Bheleu

First let me say, I've never ridden anywhere close to a Century and only "really" got into cycling over the last two years (age 32) so please excuse my ignorance; however, lately I began wondering why there is not a USA Tour (like there is a Tour de' France). Is it a matter of organization (working between the States, setting up hotels, ride maps, road safety, sponsors), or just something that has never been done and therefore never will (have to have money to make money principal - need funds to make something happen, but won't get funds until after it's created, ie. start small and over the years make it bigger)? Or have I been so oblivious that there really is some Tours already in the USA?

If a USA tour were ever created, would you want to compete and what would your expectations be for it, and which towns, cities, and states "MUST" it include?

Would you expect it to travel through every state in CONUS (continental US), made up of multiple stretches or individual mini-Tours (Bakerman Tour - Louisiana to Minnesota, Southern Tour - Florida to California, East Coast Tour - Maine to Florida, West Coast Tour - Southern California to Washington, Northern Tour - Washington to Maine, Appalachian Tour - Maine to Georgia)?

Speedo

I'm reminded of a time when Greg Lemond was first in the national news. A woman at work, knowing I liked to bike tour, asked me if I ever planned to do the Tour de France.

OP, do you understand that the Tour de France is a race, and a very elite race at that? Few people on the planet have the option to simply choose to do the TDF in any given year.

There are stage races in the USA that have the same structure as the TDF, but none that I know of are quite so long. Before something with the scope of the TDF could be done in the USA, there would have to be sufficient passion for the sport across the country to support it. Maybe someday.

Speedo

Bheleu

Yes I am aware that the TDF is a large race and would expect the USA Tour to be an even larger race, multiple prizes given out to winners of various stretches - probably 48 of them, various jerseys for the leadership spots in different aspects that get passed along on each stretch (Tour USA would be a Red Jersey, White Jersey, Blue Jersey, a Stars Jersery, a Stripes Jersey, etc).

I am also aware that racers in the TDF are chosen; however, a USA Tour might just be daunting enough that it could be an Open Tour - provided you have the skill, entry fee or sponsors. Racers who do not complete one stretch in an alloted time are dropped from the race itself, staggered start times for groups of entrants, with an entry fee high enough to pay for costs and weed out those who cannot afford the fee (or who cannot get a sponsor). I think the organization for such an event is doable; however, it requires careful planning. TDF is commercialized, and I'm sure a USA Tour would be as well.

Sometimes you need a carrot to lead a horse (a USA Tour would only increase America's interest in cycling, especially if it traveled through many american's home towns, like the golden ages of racing). You should see the motorcyclists that travel the trail of tears each year. That has kept interests in their hobby going for many years. Sometimes it just takes doing it to get it started.

The 48 state, 8,000 mile trip from the other thread (which I didn't notice till after I posted this thread) is a decent layout. I'm going to try to keep track of his progress, and any notes they make on his site.

foamy

There was—for a few years a Tour Dupont—which is about as close to le Tour as we've gotten.

From Wikipedia:

The Tour DuPont was a cycling stage race in the United States held between 1991 and 1996. It was intended to become a North American cycling event similar in format and prestige to the Tour de France. The tour's name came from its sponsor, DuPont. The race was held in the Mid-Atlantic States, including areas near DuPont's Wilmington, Delaware headquarters.
The event attracted high-level competitors, including Lance Armstrong and Greg LeMond, and was attended by high profile European based cycling teams. After the sixth running in 1996, however, DuPont dropped its sponsorship and the race has not been run since.
Before the creation of the Tour DuPont, a similar race sponsored by Donald Trump and known as the Tour de Trump was run in 1989 and 1990.

Speedo

What we do have that's not a stage race, but gets some attention here in the United States is RAAM. A "normal" human being can even dream of competing in RAAM.

Speedo

axolotl

Team-based bicycle races have never made any sense to me as a sporting competition. Add performance-enhancing drugs and blood doping, and the result has become something farcical.

I was once touring in France (on those superbly signposted roads ) during the Tour but was paying no attention to it. While in the Alps, I learned that my planned route the next day was partially along the next day's Tour route, although going in the opposite direction. I got to see the tour and all the craziness and excessive advertising preceding the riders. The coolest thing about it was the whirring noise of the peleton following by the whoosh of air in its wake. I'm glad I saw it once, but I'd go out of my way to avoid it in the future.

yeamac 

^^^^ I've always though cycling would be a weird to watch live as a spectator. You line up on a side of the road and wait, for possibly hours, for a pack of bicycle riders to whiz by you, then you head home. I suppose at least you don't have to pay $20-100/ticket to be a spectator.

axolotl

If you see it in the mountains, there's often no place for spectators to park their cars, so they park on the road--intersecting roads, that is. After the riders passed by, nobody could drive away until the first car left, then the second car, etc. I was able to ride between the cars, and not a single car passed me for a full hour. After that, there was a nonstop parade of cars passing me, but at least they were courteous.

NeilGunton

I think an American version of the Tour de France would be great. I always watch "Le Tour" on TV and it's compulsive viewing. There is so much fantastic scenery in the USA that it would be a big hit, I'm sure. Look how much interest people have in Lance Armstrong. They could really make it interesting by having different stages all around the country, though I don't know what the logistics of that would be - America is much bigger than France. If it was publicised properly, I'm sure it could come to be seen as a national event, much in the same way the Super Bowl is. It needs to be disconnected from just one sponsor, though, so that it can't suffer the same fate as the Tour duPont.

Neil

Joe_Gardner

I love that food chart, 14 pancakes for breakfast? Ouch!

Booger1

You would have to roll me around if i tried eating that much food.That guy must have a hollow leg.I wouldn't mind doing that tour though.

JohnyW

Hi,

with your form of "events" you'll never get a similar thing started. Reasons why:

- no history (nobody invest at least 50 years in such a event, specially if there are some unprofitable years in)
- the interesting landscapes are too far away
- no support from the people with different TV habbits
- no race cycling culture in the US
- European sports are not popular (soccer, rugby, etc.)
- no time in the UCI timeschedule
- race cycling in general not very common (doping problematic)

Even Germany lost the German Tour...

Thomas

Machka 

Why on earth would you think that a USA tour to be a larger race?? As JohnyW says, there's just no cycling history and culture in the US. And really, I have my doubts that the rest of the world would want to be wearing stars and stripes jerseys!!


Here ... if you want a big US race ... try the RAAM: https://www.raceacrossamerica.org/raa...?N_webcat_id=1

If you want a big US ride that'll give you a good challenge, try the PacTours: https://www.pactour.com/

robi

why not start trying to organize such an event and see if there is any support for it.

but like said, the place is huge, so you may have to run stages far apart and train or plane riders between them, they actually do that in the TDF....

robi

cyclezealot

The USA does have the "RAAM," race. Not quite professional.. Multi Day races are rare in the US.. I"d like to see one. The country is so huge, it might be difficult.. Do such large countries have bike tours. Such as Canada, Australia..

Machka 

Australia does:
https://www.tourdownunder.com.au/
'The first stop on the world cycling calendar, the Tour Down Under is the biggest cycling race in the southern hemisphere and the only UCI ProTour race outside Europe.'


Canada's isn't a race:
https://www.tourducanada.com/
'Welcome to Tour du Canada®. The cycling event, Tour du Canada, is the longest annual bike ride in the world.'


If the OP wants to know more about the world cycling calendar, he should ask in the Professional Cycling forum here ... not in the Touring forum.

The TDF may use "tour" in the name, but it is not a "tour" in the sense of the word we use here in this forum.

staehpj1

First... What does this have to do with touring? Just because the word tour is in the name doesn't mean it has anything to do with touring. For that matter the 48 states in 48 days thing has nothing to do with touring either.

Since we are already off topic I will mention that we do have a well established pro stage race here that draws some of the top talent, the Tour of California. There is also the Tour of Missouri.

robow

And the Tour of Utah that started yesterday.

Machka 

That's what I'm saying in the post just above yours. The OP should ask this question in the Professional Cycling forum (or whatever it is called) rather than the Touring forum.

Bheleu

Thanks for pointing me to the other forum, though I'm not quite sure I would like to see a USA Tour to be for professional cyclists only. Nice thoughts on the dopping issues, and other items.

Touring, is that not the tour rides (some charity, etc) that are around the country? That's why I posted this in here (and I didn't see the professional riding section). I was under the misconception that anyone could ride on something like the TDF if they had the entry fees, etc. racing non-pro. Being the great USA, would rather a Tour USA to be available for anyone to ride, for fun or for prize money. For some reason I like the idea that some unknown riding with vintage gear could beat someone with "the" gear, after all the only reason those pair of $$$ shoes are on the feet of the top winners are because each of the pro guys are paid to wear $$$ shoes (the old days of golf were for the elite, those who really shined were those with natural skill able to play in the open tournaments). "USA Open Tour" is what I would like to see (which is definetly, not just professional cyclist); therefore, not sure this belongs in that forum or not.

Perhaps another way to bring more of the public into cycling is to make this interesting. Instead of a professional race a reality TV series could get this started? Pick some of the more scenic areas around the country, grab people off the street, train them up, each player picks their own bicycle and gear from the same shop, and they can win upgrades along the route. Or like the professional chef game show, real cyclists (winners from some of the tour rides across the country) compete against their choice of a professional cyclist. These cyclists get to pick any gear they wish.

Oh well, random thoughts for another day.

imi

uh, a while back there was a thread with a fair amount of consensus that a "tour" is any bicycle trip with a night stop... The TDF definitely falls into this catagory... a VERY FULLY SUPPORTED tour, with a huge media "BLOG" and definitely a bunch of "CRAZY GUYS ON BIKES"... (just kidding, not trying to start a brawl)

surly_tourer

Why don't you post this in the racing forum where someone might care.

Machka 

Touring is when you load up your bicycle with panniers and set off for a weekend, a few days, or longer in your local area or further afield in another part of your country or another country. Touring has nothing to do with charities (although a few people try to incorporate a charity thing with their tours ... but that doesn't usually go over very well).

It's usually a private endeavor - an individual might tour solo or with a small group of friends, although occasionally there might be an organized tour involving a larger group of people. Cycletouring clubs often organize these larger tours, and there are companies you can pay fairly large amounts of money to who will organize the tour for you ... these often run in Europe or the Canadian Rockies and places like that.

Tours are not races, although some people will attempt to cover a particular distance in a particular time ... at a fast touring pace. But that is just for their own interest and is their own personal accomplishment.


Nope! It's a professional race.


Oh please! You do know that this is NOT a US forum ... it is an international forum with people posting from all over the world.



Post it in the Racing forum ... a subforum of the Road forum. Anything involving beating another rider doesn't belong in the Touring forum.

Here ... go here: https://www.bikeforums.net/33-road-bike-racing/

Bheleu

So for the main interest of those in this forum... Tour USA would not be about racing, it'd be more of a huge group of riders picking a date, setting a road map, and riding across the country in mass (at a go at your own pace) across many days or weeks, preferably picking the more scenic and interesting routes along the way (and yet others could make it into a race if they wanted)?

That still sounds intriguing, and even doable, not that I mean that everyone would be able to ride completely across the country, but if it was turned into kind of a relay style tour where one group of riders start a journal and mention a link to BF, they ride one section of the country and agree to meet with another set of riders, and pass that journal another set, who meets up with another set, etc until it crosses through every US state. The goal of which is to make the journal travel through every state, handed off from cyclist to cyclist until it makes it's way back through the last state, and every once in a while someone who has the journal posts the log from it back into the BFs?

And for those of you in or from other countries, no offense intended just national pride coming through. The US might not be the most cyclist friendly country in the world but for me it's home and still a great country to live in, although I do wish it was more cyclist friendly and more people would take an interest.

cyclezealot

Machka always the helpful spirit.. I see next year it's entirely focused about Adelaide. Adelaide is the cycling capital of Australia.?... Other regions of Australia get their chance at the TDU.?