A quick roundup of last weekends Tour of STL is in order.
Day 1 - Arrive at 6:30 to help with setup. After a little setup work, I got hooked into working registration. This was my first time doing registration and what a joy it was.
Where, oh where, to start. The first problem was having a list of pre-registered riders that was not up to date. That gets the day off to a nice start when I see that I'm not registered despite going through the online registration.
Second, no signage to guide the cyclists to through the registration and no real organization on our end which resulted in....
Third, riders having no clear direction, walked up at random to one of the two or three of us behind the table and ask to register. You would think they might have an idea that there would be a line of some sort instead just walking up as a herd and standing around the tables. Like a fool, I tried to help these people and it only led to more confusion. Finally, I tried to get everyone in a line and restore a little order. That lasted for a while until I could get away and start warming up for the race.
The race itself was anti-climactic. It was a little windy and some crazy strong guy solo'd to a victory almost from the gun. I did a little work, blah, blah.
After the race I headed up toward the the afternoon time trial. By this time, I was hungry as hell. I had a little something to eat at 6am and a bagel during registration. It was now after 2pm and I was desperate for food but did not want to sit down to a meal. On the way to the time trial I found a Hardee's and grabbed a couple small burgers. An excellent pre-race meal, I know. And now that I think about it, do Hardees burgers always come with no ketchup? I found that strange.
After arriving at the time trial, nothing was ready and first rider started an hour late. I could have taken more time in finding something better to eat after all.
While the crit was windy, the time trial out on Columbia Bottoms was even windier. The wind swept along the flatlands and buffeted the riders. The winding course alternated between fast and easy and hard and slow. Unfortunately, more of the hard work came on the return trip of the out and back course. There were times that the TT bike with disk wheel made you feel like Dennis Connor sailing a 12-meter America's Cup yacht. I turned in an okay time that was slightly slower than at Hermann the week before, but with the wind and an earlier race in my legs it seemed about right.
Day 2 was even windier than Saturday. The combined courses for the usual Carondelet race plus the Tuesday Night Worlds course made for an interesting circuit race. Staying tucked in the pack was big help. I did not do as well as I could have in that regard, however. Still, I was riding fine until I tried an ill-timed move up the right side of the course to try and stir up the pace. The pack came swerving over as the course bent slightly to the right and forced me to lay on the brakes, praying that my fishtailing rear wheel stayed off the curb. By the time I got moving again a gap had opened up. I was left chasing up the hill and then along the windiest portion of the course. That was the end of my race.
=======================
Congratulations to Davide Rebellin for getting busted for using CERA at the Olympics. It's ridiculous that it took eight months and one Spring Classics win to nail the guy but at least he's gone now. I never did trust Rebellin. He has was always a pretty good rider when he was younger. Then, in 2003, at the age of 32(?) he suddenly wins the Ardennes triple and has had a string of very strong performances ever since then.
Over the last several years Telekom has earned the reputation of probably having been the dirtiest team in cycling. As it turns, the other German team, Gerolsteiner, looks almost as dirty. In just the last year Kohl, Schumacher, Rebellin have all been busted. Were they always that dirty or were the riders desperate for performances because Gerolsteiner was pulling out of the sport and they needed results?
The recent spate of Gerolsteiner positives makes you look a little differently at Heinrich Haussler's performances this year. He rides for Cervelo now, but was also on Gerolsteiner for the past couple years. Maybe he simply is maturing and has had a breakthrough in performance but his sudden rise to prominence certainly makes you wonder.
========================
And speaking of Gerolsteiner, what is up with Conehead Schumacher's lawyer? Schumacher was already busted for tests he submitted at the Tour. Now it is revealed that he tested positive at the Olympics, too. Michael Lehner, Schumacher's lawyer, unleashed this gem of a quote when the Olympic positive became known, "I had to really swallow hard, when I heard that."
Really? Don't insult our intelligence Mr. Lehner.
After recovering from the shock of Schumacher's positive, Lehner came up another brilliant thought. Despite the fact that he is defending Schumacher for the Tour de France positive, where Schumacher claims he was not doping, Lehner then argues that it is possible that Schumacher was not doping at the Olympics but that there may have still been traces of the CERA from the Tour.
Huh? What? That logic makes my head hurt.
Lehner should be disbarred for such idiocy.
Day 1 - Arrive at 6:30 to help with setup. After a little setup work, I got hooked into working registration. This was my first time doing registration and what a joy it was.
Where, oh where, to start. The first problem was having a list of pre-registered riders that was not up to date. That gets the day off to a nice start when I see that I'm not registered despite going through the online registration.
Second, no signage to guide the cyclists to through the registration and no real organization on our end which resulted in....
Third, riders having no clear direction, walked up at random to one of the two or three of us behind the table and ask to register. You would think they might have an idea that there would be a line of some sort instead just walking up as a herd and standing around the tables. Like a fool, I tried to help these people and it only led to more confusion. Finally, I tried to get everyone in a line and restore a little order. That lasted for a while until I could get away and start warming up for the race.
The race itself was anti-climactic. It was a little windy and some crazy strong guy solo'd to a victory almost from the gun. I did a little work, blah, blah.
After the race I headed up toward the the afternoon time trial. By this time, I was hungry as hell. I had a little something to eat at 6am and a bagel during registration. It was now after 2pm and I was desperate for food but did not want to sit down to a meal. On the way to the time trial I found a Hardee's and grabbed a couple small burgers. An excellent pre-race meal, I know. And now that I think about it, do Hardees burgers always come with no ketchup? I found that strange.
After arriving at the time trial, nothing was ready and first rider started an hour late. I could have taken more time in finding something better to eat after all.
While the crit was windy, the time trial out on Columbia Bottoms was even windier. The wind swept along the flatlands and buffeted the riders. The winding course alternated between fast and easy and hard and slow. Unfortunately, more of the hard work came on the return trip of the out and back course. There were times that the TT bike with disk wheel made you feel like Dennis Connor sailing a 12-meter America's Cup yacht. I turned in an okay time that was slightly slower than at Hermann the week before, but with the wind and an earlier race in my legs it seemed about right.
Day 2 was even windier than Saturday. The combined courses for the usual Carondelet race plus the Tuesday Night Worlds course made for an interesting circuit race. Staying tucked in the pack was big help. I did not do as well as I could have in that regard, however. Still, I was riding fine until I tried an ill-timed move up the right side of the course to try and stir up the pace. The pack came swerving over as the course bent slightly to the right and forced me to lay on the brakes, praying that my fishtailing rear wheel stayed off the curb. By the time I got moving again a gap had opened up. I was left chasing up the hill and then along the windiest portion of the course. That was the end of my race.
=======================
Congratulations to Davide Rebellin for getting busted for using CERA at the Olympics. It's ridiculous that it took eight months and one Spring Classics win to nail the guy but at least he's gone now. I never did trust Rebellin. He has was always a pretty good rider when he was younger. Then, in 2003, at the age of 32(?) he suddenly wins the Ardennes triple and has had a string of very strong performances ever since then.
Over the last several years Telekom has earned the reputation of probably having been the dirtiest team in cycling. As it turns, the other German team, Gerolsteiner, looks almost as dirty. In just the last year Kohl, Schumacher, Rebellin have all been busted. Were they always that dirty or were the riders desperate for performances because Gerolsteiner was pulling out of the sport and they needed results?
The recent spate of Gerolsteiner positives makes you look a little differently at Heinrich Haussler's performances this year. He rides for Cervelo now, but was also on Gerolsteiner for the past couple years. Maybe he simply is maturing and has had a breakthrough in performance but his sudden rise to prominence certainly makes you wonder.
========================
And speaking of Gerolsteiner, what is up with Conehead Schumacher's lawyer? Schumacher was already busted for tests he submitted at the Tour. Now it is revealed that he tested positive at the Olympics, too. Michael Lehner, Schumacher's lawyer, unleashed this gem of a quote when the Olympic positive became known, "I had to really swallow hard, when I heard that."
Really? Don't insult our intelligence Mr. Lehner.
After recovering from the shock of Schumacher's positive, Lehner came up another brilliant thought. Despite the fact that he is defending Schumacher for the Tour de France positive, where Schumacher claims he was not doping, Lehner then argues that it is possible that Schumacher was not doping at the Olympics but that there may have still been traces of the CERA from the Tour.
Huh? What? That logic makes my head hurt.
Lehner should be disbarred for such idiocy.
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