Check this out, if you need a smile.
(Been meaning to link this forever.)
Category: Cycling Page 31 of 34
If you enjoy racing at all, come to my neighborhood and check out the CSC Invitational next Saturday, June 2nd. For the uninitiated, the CSC Invitational is a day-long series of amateur and pro bicycle races on a 1km circuit that winds through Clarendon. It’s a great way to spend a day, as the course is incredibly spectator friendly (always lots of people, but never impossible to get a roadside spot). Come check it out. More info here. While I hope you’ll come early to support your local amateur racers, the men’s pro race starts at 12:25pm.
For those of you who follow cycling, this is a good chance to see once and future stars – over the years, this race has hosted victories and impressive efforts by the likes of Ivan Dominguez, JJ Haedo, and Bobby Julich. Ivan will be there this year, as will Christian VandeVelde. I stumbled on this event in its second year, when it was still the Clarendon Cup. I’ve made it most years since then, and have never had anything but a fantastic day there.
Last Saturday night, I finally took advantage of one of the Potomac Pedalers Touring Club‘s organized rides. In this case, it was the “Moonlight Memorial Monument Ride”, which was scheduled for a rollout from 11th and K St. at 9pm. All PPTC rides are volunteer-led affairs, which generally means that while there’s an agreed upon pace and route, it’s up to you to make sure you can take care of yourself. Given the ride-filled schedule this approach produces, I think it works pretty well.
Perhaps the ride was advertised beyond the usual PPTC venues (I know that I was reminded of it by a posting on an MTB-related site), but as the ride started, it quickly became apparent that there were more than a few folks who hadn’t either ridden downtown before or ridden at night. And as you might imagine, there was a lot of overlap between those two groups. Now this, of course, is perfectly fine – no way to get experience without doing it for the first time, right? But it does end up requiring some extra care (and work) on the part of the ride leaders. While I did see someone hold up a yellow triangle of cloth and say something about following that at the beginning of the ride, I think that was pretty much the last time I saw him. There may have been other people who had been recruited to shepherd the groups as they drifted apart (in addition to speed differences, there would be inevitable – and multiple – separations by cars and traffic lights), but I never saw them.
So my lunchtime training ride often takes me past the playground of a private school. As I approached the edge of it today, I saw three boys standing there. Eight, maybe nine years old. All three were watching me approach. Two were wearing doubtful smirks, and one was watching me with great intensity. I noticed his hands were tightly clenched, and I immediately started forming a plan for how I was going to jump off the bike to catch and haul the little bastard off to his teacher. Because obviously, he was planning to chuck a rock at me on a dare from his friends.
So I let the hill slow my pace a bit, and was ready to swing off the saddle the moment he raised his arm over his head. Except as I drew up next to him, he didn’t raise his arm. In fact, he took off running. Next to me.
It seems I’d been challenged to a race.
It’s funny, how much you can take in over 50-something meters and a few seconds. He was putting his all into it, little chest heaving at the effort, legs flailing away. His friends behind him, cheering. And then the giant smile when he was the first past the signpost. Good things can still happen, in this world.
This daily coverage thing is a hell of a lot harder than I thought. I’ve a newfound respect for the people and systems that pull this off on a regular basis. Words to go with the pictures (and more pictures) as soon as I can.
Well, here we are at the end of the Tour de Georgia. Barring a completely unexpected turn of events, Janez Brajkovic (Discovery) will finish on Sunday as the overall winner of the 2007 Tour de Georgia. As of Saturday night, the GC standings look like this:
- BRAJKOVIC Janez DSC 23.01’03”
- VANDE VELDE Christian CSC 23.01’15” 12″
- CANADA GRACIA David SDV 23.04’07” 3’04”
With numbers like that, Vande Velde can only hope that the Discovery riders give him room to breathe, and Canada Gracia can only hope for an alien abduction of the first two guys.
And all Ryder Hesjedal needs to do to keep the KOM jersey is cross the finish line.
So with the GC all but in the books, what’s the real race tomorrow? The overall sprint jersey. Right now, the sprint points standings are:
- HAEDO Juan José CSC 26
- RODRIGUEZ Fred PRL 25
- CONTRINI Daniele TCS 23
- LEIPHEIMER Levi DSC 20
With only a single point separating Haedo and Rodrigeuz, you can be sure they’ll be keeping an eye on each other. There are no sprint lines during Sunday’s circuit, but the first ten finishers are awarded sprint points (15 for 1st, 12 for 2nd, 10 for 3rd, and then 7-1 for 4th-10th). Rodriguez is a two time winner of the TdG overall sprint jersey (2003 and 2006), but Haedo’s made no secret of the fact that he’d like to earn a turn at it on Sunday.
So you’ve already read the comprehensive Cycling News report on what happened at stage five of the Tour de Georgia. Anything new I can tell you? Well, here’s what I hope you want to know:
Was Tom Danielson pissed? Well, at the press conference, in which Levi Leipheimer repeatedly made reference to “Tom lending me Brasstown Bald this year,” Tom was very gracious. And he smiled. Perhaps a tinge too much. It’s the first time I’ve seen either man in person, so take it for what it’s worth, but Tom gave off the slightest hint of the vibe of a man who’s just been had, and knows it.
Were the riders a complete mess as they crossed the line at the top of Brasstown Bald? Absolutely. Even Levi, taking the stage, didn’t smile. Some faces were stony masks, but their first faltering steps off the bike gave clue to just how much the day took out of them. Other riders had a hard time even taking a bottle. 
Was it any easier to follow the race in person than online? Actually, no. In fact, I’m almost certain that most of you knew more about what was going on for the first 90% of the race than I did. Between the same video/cell problems that’ve been plaguing the tracker, having no cell coverage, and (ahem) leaving my laptop at the bottom of the mountain, I was only able to gather bits and pieces of updates from team radios (which, in my limited experience, seem to be regularly contradicting each other).
See anything cool? Well, of course. I saw the finish of Brasstown Bald. But cool as in amusing? Yeah – Levi Leipheimer’s mom came over to Tyler Hamilton to say hi and give him a hug. I’m sure Tyler will one day enjoy telling Levi to “Say hi to your mom” at some opportune moment.
(Between making sure I get details right, formatting, etc., it’s getting later than I’d like. More tomorrow.)
It’s been quiet here this week, for any number of reasons.  Work has been busy. National politics have gotten so absurd that I’ve needed to take a short break, lest my head explode. And there is nothing I want to say about what happened at Virginia Tech (other than that I wish 95% of the people on TV talking about it would follow my lead).
I have been tracking the Tour de Georgia over at Podium Cafe, though, and having a good time doing it (Stage 1, Stage 2, Stage 3). For those of you who don’t know, the Tour de Georgia is a professional cycling stage race that takes place over 7 days. Steephill.tv has an excellent one-stop site for information about the race, and you can actually watch the race live on the web here (it runs from 11a to 2p on Thursday, check Steephill for times Fri-Sun).
Cycling isn’t exactly the most popular sport in the US (it regularly gets shafted by TV in favor of bullriding or fishing coverage . . .), but the Tour de Georgia is a big deal for American pro cycling. I’m heading down to Georgia on Thursday so I can watch the final three stages in person.  Friday brings a pretty exciting finish on top of Brasstown Bald, Saturday involves a fast run from Lake Lanier down to Stone Mountain, and Sunday finishes the Tour with a circuit race through much of downtown Atlanta. I’ll be posting about that here and at Podium Cafe, so if you’re interested, check back nightly.
The Tour de Georgia, a seven stage pro-cycling race ably outlined by Clydesdale here, starts at 1pm EDT. No television coverage to speak of, but the Adobe Tour Tracker may be a decent substitute. Find it here. (I hope this site holds up better than the race site, which seems to be overwhelmed at the moment).
Today’s 97 mile stage starts in Peachtree City* (just south of Atlanta) and heads south to Macon. It’s an overall downhill run, and if I’m remembering the route correctly, it should be very fast.
The press conference from Saturday was available on the TdG site, but, well, nothing’s available at the moment. They do promise daily podcasts at this url. Might be worth checking out later on, after the tech mess is sorted.
*A planned community that spends most of its time worrying about the licensing of golf carts. It’s a tough life, there.