The Ronde' was a big success! I don't even know where to go with this post, so here's kind of a summary of how the weekend went down.
The prep work:
The prep work:
Nobody usually sees or cares about the work that goes into putting on a race. If all goes well, this stuff is invisible. But John asked me to give a promoters perspective, so here goes. I must have made 10 trips down to the course during the last six months, either going by bike, or by car. I probably could have gotten away with less, but I really enjoy thinking things through on every level. So eventually, the course was swept, pot holes marked, sign positions laid out, corner marshal positions established, residents informed, and every safety issue we could think of were addressed. We also got our permits, begged for volunteers, gathered equipment, updated the webpage, and fine tuned our registration process.
Pat Sprute, our dedicated course engineer, in charge of the signs
Tony's "paper plate race" morphed into a full production, USAC sanctioned amateur bicycle race.
Race Day:
Alan Jacob made these trophies at his house. We never knew he was an artist. Photo: Alan Jacob
The Cat 1/2/3 field starts the race under blue skies on Kentuck Trails Road. Photo: Alan Jacob
Tire selection (and luck) was key to getting through the gravel without flatting. Photo: Alan Jacob
Tony's "paper plate race" morphed into a full production, USAC sanctioned amateur bicycle race.
Race Day:
This is such a totally different type of race that we didn't even know who would show up. This stuff isn't for everyone, that's for sure. Will we get 20 racers or 200 racers? We honestly had no idea. So we were happy with the 65 that came out.
Putting on races is such a team effort. Thank you very much to all of our volunteers! And thanks of course, to the local racing community for coming out! This is just the beginning. We've got a whole season of racing ahead of us. More to come!
Congratulations to the event participants, organizers and volunteers for a great event.
ReplyDeleteMike, what business do you have reminiscing? You have a state championship race to plan!
ReplyDeleteKidding aside, the success of the race is due in large part to your obsessive planning. Nice job. Now get back to work.
And that pic of the dirt road action is sweet. As is the one of the rider holding up his wheel. I'm not a super deep well of experience, but I have never seen a race with more flats and mechanicals.
Nor one where the locals were generally so receptive. It was great and unusual to feel welcomed.
Awesome race. I really had fun. SRV did a fantastic job of making this race run smooth smooth smooth...
ReplyDeleteThanks to Mike, Alan, Pat, and all of the other volunteers from SRV for putting on a great race. Hopefully, it will continue to grow as the positive work spreads about how fun the course was.
ReplyDeletemk
This was my first race and it was a great experience. I am ready to go again! Thanks to all that made it happen.
ReplyDeleteGeoff, thanks for the kind words. Pat S, thanks. You and Alan have way better photos than I. Sean, I particularly enjoyed the photo on FB of you with your lung flapping around. You'd never know by your placing! MK-Nice job! That was a tough field:) Anonymous:Please join us for more racing this season. It doesn't get any easier, it only gets faster, as Greg Lemond says.
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