The mega-money downtown crit in Charlotte wildly exceeded even my most ambitious expectations!!! Charlotte and Bank of American would be wise to bring this race back next year and a whole lot of years after that (John Lieswyn likewise concurs). The weather was perfect, depending on the source it’s estimated that about 25,000-40,000 enthused spectators lined the course, and the beer was flowing. I don’t know if special provisions were made for this race, but there were beer vendors with kegs lining the course doing mad business. Whoever made that decision was very wise. E and I were camped out on a bar patio on turn 2 with a whole bunch of De Oro teammates. There’s nothing like sitting outside on a perfect evening with waitresses bringing you Guinness all night and watching world class racing. The local NBC station was airing the race live so we could watch the whole race on a TV from our seats and then scream our lungs out when the field rolled by. They had cameras all over the course and a helicopter doing overhead shots-very impressive. Local legend Chris Harkey was off the front solo for about 5 laps half way through the race and there was a wall of sound for him around the course. He was called up at the start line and had lots of fans. Former teammate Chad Gibson survived which was pretty impressive in itself. Only roughly half of the maybe 130 starters finished. We were all a bit loopy and screaming for Chad all night and he heard us loud and clear. Even though I’ve lived in North Carolina for approximately 15 years this was my first visit to downtown Charlotte and I must say I was impressed with the venue itself and the race organization. Unlike the Crossroads Classic venue earlier that day out at the absolutely deserted Charlotte Coliseum, putting a race in a downtown area littered with bars and restaurants on a Saturday evening coupled with the relentless hype I heard all day on the radio will bring out thousands of spectators, many who are truly neophytes to the sport of cycling. I hung around to watch the Pro/1/2 race at the Crossroads Classic earlier that day after I raced the 35+ and 2/3 events and I swear that there were maybe 10 people watching the race (including the officials). And one of those spectating was an absolute brat of a 5 year old girl who picked up a fistful of grass and threw it in the face (an amazing direct hit) of the eventual race winner while he was out in front of the field riding solo. What a shame that so often we race our hearts out to an audience of nobody in a deserted parking lot on the outskirts of town. Hopefully the success of the evening event will plant the seed that bicyle races can be viable, high traffic spectator events.
Ringer-o-Rama: Not too much was made of this, but Chad’s pugilistic teammate Radisa Cubric brought in the ringer of all fucking ringers for the race. None other than Zoran Klemencic was racing in OLP colors Saturday night. You may remember him for finishing 5th in the 2002 worlds that Cipollini won. Zoran got warmed up Friday night in Statesville by finishing 10th in the Pro/1 event. I had heard rumors that OLP was bringing someone big over for the race and while E and I were walking around Statesville Friday night after my 35+ race there he was sitting on a bench near the start line chatting with Radisa. How weird is that? Zoran Klemencic chillin’ in downtown Statesville with his supermodel girlfriend on one side and Radisa on the other. There were a few other Euro riders there: Nico Mattan and some former ONCE rider who’s name I didn’t catch. Chad had no idea how Zoran got there but I suspect that Radisa was calling up his Eastern Europe connections looking for someone fast enough to win some mad money and put OLP on the podium. Zoran ended up 5th and I think won a couple of $1000 primes so I think he walked away with about $15,000 in cash. Not bad for a whirlwind visit to the US.
Adam Myerson: I also talked to New England coach, race promoter, and ‘cross legend Adam Myerson while he was cooling down after the event. He’s a class act and one of the good guys in the US domestic cycling scene. Adam’s racing for one of super-low budget D3 teams (Sharper Image/Mathis Brothers) and his post-race enthusiasm and energy were infectious. He and his teammates were fuelled by adrenaline and espresso, won a few grand in primes, and put Jason Waddell into 13th place. I’m pretty sure Waddell was the highest placed rider who actually works a 40 hr/week full-time job in addition to his duties as a professional cyclist. It always puts a smile on my face to see guys do well while striking a balance between cycling and life’s responsibilites. Thanks, Adam, for taking the time to chat before you headed back to the hotel.
Masters in the money: Eternally fit, 44 year old Steve Tilford ended up 20th and 36 year old Gustavo Carrillo finished 30th. I thought I recognized Tilford while he was warming up, his rangy frame and orange ponytail do tend to stand out in the crowd. I was on the receiving end of a few Gustavo Carillo ass-whuppings as he showed up in the 35+ events in the Crossroads Classic on Thursday and Friday evenings scoring a 2nd and 1st place. He’s been in the money in a few Pro/1/2 Superweek events earlier this summer and I’ve since found out that the Guatemalan is a former professional. No surprise, it seems like he still rides like one even though he’s now a “lowly” Cat. 1.
When worlds collide: Due to one of those weird cosmic convergences the race hotel for the riders was also the host hotel for a teenage beauty pageant. That’s a great combination: pro cyclists and teenage beauty queens. I wonder how much of that $125,000 went to bail money the next morning?
Uber ass-kicking team: Colavita owned North Carolina. They won Thursday night in Winston-Salem with Mark McCormack who lapped the field with one of the Jacques-Maynes, they finished 1-2 Friday night in Statesville with Haedo and one of their other Argentinians, Ivan Dominguez rocked out in Charlotte Saturday night, and then, just to rub it in, they stick it to everyone once more in Concord on Sunday. Kudos to an impressive outing.
For next year: (1)A race roster would have been an invaluable addition to the evening. If they existed I never found one. I recognized most of the riders individually while they were warming up on the course, but once the race got under way it proved difficult to make out who was who. (2) If you advertise that Eddy Merckx would be the race starter it would be nice if he was actually at the event. I didn’t see him, was he ever there?

All Evel, All the Time

Our 2004 Olympic road team:
Tyler Knievel
George Knievel
Levi Knievel
Bobby Knievel
Jason Knievel
and, last but not least, sporting a cape because he’s the captain, Evel Knievel

While our Olympic duds are infinitely more appealing than the crap that the Evil P created in 2000, it still seems a bit amateurish and uninspired. This is what happens when people in Chapel Hill who don’t know too much about cycling are given free reign with our Olympic kit. Call me old fashioned, but can we bring back the old-school stars ‘n stripes jersey reminiscent of the Team Brooklyn jersey? That’s a classic. And while we’re at it, let’s bring back the sideburns, too.