the local eateries had even put on extra staff to handle anticipated crowds that didn't seem to materialize.

Well personally, I'm not surprised. When I go to a bike race, I'm not interested in sitting inside Mr Dominick's, or with my back to the windows at LDR, or with the druggies at Penny Arcade.

FWIW, Dinosaur has had the same complaint with the crit for four years. "Gee, people come to a bike race and don't want to sit inside a dark, windowless restaurant." Really? Whatever made them think that we would?

Well personally, I'm not surprised. When I go to a bike race, I'm not interested in sitting inside Mr Dominick's, or with my back to the windows at LDR, or with the druggies at Penny Arcade.

FWIW, Dinosaur has had the same complaint with the crit for four years. "Gee, people come to a bike race and don't want to sit inside a dark, windowless restaurant." Really? Whatever made them think that we would?

Lighten up buddy, that flat tire got you a little bothered?
We're 'sposed to be on the same side here, figuring out how to
promote the sport, I think. To do that takes honest observations
and reasonable suggestions. I've observed and I'm accutely
aware that the sport has Struck Out with at least some of the
merchants in Charlotte. For example, I doubt now that they'll
ever invest in bike racks for their patrons, and that hurts US.
Yeah, it bothered them that bad.

Every event that takes place at the port generally enhances
the local business people, hence their sacrifices (closed roads
and limited access) gets repaid by walk-ins who make up for the
losses. There weren't nearly enough people to make that happen
yesterday. Was it the iffy weather? Is this not a strong enough
venue to attract profitable crowds?
Here's the link for others: http://www.rochesteromnium.com/

The TT wasn't interesting enough for me to take off work today.

....

Was advertising insuficient?

I'm not smart enough to know that answer....but I do know that no
one was sitting in a windowless restaurant wondering where all the
pretty bicycles were. There were a lot of business owners wondering
why their buildings, on the time trial route, were totally vacant
throughout the entire event and afterwards. What the matter, bicycle
fans don't eat?

On that insufficient Support for cycling events. The Tour of Britain started with a time trial last year on a closed circuit just outside London. It was on an "Old" Car racing circuit at Crystal Palace and was ideally suited for the event. Very few visitors on the day due to "NO" advertising. Me and a mate went up and we only found out it was on by accident. Great day out for us and Freebies galore came about- as there were only about 6,000 visitors. E-On had arranged for 40,000 King of the Mountan beanie hats so I walked off with 10 of them

Unless the sport advertises itself- No-One else is going to do it. This year the opening prologue will be a criterium round the streets of London. Closed circuit again and Don't know whether the advertising is better. I know because I have signed up to the web site for this year and I am getting weekly updates. Don't know if the general public is though.

Great day out and attachment is of Mark Cavendis who won the time trial And a pic of the Beanie hat on the International branch of probably the best PIE shop in the US.

EDIT- And for our newer members on the Forum- Irmas Kitchen was put forward as the "Virtual" Club house for the 50+ forum after its PIE menu was posted on the forum.

Lighten up buddy, that flat tire got you a little bothered? We're 'sposed to be on the same side here, figuring out how to promote the sport, I think.

Not at all. I think you read too much into my comment. I'm saying their expectations are completely unreasonable. Bicycle racing is an outdoor event. If you want to sell food at an outdoor event, you need to be outdoors. To expect people to enter your dark, dingy restaurant is foolish.

Again, I point to Dinosaur. They can't be bothered to set up anything outside, despite their prime location and super reputation. They serve barbeque for heavens' sake. How much does it take to set that up outside? Then they whine that they don't make any money. Meanwhile, the outdoor food vendors have queues ten and fifteen minutes long, despite having ten and twenty people taking orders.


There weren't nearly enough people to make that happen yesterday. Was it the iffy weather? Is this not a strong enough venue to attract profitable crowds?

You and I both had to work. I'll bet that was the case with many. A TT just isn't quite the spectator event worth burning a vacation day for. It's like watching ships leave port, then waiting for them to return. They go out, somewhere a few miles away, they turn around and come back. Then a guy writes down some numbers off the clock. Ooooo! Thrilling!

OTOH, the crit tonight was packed despite the rain. People brought umbrellas and raincoats. Very few left when the skies opened up. We got to see some great racing in the wet.

At the crit, we were bored to tears by the shifting breakaway, the ever-changing chase, the sprints and prime laps. Every one of the 60 laps were different.

So I guess my point is that a TT on a workday isn't going to be a very big draw, no matter how well it's advertised. To expect the few that will attend to leave what little action there is, is ludicrous.

On to tonight's race...

They needed volunteers to be rider chaperones for the anti-doping tests. I was asked and said sure. Seeing how the anti-doping works from the inside was very interesting. I'm not sure how much I'm allowed to tell.

What I'm sure is okay to talk about is the level of cooperation from the teams. The random racers to be tested were decided shortly after the start, and their names and bib numbers posted. The team managers had access to this information even before the officials decided how many laps would be run.

My guy dropped. Apparently his director had told him by radio he'd been selected. He came right over to us, said he was ready and I escorted him to the testing site. My job lasted all of six minutes.

I don't know if it's done differently by WADA, or at any other race monitored by USADA. I felt pretty good about the overall process tonight.

What made it different for me was that once I knew who "my" guy was, I had someone specific to watch in the race, if for no other reason than to track him down afterwards. Then it wasn't just random jerseys exchanging places. Although it meant I couldn't walk the course as I usually do, it made the race more exciting for me.

I've volunteered for tomorrow's race too. One, it's eliminated the issue of where to watch from--I'll be with the officials at the finish line. Second, Yellow Bike and I will get to ride back to doping control with all the riders selected for testing and their bikes.

Oh, and I get to keep the pen.