UCI Race

Hey team!

I was very inspired by the race. Tanner and I have talked about getting bicycles, but they are so expensive. And I am super nervous about getting hit by a car, I already broke my foot twice, I don't want to do that again.

Anyways. Richmond really did a good job of putting on this race. It is a big deal, one of the biggest races in the year. I won't bore you with the details, since no one else follows cycling. But the winner hear gets the Rainbow Jersey, which signifies they are a World Champion, and they wear that in all the races for the year.

We went to the Opening Ceremony. It was nice. There was a parade of flags. Speeches by a lot of politicians about how awesome Virginia is, which I could have skipped. We mostly went to hear the Richmond Symphony for free, which was really nice.

This was our view 

Parade of flags, representing all the nations which had cyclists at the event, they were carried in by local school children 

Look, me and flags!

The symphony, as the evening got darker 

The race course went right by our house. The street our building faces was open to traffic. But if you look out from our apartment toward 2nd, that street was blocked off and part of the race course. Then on the other side of the block, Broad Street was also part of the course.

It made driving tough. But it was so fun! Every time we walked anywhere we crossed the course, or walked along side it. While I worked all week I had the races live streaming so I could listen at work, then they would go past me out the window.

Women's Team Time Trial finish. It was so emotional. I was right after the finish line, so they all got off their bikes and celebrated. 

Here they come! I think this was the Men's Team Trial 

This was the Men's Individual Time Trial. It was super exciting. The favorites didn't do very well, some injuries and other issues. Here I am cheering on the man who won, Vasil Kiryienka, he was the second oldest rider participating, he is 34.  The other top two finishers were up and coming riders. 

The big event was the Men's Elite Road Race. It was super exciting and competitive. The crowds that turned out were big. The rain held off as well.

There was a TON of noise coming up to our apartment. The Eritrean community had a block party right behind our building. They had music playing and a mega phone, they were dancing, the whole bit. 

This is Broad and 2nd, packed with fans. 

Broad and 2nd again. The course turns the corner coming toward you. So there were fans waiting for the riders. Also this was one of the few places you could cross the course, so lines of people. 

Broad Street! The cyclists go up Broad, through the feed zone, that you can see here. Then they come back down Broad in the other direction later. So I got to see them twice on each circuit. Also, those are the same boarded up buildings behind them, oh well. 

USA feed zone, in between the riders 

Walked up to the finish, you can see the blue leader board across the road. Big crowds. 

Crossing the race course just beyond the finish line 

I liked it here, everyone was watching the jumbo tron to stay caught up with the race, until they passed us, where we could cheer them on

said jumbo tron 

Closer to the finish line, big crowds. Lots of flags! 

Tanner took this from our window!! I am second left from the tree, red shirt. This was the leader of the men's race at this point. 

The entire three man breakaway group, One of them was American Tyler Farrar, so there was a lot of screaming and clapping 

The entire peleton goes by. They were so close, you could really reach out and touch them. It is a really different feel for how fast they are going, being right by them. 

Helicopter coverage over our block

This is where I watched the finish, on Broad, by my house. It was shady, and I could hear the jumbo tron

The staff from the feed zones would watch the jumbo tron between circuits too. Sagan was a big fan favorite, as seen by the flag someone put up that morning 

All watching the jumbo tron, really fast and competitive finish

Just some interesting things, staff working, really getting out into the road with supplies and other stuff 

The staff really crowd the peleton

 I wasn't on the finish line, but I did get to see the rest of the Slovakian team celebrate 

It was fun. A lot of big name cyclists were in town. I also heard French, German, some kind of Dutch sounding thing, and Japanese spoken by tourists walking around town. The race course was really good, and got a lot of praise. Not to much crime or any weird things happened. The crowds were a bit erratic, some days not as big as they might have liked. But the last weekend really picked up.

A lot of riders and teams commented on how nice people are here. We have found that to.

I loved learning more about women's cycling, I have only followed the men's elite events before.

Bonus crazy fans! The son is in front, almost behind the pole. He had the same suit as the dad, but with a giant stick of hoof bells, so you could hear him and his dad coming. If you can't see, his suit is a pattern of  Norwegian flags.