For those who missed it: Tour of the Valley
 

My personal report is http://www.bikeforums.net/showpost.p...postcount=1566, but this race was AWESOME. 3 days, 4 stages. The crowds were awesome, the courses were difficult and fast, and the competition was up another level from the local scene. I was pushed to do things I thought I could never do; like climbing the largest hill I've ever seen and staying with the main field in the road race. The race did A LOT for the sport, as there were tons of spectators watching both criteriums and the road race.
Another cool thing was seeing a newspaper with a big picture of a bike race on the front page. When isn't that cool!? There was even a half page devoted to the Tour in the Sports section.

Check out some news articles here. I think Youngstown, OH has gained a little respect from me.



Here's to 2010, more stages and bigger prizes.

^^ Well said.

The Tour of Winghaven is doing the same things for cycling here in the St. Louis area.

Press coverage, and an all-around awesome race day for racers and fans alike.