Esteemed Sparty & Friends commenter Fiesta Trio decided to check out some bike racing Saturday. Lucky for us, he was a nice enough guy to pen his thoughts and experiences regarding…well, his thoughts and experiences. Anyway, take it away Fiesta Trio:
Hey all; Fiesta Trio here, recapping my experience at my first bicycle road race last Saturday.
I read that Stage Seven of the Amgen Tour of California was racing today (Saturday, Feb 21) from Santa Clarita, near Magic Mountain, to Pasadena, finishing with 5 laps around the Rose Bowl - an 88 mile race. I looked up the course route and saw that it goes through La Cañada Flintridge, where I have ridden before. So I watched the beginning of the race online, and we left Burbank when the riders reached the ten mile mark.
It took about 15 minutes to get to where I wanted to catch the race, which was about 1 1/2 hours before the actual racers came through. There were only 20 people at the intersection when we got there. The intersection was at the top of short steep hill where the riders make a left turn. So I figured they would be going slow enough actually see them.
I’m glad we didn’t got to the Rose Bowl to watch. I saw on the recap that the crowds were ten rows deep; probably would’ve turned around and gone home if I’d gone there.
I told my wife we should have brought a cowbell, because that’s what you do at a bike race. Five minutes later, some nice kid came by giving way cowbells (with advertising, of course). After about 10 seconds of kids with cowbells, I had had enough of the cowbells.
Many people began to gather around the corner, and many wannabe racers were riding the course, fooling us into thinking they were part of a breakaway. The place was really stating to fill up, and all of the tall people were standing in front, so I moved across the street to get a better view. I couldn’t see them coming up the small hill, but I had a clear view as they rounded the corner. My wife stayed on the approaching side of the intersection and got some great video. Here is a picture of the crowd. The riders approach from the right and turn left towards me:
Here is the route as the riders move away from me. I’m sure they were breaking the speed limit. Nice homes, that’s for sure:
Finally, a course operator was dropped off (police were already there) and he was flagging cars and support vehicles to turn left, yelling at people to stay off the road. We thought we were really close to having the riders come through. After about half an hour of that, he said the riders were headed this way… in about 15 minutes. Finally, a tour vehicle came by with loudspeakers on its top, blaring that a breakaway group was headed this way in a few minutes. We waited some more, and finally, a group of seven riders rounded the corner and headed down the street, followed by a few support vehicles.
Three minutes later, the peloton raced by. Lance Armstrong was in the front part of the Peloton with Team Astana. Here he is with his black and yellow helmet peeking through the bushes:
Then, I really felt I was at a NASCAR race as the peloton’s support vehicles flew by us. It was really like being at a street race, the cars (mostly Subarus) skidding around the corner, then gunning their engines chasing the peloton. There were a few straggling riders after that. In all, once the first riders passed, we were able to pack up and leave about 15 minutes later.
Here is the youtube video of the breakaway riders and then the peloton. At the end of the video, you can see me sitting down with my son as Lance rides by:
After the race, I went and dropped a benjamin at a really good wood-fired barbeque joint in Pasadena.
Oh yeah, Rinaldo Nocentini of Italy won the stage. The yellow jersey was retained by Levi Leipheimer of Astana, maintaining a 36 second lead. Lance Armstrong was sixth heading into Sunday’s Seventh Stage, one minute 46 seconds behind teammate Leipheimer.
It was a great experience to see the riders live. Like most sports, watching on TV may give you better views, but there is nothing like being there. I probably would’ve gone even if Lance wasn’t racing. But, like Tiger is to golf, Lance makes cycling relevant.
My thanks to Sparty and Friends for allowing me to guest blog this post.
Lance and Fiesta Trio, for about 0.1 seconds:
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sounds like a cool experience
you didn’t Big Daddy it and throw a stick in front of the riders? sae(Quote)
the last picture with FT sitting on the ground, makes him look like a 10 year old. sparty(Quote)
we need mikey to photoshop in a mickey mouse balloon into Fiesta Trio’s raised hand. mizerle06(Quote)
Good job. I always wanted to go see the Tour de France one day. Obviously the riders come by in about 2 minutes but I would think it would just be cool to drink some beer with some German fans, then drink some wine with some Italian and Spanish fans and then maybe some Champagne with some French fans.
Of course if I could just go 15 minutes down the road and watch it, that would be cool too and the Tour of California really seemed to be top notch. Most of you don’t know them but they really had a field of elite riders comparable to any race in the Europe.
They said that there were estimated to be about 2 million spectators who viewed the stage yesterday and that made it the most attended sporting event in the history of California. I was wondering what event in the entire US might have had more than 2 Million spectators on a given day? cycledan(Quote)
I was thinking of doing a bike race this Saturday but I would have to get up around 4AM to get there on time. I also have to coach my son’s basketball team on Friday night so I probably wouldn’t get to sleep before 11 at the earliest. I am fine with 5 hours sleep but not fine with 5 hours sleep when I have to do something very strenuous. cycledan(Quote)
An Olympic event or marathon?…maybe? john(Quote)
Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade? mizerle06(Quote)
New York Yankeees 2009 World Series Parade. sparty(Quote)
I meant sporting event. I think Obama’s inauguration had something like 2 Million people. cycledan(Quote)
OJ’s trial verdict? mizerle06(Quote)
nevermind, those people weren’t live in the courtroom. mizerle06(Quote)
OJ in the White Bronco…. sparty(Quote)
if the cubs win the world series 2 million people will claim to have been there mikeychx(Quote)
seriously…this was a pretty cool post - mikeychx(Quote)
How do you know I’m not a 10 year old? Crap, another meeting, I can’t even comment into my own post! That for posting, Sparty. See you guys at HH. Fiesta Trio(Quote)
context clues? or, you’re Alfie Patten? mizerle06(Quote)
+1, Miz sparty(Quote)
Damn…Lance rode the entire race with a red arrow above his head? So much for blending in. rekcalsa(Quote)
Agreed on FT looking like a 10 yr old in the pic…can’t watch the video yet. rekcalsa(Quote)
cycledan–I would actually love to go check out the TdF one day…being able to see the different countries and see the race would be fun.
/mikeyzone rekcalsa(Quote)
There is one organized ride where they ride the actual roads of one of the tough mountain stages a couple of days before the real riders come through. It is so popular that they cut off the number of people that can do the ride (like the NYC marathon). They close the roads and several thousand people ride it. There are food stops and a broom wagon. Basically if you fall below a minimum pace, they pick you up and you are not allowed to stay on the road anymore. Of course some people try to ride it like a race. The top amateurs will nearly always be at least an hour slower than the pros.
Kind of fun to compare yourself to the pros. Sort of like seeing what you can shoot on a golf course that the pros just played on. Makes you realize how insanely good the pros are. cycledan(Quote)