Don't eat the yellow snow

On Thursday we headed to Richmond. After scouting the course, we made a few suggestions about crowd control and course design. We picked up rental cars and a truck and took care of a few odds and ends.

At five p.m. we went to a joint called Stool Pigeons for beers. Floyd Landis, errr, 'embattled TdF champion Floyd Landis' was doing a TV interview to plead his case and to promote the race. Shrewd race promoters! Then we went to dinner.

On Friday I met up with the Mavic crew. We unloaded the truck and trailer. Two motorcycles came out of the truck. The neutral support bikes got seatposts, the wheels came out of the wheel bags, and piles of bikes, wheels, pedals and tools got organized. Around one p.m. I was done, and I went to lunch. Back to the hotel for a rest, then to dinner to make a plan for the race.

The plan was to have three cars and one moto in Williamsburg for the men's race, and one moto in Richmond for the women's race. After the women's race ended the second moto would join the men's race. After some pointers for caravan driving and procedures, we went to bed.

Up at 4:15, get dressed, meet in the lobby. It is snowing huge wet flakes. We bet the three cars from the garage, and head to the finish line in Richmond. Load three bikes, four front wheels and six rear wheels on the roof racks. A finger numbing experience. Then we load more wheels in the back of the car, along with tools, bottles of water and snacks. We gas up and head out around six for the drive to Williamsburg.

Snowing hard on the Interstate. We arrive in Williamsburg to find a few Virginia State Troopers waiting at the start line, and a few barricades. Still snowing hard, no sign that a professional bike race is about to take place. We head to a gas station to top off the tanks, and get something warm to drink. Some phone calls and radio action ensue. We determine that the race will take place.




The long and short of it is that a helicopter - necessary for helicopter shots and to relay signals from the moto cameras to the production truck at the finish line - won't work too well in this weather. The race will be delayed from 8:10 to 9:10. Some discussion is made of eliminating the 55 mile-ish road portion and heading back to Richmond to race the finishing circuits only. That idea is nixed.

Riders are wearing every piece of gear they have, some with latex surgical gloves over their winter gloves. One insane guy is spotted with shorts only. We do a bike swap for a rider who breaks his carbon fiber frame - top tube separates from head tube - when he crashes into another rider at three mph while warming up. We give out some chain lube, adjust handlebars, and swap pedals on one bike.

Nine a.m. comes and goes. We learn that we'll stage at 9:20 and roll out at 9:30. Still snowing like crazy. We will be car three, which means we'll be near the rear.

Hopefully we won't see too much action. My mechanic or "jumper" is a bike shop wrench named Latne who - like me - has never worked a race. We check radios, grab some water and food and roll a few blocks to the start line. He'll sit in the back seat with a pair of wheels, ready to jump out or more likely, hand them to the moto mechanic.

That's my jumper holding the spacing tools - a couple of rear dropouts - used to make sure that the wheels are ready to slam into the dropouts with no fuss.

First sign that this might just be a giant clusterf*ck is us changing a flat rear tire on the start line. Second is this:

(Photo above by Casey Gibson, the rest are mine)
Ooops, we missed the first turn. Get everybody turned around and going in the right direction.

OK, we're really rolling now. After an hour or so it stops snowing and the sun comes out. We change a bike for a Trek/Tecos rider on a narrow two lane road with team cars whizzing past at like 30 mph, pretty hairy. He eventually wrecks the Mavic bike and ends up in the hospital, but that's another story. We're all the way at the back now, behind the broom wagon and the ambulance. A cop pulls up and asks us if we want him to hang out with us and escort us back up. Heck yes. He keeps the road closed behind us and I pass a huge bus on a tiny two lane road and weave my way back to my position behind race comisar 3. The rest of the drive to Richmond is pretty uneventful.

Once we enter the 5.5 mile circuits, things heat up. We do a few wheel changes, but mostly hand wheels up to the moto. It's fun driving 60 mph down closed residential streets with cops behind you on the siren and knowing that you don't have to pull over.

After the race we unloaded the cars, put everything away and then I said goodbye to the Mavic guys and joined the set up/tear down crew. We broke down the finish line and headed for home.