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07-05-09, 01:04 PM
I went over and watched a few of the races this morning over in Wood Dale. The 50+ category was an awesome race to watch. I got there right before the end of the Cat 5 race where there was 1 crash and one hell of a tire blow out that scared the shiznit out of about 5 riders on his wheel, including me who was across the street watching. I seriously though someone threw a firecracker into the street, that's how loud it was.
Anyways, one thing was really annoying me, and it seemed either to be a lack of respect for other riders, or lack of attention. No matter what it was, it was annoying. Most of it occurred during the youngsters race, which was very entertaining.
People kept walking across the street, riding across the street, while the little peloton was flying through. There was a Corvette leading the pace line and everytime it came around the turn into the final stretch it had to honk its horn to get people out of the way. Everyone who was doing this was a fellow cyclist. Some were getting their tires ready over in the tire pit, and the announcers even told them it was OK, just as long as it was safe. I would say 1 out of every 4 would look before entering the street at the finish line. In one instance, and I loved the kids reaction, the cyclist was really close to someone in the race. The kid yelled at him as if he were a grown man. For a second I thought the kid was going to hop off and commence to whooping bad move boy's arse. At one point, during the end of the 50+ ride, they were doing their final 2 laps, and they hadn't opened up the course yet, but cyclists kept riding out there and starting warming up.
I saw a lot of carelessness today that really annoyed me. This was the first race I have been to, so my question is, does this happen quite a bit? I am sure it doesn't happened at larger events, but still, it shouldn't occur at the smaller events neither.
On a lighter side, in 15 years I will be eligible for that 50+ race, and I can only hope I am 1/10th of what those guys were today. Amazing action, fast paced, super entertaining. I would have stayed longer if they had food, water, and a bit of shelter, or if I would have brought any of that along with.
Anyways, one thing was really annoying me, and it seemed either to be a lack of respect for other riders, or lack of attention. No matter what it was, it was annoying. Most of it occurred during the youngsters race, which was very entertaining.
People kept walking across the street, riding across the street, while the little peloton was flying through. There was a Corvette leading the pace line and everytime it came around the turn into the final stretch it had to honk its horn to get people out of the way. Everyone who was doing this was a fellow cyclist. Some were getting their tires ready over in the tire pit, and the announcers even told them it was OK, just as long as it was safe. I would say 1 out of every 4 would look before entering the street at the finish line. In one instance, and I loved the kids reaction, the cyclist was really close to someone in the race. The kid yelled at him as if he were a grown man. For a second I thought the kid was going to hop off and commence to whooping bad move boy's arse. At one point, during the end of the 50+ ride, they were doing their final 2 laps, and they hadn't opened up the course yet, but cyclists kept riding out there and starting warming up.
I saw a lot of carelessness today that really annoyed me. This was the first race I have been to, so my question is, does this happen quite a bit? I am sure it doesn't happened at larger events, but still, it shouldn't occur at the smaller events neither.
On a lighter side, in 15 years I will be eligible for that 50+ race, and I can only hope I am 1/10th of what those guys were today. Amazing action, fast paced, super entertaining. I would have stayed longer if they had food, water, and a bit of shelter, or if I would have brought any of that along with.