Road Bike Racing - Random thoughts

I went to the Nature Valley Grand Prix crit this weekend in lovely downtown Minneapolis. It rained heavily right before the womens race. I was standing on the outside of a sharp right hand turn. You can actually see me in this photo. I'm right to the left of the first street light on the left side of the street. The dude in the blue jacket.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos/2004/jun04/naturevalley04/stage3/img_3706.jpg

Anyway, three laps into the womans race, there was the inevitable crash. A Team Quark rider took the corner too sharp, went down hard and slid into the street light, ramming into it leg first. She started crying in pain and was eventually carted off by ambulance. The hay bale was not in the right position. It was facing the street, not the direction a rider would actually run into it.

I hope things are safer in Europe than here. I can't count the number of times I've seen hay bales in the wrong postion or missing completely.

The mens race was also eventful. Two McGuire ProCycling guys went down hard right in front us. They immediately got up and rode off. I wish I could have videotaped the crash so I could show it to the next dumbass who says that cyclists are a bunch of wimps who just ride bikes around the block. The courage it took to ride in that type of group in a wet crit and to get up after a crash like that is not something that most people have.

Curious as to how the news would cover the race, I actually watched the evening news. They did a piece on the race but it wasn't part of the sports report. It was done in the same manner as if they'd covered the circus or fair. You know, lots of cool dramatic looking shots of riders going round corners, but no substance? They never even said who won the race.

This was disheartening. We're worse off than I thought when a race of this calibre got nothing more than a feel good treatment right before the weather. Marty Nothstein was there as was Henk Vogels. For gods sake Jeannie Longo raced!

I'm rambling. Sorry.

More random thoughts-

You are making me miss home!! :sniff sniff: (I grew up in MN.. Parents still live in Apple Valley, but I am out in NJ).

We had the big races here a couple of weeks ago, and there was very little coverage in the news that I saw. In fact, I think there was more reported on how the traffic was messed up because of the Trenton race, than on the race itself :rolleyes: But hey, at least you got to be there to enjoy it, right? :)

I went to the Nature Valley Grand Prix crit this weekend in lovely downtown Minneapolis. It rained heavily right before the womens race. I was standing on the outside of a sharp right hand turn. You can actually see me in this photo. I'm right to the left of the first street light on the left side of the street. The dude in the blue jacket.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos/2004/jun04/naturevalley04/stage3/img_3706.jpg

Anyway, three laps into the womans race, there was the inevitable crash. A Team Quark rider took the corner too sharp, went down hard and slid into the street light, ramming into it leg first. She started crying in pain and was eventually carted off by ambulance. The hay bale was not in the right position. It was facing the street, not the direction a rider would actually run into it.

I hope things are safer in Europe than here. I can't count the number of times I've seen hay bales in the wrong position or missing completely.

The mens race was also eventful. Two McGuire ProCycling guys went down hard right in front us. They immediately got up and rode off. I wish I could have videotaped the crash so I could show it to the next dumbass who says that cyclists are a bunch of wimps who just ride bikes around the block. The courage it took to ride in that type of group in a wet crit and to get up after a crash like that is not something that most people have.

Curious as to how the news would cover the race, I actually watched the evening news. They did a piece on the race but it wasn't part of the sports report. It was done in the same manner as if they'd covered the circus or fair. You know, lots of cool dramatic looking shots of riders going round corners, but no substance? They never even said who won the race.

This was disheartening. We're worse off than I thought when a race of this calibre got nothing more than a feel good treatment right before the weather. Marty Nothstein was there as was Henk Vogels. For gods sake Jeannie Longo raced!

I'm rambling. Sorry.

Laggard,

I was across the road from where you were on the inside of the corner (we were the group cheering on the Bianchi/GP gals and elite men) and witnessed the crash you're talking about. It was not a fun thing to see but the hay bails were in the correct position prior to her crash, they moved after she impacted (she hit it at an odd angle almost from behind from what we could see). Granted the bails shouldn't have moved but I'm quite sure it was just a combination of things, not just the course set-up.

Did you notice some of the pro men riders actually bunny-hop onto the curb when squeezed and then back off, all the while avoiding the bails and everything else, all with rain soaked roads? Pretty impressive stuff...

The local news coverage was weak but not unexpected. Rick Fuentes from channel 4 did his best to get some 10PM news coverage but it wasn't something he was assigned by the station and it sounds like they barely made any time available.

I'd also like to give a big Kudos to Andy Dahl who was the promoter of both the downtown Mpls Criterium and the Stillwater Criterium. Putting these races on is a huge undertaking and without guys like Andy willing to put in the time, these events/races would never happen. If any of you are local and think this level of event is important to our area, please take some time next year and volunteer, if only for race set-up or tear-down. Just a few hours of your time can make a huge difference.

Ok, I was trying to figure out how she could hit the post if the bail was in the right position.

Yeah, I saw two riders hop onto the curb right in front of me. These people are working on a whole nother level.

I was across the road from where you were on the inside of the corner (we were the group cheering on the Bianchi/GP gals and elite men) and witnessed the crash you're talking about. It was not a fun thing to see but the hay bails were in the correct position prior to her crash, they moved after she impacted (she hit it at an odd angle almost from behind from what we could see). Granted the bails shouldn't have moved but I'm quite sure it was just a combination of things, not just the course set-up.

if this was the case, then more hay bails should have been present.... it's the race organizers responsiblity to make sure the coarse is safe for the riders (in the event of a crash) IMHO over doing safety is quite alright, when it comes to crit crashes.....

You can actually see me in this photo. I'm right to the left of the first street light on the left side of the street. The dude in the blue jacket.

Are you in the witness protection program? :)



Jeannie Longo raced!

That would have made the race for me! :D

Are you in the witness protection program? :)

Verified.

Looks like they had a good crowd though?

Speaking of Jeannie Longo, she rode our State TT race as a training ride on June 5th. I was working the race and got to chat with her at the line before her start. She was a really easy going, nice woman. She was also kind enough to stick around for most of the morning talking with other riders and signing autographs. One of my buddies got her sig on his skinsuit.