Hello again yall!
I'm back again, this time from the US Pro Championships in Greenville, SC. I didn't really come up here to work, but my first day as a spectator and I'm trying to find a job!!! This weekend consists of two major events surrounded by good times. Today was the 20 mile ITT. Tomorrow morning there will be the Palmetto Peloton Project. I'm excited about that because it'll be lead out by Saul Raisin. I saw Saul (say that five times fast) today and he's looking pretty good...a little heavy, but great! I can't wait to see him on the bike tomorrow.
Sunday is the big road race, a 120+ mile race taking the riders up and over Paris Mountain five times before the finishing circuits in downtown Greenville.Todays race was a good one. It was fun to watch. The course was hilly and technical which made it even better. The day started off with AJ Smith, the "Discovery Channel guest rider" starting at 9:55am, five minutes before the real riders began. AJ stayed away from the man five minutes behind him and finished with a respectible time around 47 minutes which, if he were actually racing for the stars and stripes, would have put him around 48th place. All day, the talk was of a few big guns that have the opportunity to take the jersey. Those were Jason McCartney, Chris Baldwin, and Dave Zabriskie. Jason put in a great ride. He came flying across the line! He got a big cheer from the crowd but not quite as big as the one Craig Lewis got. Craig is George Hincapie's next door neighbor, a hometown boy. The crowd loved seeing him gun for the line. Everyone was getting antsy waiting for the last few riders to come in. At the turn around point, Dave Z had a big advantage of the lead rider. When Chris Baldwin hit the final checkpoint at the turn around, he was 8 seconds ahead of Dave. Dave didn't have an ear piece on today, so he had no idea about the time splits. He told his driver "If it's close...HONK!" and the car was honking all the way home. Dave took the lead ahead of Jason when he crossed the line, but Chris was ripping up the course. The video cameras were following Chris in since he was the last rider on the course, so of course the cameras cought every minute of his ride, including the final turn within 1.5K to go.
Chris overshot the turn. His back wheel locked up and he went tumbling into the ditch. He grabbed his spare bike and ended up finishing second. He was obviously disappointed when he came across the line. It was really sad to see. The crash didn't occure so much because he overshot the turn...the marshal on the corner was not doing his job. This is where the importance of dedicated volunteers come in. We often worry about some (not all!) of our local volunteers. In the past, we've realized that they want to "Get the t-shirt, get the good view point, and the free Subway sandwich." I'm not saying this was the case, but watching Baldwin on the screen showed that he clearly didn't know which way to go until he turned his head, saw the marshal and tried to correct his missed turn. I guess it shows that our job is fairly important. When we mess up, accidents happen.At the end of the day, after the three winners had gone into the press conference and things were quieting down, what was left of the crowd had two special visitors. George Hincapie and Levi Leiphimer rode up. George's wife, Melanie was actually at the race today because, being the #1 podium girl she is, she presented the riders this afternoon and will do it again Sunday. Anyway, they signed autographs, took pictures, and talked to the big guns of USA Cycling like Steve Johnson. After a little while, they rode off with their own moto escort. Not long after they rode off, Ekimov rode up. What's he doing on a bike?! He's retired!!! In case you hadn't heard, he's now a Director Sportif for Discovery. Not much more than four days since his last bike race as a rider, he was in the car behind AJ and Jason and will be on Sunday. It supprised us all to see Eki riding, not a Trek, but a Bianci! We got a good laugh out of that. I don't think he planned on riding much while he was in town, but wound up doing so.I'm posting up pictures on my web site this afternoon. gillejc.smugmug.com
Enjoy! And I'll have a report from Sunday's road race. Like always, feel free to ask questions, make comments, correct my typos...whatever.
Missing Auburn,JC
I'm back again, this time from the US Pro Championships in Greenville, SC. I didn't really come up here to work, but my first day as a spectator and I'm trying to find a job!!! This weekend consists of two major events surrounded by good times. Today was the 20 mile ITT. Tomorrow morning there will be the Palmetto Peloton Project. I'm excited about that because it'll be lead out by Saul Raisin. I saw Saul (say that five times fast) today and he's looking pretty good...a little heavy, but great! I can't wait to see him on the bike tomorrow.
Sunday is the big road race, a 120+ mile race taking the riders up and over Paris Mountain five times before the finishing circuits in downtown Greenville.Todays race was a good one. It was fun to watch. The course was hilly and technical which made it even better. The day started off with AJ Smith, the "Discovery Channel guest rider" starting at 9:55am, five minutes before the real riders began. AJ stayed away from the man five minutes behind him and finished with a respectible time around 47 minutes which, if he were actually racing for the stars and stripes, would have put him around 48th place. All day, the talk was of a few big guns that have the opportunity to take the jersey. Those were Jason McCartney, Chris Baldwin, and Dave Zabriskie. Jason put in a great ride. He came flying across the line! He got a big cheer from the crowd but not quite as big as the one Craig Lewis got. Craig is George Hincapie's next door neighbor, a hometown boy. The crowd loved seeing him gun for the line. Everyone was getting antsy waiting for the last few riders to come in. At the turn around point, Dave Z had a big advantage of the lead rider. When Chris Baldwin hit the final checkpoint at the turn around, he was 8 seconds ahead of Dave. Dave didn't have an ear piece on today, so he had no idea about the time splits. He told his driver "If it's close...HONK!" and the car was honking all the way home. Dave took the lead ahead of Jason when he crossed the line, but Chris was ripping up the course. The video cameras were following Chris in since he was the last rider on the course, so of course the cameras cought every minute of his ride, including the final turn within 1.5K to go.
Chris overshot the turn. His back wheel locked up and he went tumbling into the ditch. He grabbed his spare bike and ended up finishing second. He was obviously disappointed when he came across the line. It was really sad to see. The crash didn't occure so much because he overshot the turn...the marshal on the corner was not doing his job. This is where the importance of dedicated volunteers come in. We often worry about some (not all!) of our local volunteers. In the past, we've realized that they want to "Get the t-shirt, get the good view point, and the free Subway sandwich." I'm not saying this was the case, but watching Baldwin on the screen showed that he clearly didn't know which way to go until he turned his head, saw the marshal and tried to correct his missed turn. I guess it shows that our job is fairly important. When we mess up, accidents happen.At the end of the day, after the three winners had gone into the press conference and things were quieting down, what was left of the crowd had two special visitors. George Hincapie and Levi Leiphimer rode up. George's wife, Melanie was actually at the race today because, being the #1 podium girl she is, she presented the riders this afternoon and will do it again Sunday. Anyway, they signed autographs, took pictures, and talked to the big guns of USA Cycling like Steve Johnson. After a little while, they rode off with their own moto escort. Not long after they rode off, Ekimov rode up. What's he doing on a bike?! He's retired!!! In case you hadn't heard, he's now a Director Sportif for Discovery. Not much more than four days since his last bike race as a rider, he was in the car behind AJ and Jason and will be on Sunday. It supprised us all to see Eki riding, not a Trek, but a Bianci! We got a good laugh out of that. I don't think he planned on riding much while he was in town, but wound up doing so.I'm posting up pictures on my web site this afternoon. gillejc.smugmug.com
Enjoy! And I'll have a report from Sunday's road race. Like always, feel free to ask questions, make comments, correct my typos...whatever.
Missing Auburn,JC
posted by JC Gillespie at 7:52 AM
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