jyl

I am thinking about treating myself to a few days in Richmond for the 2015 Worlds.

I can't go for the whole time; maybe 3 days. I don't know the city or course at all; where to stay etc. I'm wondering what events and attractions or exhibits might accompany the races.

Anyone have any tips or suggestions?

rm -rf

I was planning on going. But, aside from the time trials, there's only 1 or 2 races a day.
Here's the schedule link.

Road course days:
24th
Road Circuit Training
10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Conquer the Cobbles Run
7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

25th
Women's Junior Road Circuit
10:00 a.m. to 11:50 a.m.
Conquer the Cobbles Ride
7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Men's Under 23 Road Circuit
12:45 p.m. to 4:50 p.m.

26th
Men's Junior Road Circuit
9:00 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.
Women's Elite Road Circuit
1:00 p.m. to 4:25 p.m.

27th
Men's Elite Road Circuit
9:00 a.m. to 3:40 p.m.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The road course is 10 miles. That's between 20 and 30 minutes per lap. There's many places on the course to see both out and back on the same lap. The men's elite on the last day is 161 miles, 16 laps. The other races are much shorter.

I was thinking about a 1 or 2 days visit, but it seems like a lot of trouble for not all that much race viewing. Not knowing much about the Worlds event, I just assumed there would be a criterium race, but there's not.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This Washington Post story reprinted in the blog says that there will be lots of activities in town. But nothing shows up in a google search. Maybe it's still too early.

hueyhoolihan

what a surprise, i had no idea Richmond was hosting the UCI Road World Championships this year!

years ago i traveled through Richmond as part of a longer cycling tour. the area was very nice for cycling in the spring and should be even nicer in September.

jyl

Maybe we will have a BFPCFC get together there!

I'm hoping there will be stuff to do around the races. Like, a street party.

Dan333SP

Just popping in here to say that Cav showed up at a local bike shop yesterday and rode the course with a couple escort vehicles this morning.

Here he is climbing Libby Hill's cobblestones, which I rode a few days ago as well. They're very rough, it will be a great place to watch the race because the lead guys will be fighting to get into the 1 ft wide smooth concrete section of the road surface off to the right.



There's a ton of excitement around here in our local cycling community, if any of you guys need specific recommendations on places to ride while here, places to watch the races, or general advice on Richmond feel free to send me a message or reply here, we've got a great community of cyclists in Richmond.

WCroadie

I am on the volunteer list, waiting to hear what my assignment might be, I may end up not volunteering and just going down for saturday and sunday, the hotels are booking up fast, I can't get any of my friends to commit to going and my wife has no interest.

If I volunteer, I still have to find hotel arrangements on my own, IDK if I want to spend hundreds just on the hotel, so I may just be there for the weekend. I really don't want to miss this opportunity, it's a 5 hr drive for me.

Giacomo 1 

Haha, I hear you!

Same problem here...

WCroadie

I said the hell with it and just booked a hotel last night for Friday and Saturday nights, I will drive home late Sunday. I don't care if I have to go by myself, no way am I going to miss the race.

hokie cycler

Cavendish was in town previewing the course. The polics claimed they had some officers who needed training in rolling road closures so they gave him a police escort around the course.

Mark Cavendish previews Richmond worlds course

Dan333SP

Did you see my post?

One of my cycling buddies is in charge of the EMS services for the event. Ironically, he's happy to be involved in the planning for worlds, but he's been so busy that he hasn't had time to ride more than once a week since late last year.

Hokie, do you do any group rides in our area? My friend/teammate started up the Globehopper ride a couple years ago that would leave from a coffee shop in Church Hill and head east for 45 miles, we now roll on Sundays at 11 AM from Union Market (also in C-Hill), it's a great group if you want to try something new. We have a few points where people can attack/sprint, but we'll always regroup and wait for stragglers so it's fast but social.

09box

I'd love to volunteer but thats a long drive for such a short race..

hokie cycler

I usually ride the RABA Saturday morning Ashland ride. I've done the Globehopper a couple of times last year. I may give it a go again this summer. I work at VCU so we are plenty busy planning for September. Lots of logistics when the course goes through a campus of 30,000 students.

Dan333SP

Nice, I was a grad student in the MURP program through last year, I've probably run into you at Ashland C&T on Saturday mornings before!

DropBarFan

Richmond is a commercial but quiet sort of city. Big events like the semi-annual NASCAR races quickly use up most of hotel rooms. Might be good idea to camp out at Pocahantas State Park, about 20 miles outside of city. Seems like the park still has many spots open, I think I should book too. Easier to bike 20 miles than to be stuck in downtown auto traffic for 90 minutes, not even knowing where to park.

OTOH while there aren't official campgrounds in Richmond downtown/suburb area, there are lots of local land owners that let NASCAR attendees camp on their property. So one could do search & probably find a fairly cheap camping spot within 5/10 miles of downtown for Richmond Worlds. Area is mostly flat which helps. Nice area for day trips too esp west to the hills.

Went to '74 Worlds in Montreal & it was awesome. Worlds don't get so much attention on US cycling TV but are tough & awesome races.

redcon1

We meet family from Atlanta every December in RVA and we always enjoy our visit; I always say I should have brought my bike along. I'm gonna find a room and maybe try to ride the cobbles on Friday night.

Edit - No rooms available anywhere near downtown for that weekend. Should have started my planning earlier. Found a room off Broad Street West, I guess I should just ride my bike to downtown.

DropBarFan

Heh, sometimes friends suggest I go to see TDF & I have to explain how difficult the logistics are. Worlds has hundreds of press/support folks alone that reserve hotels far ahead. Went to VA mountains to see pro stage races & even in rural areas it can be tough to leapfrog pack with a car. Tried to follow a team support Volvo (not in actual race convoy) on the highway & the guy was going 85 mph. Well your hotel spot seems pretty good.

I just now checked out the main Richmond course & it's rather surprising. Little climbing; almost like a big kermesse. BTW I read Joe Parkin's book Dog in a Hat where he ventures the idea that length of Belgian kermesse courses is designed for the exact amount of time it takes for spectators to finish a beer & grab another one before pack swings around again! OTOH IIRC the last time US hosted the Worlds was Colorado Springs. Probably a better course & savvier locals there but weather was cold & rainy.

diphthong

part of me is happy not to be old enough to have appreciated this in person. the other half would have loved seeing merckx crushing mont royal and his opponents on that course.

DropBarFan

It was an amazing race(s). French team was strong & organized: they sent out a Francoise Campaner on long early breakaway & then Bernard Thevenet took over for another long solo breakaway. But all the while Merckx stayed around 5th-10th place with his characteristic look of grim determination. In final laps 38 yr old Raymond Poulidor dueled with Merckx to get (eternal 2nd place. One could hardly find a better location than Montreal for the event; Mount Royal climb high enough to help decide but there was also another shorter but steep climb great for spectating.

At the Youth Hostel there were fans from all over; Canadian tv had very good commentators too. Crowds were immense, even gas-station workers knew about the World's events & considering going to see them. Plus it included the track events held on a beautiful outdoor (but unfortunately temporary) wooden track. After one evening's track races I hitchhiked part-way back to the hostel & got a ride from a cute Quebecois woman LOL.

Dan333SP

Check this out, basically airbnb specifically for this event-

RVA Bike Race - Richmond 2015

I've got plenty of friends who are planning on leaving their apartments in the Fan neighborhood (very close to portions of the course, or even on the course in some cases) for the weekend to rent them out. My spare bedroom is being taken by my cycling-crazed cousin, otherwise I'd consider putting it on that site as well, I'm walking distance from one of the time trial courses.

redcon1

Great idea! Looks like most of the rentals left offer only the whole week option, I will only be coming in for the last weekend. I will continue to check that site though... thanks for the heads up!
(I would love to rent that old home on Monument Ave - Only $15K for the week 0

Dan333SP

I haven't really looked closely at the listings, but it couldn't hurt to find a decent one and email the owner/lease holder to see if they would let you stay for part of the week despite what the listing says. People are probably being unrealistic if they think they can rent their place for more than just Fri/Sat/Sun given the number of people who are coming for those days and can't afford to take off more time.

DropBarFan

Thanks for the tip! In '74 a guy put a little ad in the back of Bicycling Magazine--he reserved some spots at the Montreal youth hostel & sold them. Hostel was in a church & was pretty nice if basic (sleeping bags on cots).

Richmond is supposed to have a youth hostel opening up in August just in time & they're accepting reservations. But cross your fingers I guess. BTW I-95 between DC & Richmond usually has heavy traffic esp on Fridays.

HI Hostels ? Youth Hostels USA & Backpacking Cheap Budget Travel | HI USA

Dan333SP

Fridays? How about every day? It's miserable. If people are coming down from the MD/DC area, Amtrak is worth a look. Their train to Norfolk goes through Main St. Station, and that's literally right on the road race course. Much more pleasant to spend $60 and sit in a comfy seat with wifi for 2-3 hours than spending 3-4 hours in traffic.

Funny enough, I went to Montreal for 15 years for the F1 race. My first time there in the 90s, the University of Montreal was renting out dorm rooms for race fans. I stayed in a dingy little dorm with no AC and communal bathrooms, basically the hostel experience because they doubled up a lot of rooms. Worth it, though.

DropBarFan

I hadn't thought about taking the train, good idea. The Amtrak Northeast Corridor lines serving Richmond unfortunately don't have the "walk-up" bike service so one needs to use a box ($15 fee fairly reasonable actually). I went to the Montreal F1 race a couple of times, a fun event. In '94 warm-up Schumacher was driving his Benetton Ford so fast I swear it looked like he was getting airborne in one of the short chutes. A French-Canadian spectator in the stands graciously offered to share her sliced cucumbers...something unlikely to happen at a NASCAR race, heh. I didn't know about the Uni-Montreal dorms so I stayed at a campground 20 miles away from the city. Surprisingly most of the campers were locals that just like a little fresh air for weekends. All the campground trees were maples, very appropriate.

jyl

You Richmond folks, or anyone who has studied the course, any thoughts on where might be good places to spectate from? I'm trying to find Airbnb lodging close to those places. Thanks!