It was absolutely an amazing experience to be there volunteering, spectating, practicing French, enjoying my people. I feel like I’m still riding the high of it all. I’ve been thinking it was maybe like watching my favorite band everyday for 8 days (we arrived on Sunday of the elite men’s TT) as they just got better and better - an eight day crescendo or evolution of their craft.
Pretty smart move by the American squad to bait MVDP into racing Simmons for 20kms (whatever it was) and having McNulty ride the wheels of the strongmen until hammer time.
And it wasn’t just the west coast and New York people traveling to it. I know of two people from Alabama (separately) who went. Substitute Kansas City or Atlanta or Charlotte and there’s no telling how many traveled for it. It’s a signal we need more.
Flicking through the comments on my Instagram post it seemed everyone in North America can out. We’ll never know the true numbers. Events like this which feel so special on the ground and create FOMO for those that didn’t come are essential parts of any sports.
“It was worth every dollar. It was worth the travel. It was worth the countless miles we all walked. The collective tiredness on Monday.”
This is spot on. I stood at the barriers on Camillien-Houde for both elite races and attended some of the pop up events and rides over the weekend. This was easily the best live sporting event I’ve ever been to.
One thing that struck me though was my friend’s comment on our way back to our hotel after the women’s race. He seemed antsy to get back and just said, “now I want to ride my bike.” Seeing races live inspires in a way TV doesn’t. Events like these in North America will get more people here on bikes more often, period. Hopefully the brands can come to the same conclusion and get behind more races over here.
Seattle needs to bring it here. Being one of the top bicycle cities in the United States we should have a Worlds here. Any Tech Bros or women with the money to bring it?
Now that I have had the chance to watch the last 50+kms, I'm a little less impressed by the American squad. Two things bugged the shit out of me. 1) The overly aggressive driver of the USA car on Mont Royal climb where he's laying on the horn, swerving between riders and nearly took out Tom Pidcock 2) in order to delivery an EXTREMELY sticky gel to McNulty on the flat, which was mostly not caught on camera. Who knows how many seconds were gained by that maneuver, but I bet it made the difference in whether or not McNulty was caught by the Pidcock chase group on the crest of the climb on the last lap. Teams of the contenders should have every right to question this.
It was absolutely an amazing experience to be there volunteering, spectating, practicing French, enjoying my people. I feel like I’m still riding the high of it all. I’ve been thinking it was maybe like watching my favorite band everyday for 8 days (we arrived on Sunday of the elite men’s TT) as they just got better and better - an eight day crescendo or evolution of their craft.
Pretty smart move by the American squad to bait MVDP into racing Simmons for 20kms (whatever it was) and having McNulty ride the wheels of the strongmen until hammer time.
And it wasn’t just the west coast and New York people traveling to it. I know of two people from Alabama (separately) who went. Substitute Kansas City or Atlanta or Charlotte and there’s no telling how many traveled for it. It’s a signal we need more.
Flicking through the comments on my Instagram post it seemed everyone in North America can out. We’ll never know the true numbers. Events like this which feel so special on the ground and create FOMO for those that didn’t come are essential parts of any sports.
Great Joe. I'm so bummed I missed this.
“It was worth every dollar. It was worth the travel. It was worth the countless miles we all walked. The collective tiredness on Monday.”
This is spot on. I stood at the barriers on Camillien-Houde for both elite races and attended some of the pop up events and rides over the weekend. This was easily the best live sporting event I’ve ever been to.
One thing that struck me though was my friend’s comment on our way back to our hotel after the women’s race. He seemed antsy to get back and just said, “now I want to ride my bike.” Seeing races live inspires in a way TV doesn’t. Events like these in North America will get more people here on bikes more often, period. Hopefully the brands can come to the same conclusion and get behind more races over here.
Seattle needs to bring it here. Being one of the top bicycle cities in the United States we should have a Worlds here. Any Tech Bros or women with the money to bring it?
Now that I have had the chance to watch the last 50+kms, I'm a little less impressed by the American squad. Two things bugged the shit out of me. 1) The overly aggressive driver of the USA car on Mont Royal climb where he's laying on the horn, swerving between riders and nearly took out Tom Pidcock 2) in order to delivery an EXTREMELY sticky gel to McNulty on the flat, which was mostly not caught on camera. Who knows how many seconds were gained by that maneuver, but I bet it made the difference in whether or not McNulty was caught by the Pidcock chase group on the crest of the climb on the last lap. Teams of the contenders should have every right to question this.