OC, what was the gripe other than the delay? I've never been to a WC before but the hotels, proximity to the airport, etc. seem pretty good to me. Louisville hosts the Kentucky Derby so they are used to hosting classy events.
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Louisville!
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Watermoc - the Belgian gripe was that the flooding could easily have been foreseen given that in the week those guys have been there the overbanking of river apparently happened several times (?). So a case of very poor planning according to them.
Specifically with the advanced start it screws up their recovery period after yesterday's (?) last hard training ride, down from planned 72hrs to 24hrs less.
Of course everyone else just shrugs this off since conditions are same for everyone. It kinda shows who's under most pressure to produce.
Also, it sounds like there were a bunch of huge fan events plan in Belgium to watch the race, with those having been thrown in disarray.
The wise man said follow me...and he walked behind. -
The US can put on an athletic event at any level we choose. Certainly at a much higher level than Brussels could ever dream of. Cross is growing rapidly here and Louisville got the nod. A euro rider bitching about the logistics of travelling across the Atlantic? Oh my? say it isn't so! Harden the hell up, Sven is cool with it.
I admit it did seem like an odd choice because of its proximity (or lack of) to population centers. Hopefully, everyone from Pittsburgh, Ohio, and Chicago are there this weekend. As has already been noted, Kentucky is no stranger to putting on world class competitive events and horses weigh alot more than bikes.
Frankly, I'd like to see more world class road or MTB events here in these United States of America and believe it will happen once this yellow cloud of lies, deceit, self-promotion, and milking the media for every last sound bite finally implodes and blows away.
That will be a happy day and it's not far away.
Breaker, breaker, do you read me Lance?
Cheers.
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Agree, the travel argument is just plain stupid.
But on course selection, with this being first event in US, and similar future events depending on success of this one, seems like a bit of a f#$%k up being so close to river.
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Ok. I hear that.
Doesn't take a genius to know where the water might go.
Still.
We'll pull it off.
And, similiar future events will be dictated as much by our money as our choice of venues.
And we likey cycling more now than ever. There's a reason the Madison is called the Madison.
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His fadda was a mudda. His mutta was a mudda
His mutta was a mudda?
What'd I just say -
But, pa, for your first chance at a world class event, doing the homework to make sure your event site is usable at that time of year just seems tp me pretty basic. We are trying to impress the international cx scene that we are worthy of running such an event. We may be able to "pull it off" but we aren't making a good case to the world that we should do this again any tine soon.
That said, I'm still puling big time for my favorite US crosser.
Edit: should US crossing be a new event, the Ohio?
Ben
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I don't think there's necessarily too much to worry about. You can say a lot of things about UCI+Pat but they've really been pushing the globalization thing, which is very good IMO.
Another Lars in rainbow tomorrow this time!
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79 Mooney et al I don't think that our standing in the world cycling arena stands on one race.
We've got more than that now. The internet, steephill, cycling news, velonews, etc. have introduced, validated, counted, all of us folks in the US who have been starving for world class cycling.
No doubt we have the venues for it.
We are counted. We have money. They will be back.
I am Dutch and love Holland, but if every single person in Holland watches Amstel Gold - how many people is that?
We gotta get our share and now that we aren't a one rider pony - we may.
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Is Dutch Jr rider Mathieu Van der Poel related to Adri Van der Poel, who had one of the longest cx careers? Does anyone know?
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His son, I believe...and he had a great race.
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I volunteered with course set-up and maintenance the past 2 weeks at both the Masters venue and the Elite Venue of the UCI Cyclocross World Championships in Louisville, KY. There was running water in the pits at the Elite venue. The WD-40 guys said the permanently installed water lines performed well. This feature at Eva Bandman Park is actually pretty cool. The wash station is an elevated box, with gravel and drainage. The water lines have what I think they call frost-proof valves.
As for predicting the rising water, we knew it was coming and tried to prepare for it. We moved sections of the course and built a temporary dam in an effort to keep the 2-day schedule. It just didn't work. Moving the course was miserable. The entire length of the course was lined on both sides with 4'x8' metal fencing panels. Behind a lot of the metal fencing, we had to pound stakes to secure the fencing. Working on the off camber sections was really interesting. Over 20,000 feet of the metal fencing was used. During the USGP of Cyclocross, we typically use 2,000 feet of metal fencing, with course tape marking the rest of the course.
Friday, there was no running water at the Masters venue--where it was needed most. We had 5 containers of water on site, probably 200 gal. each, that had been treated with some sort of anti-freeze--it didn't work. When we got there, the water in the storage containers was slush. We worked on it for about 4 hours, to no avail. I'm sure the situation was very frustrating for the Masters competitors.
Earlier in the week, one of the problems with the bike wash at Masters, was freezing after the bikes were washed. I don't know what the temperature was Thursday, but it was cold and bikes would freeze up after they were washed and got a fresh coating of mud. Derailleurs wouldn't work and some people had trouble even turning their handlebars.
Given the circumstances, I think things went really well. I asked a lot of our foreign guests if they were cool with the Elite races being condensed into one day and they all seemed understanding.
The atmosphere at the Elite venue, race day, was electric. It was so cool. The wooded section of the course was kind of in a bowl, which really amplified the crowd noise. I figured there were about 10,000 people there.
I got to meet Sven Nys and Niels Albert at a Colnago party, which was pretty cool. I got to meet and chat with bicycle component manufacturer Chris King. He seems like a regular guy. It was good to see 27-time Masters National Champion Julie Lockhart and her husband Jim again. 73 years young and out there pounding away in the coldest, muddiest conditions I had seen--amazing.
When I got home from course tear-down at about 9 PM, Saturday Night, I told my wife I was glad it was over, but I didn't want it to end. Preparations have been going on for months or years, but my role was only 2 weeks. My stake pounding shoulders and zip-tie fingers are glad it's over, but for 2 weeks my world was all bikes! Hey look, it's the Belgian team going out River Road! There's the French team going down Main Street! Pretty cool stuff.
Special thanks to Metro Parks for their efforts! These dudes were like rock stars. Building a dam, bringing truckload after truckload of wood chips to the Masters venue to allow the people an opportunity to walk. Whatever was needed, they provided. THANK YOU! Sponsors that stepped up when we needed their support--THANK YOU! The army of volunteers who helped make this happen--THANK YOU!
I've posted pictures each day, trying as best I could, to document our activities. You can check them out at our facebook page here; http://www.facebook.com/LouisvilleBicycleClub
Now, I will go ride my bike.
Life is good
Murphy
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After years of racing, I don't think I ever thanked the volunteers nearly enough. So...thanks Murph
Without an army of volunteers and people that care about the sport, racing a bike would be impossible. Parking crits to world championships. Its thankless work that's easily overlooked, but without it...
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x2 Thanks for helping put on a great event. I watched some of the volunteers (might have been you) pounding metal posts Saturday morning and though that was a cold way to spend the morning. Nice job on keeping the water at bay.
Did the place flood today? I wondered how fast the water would come up after the pumps were shut off.
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Just saw this posted by another NE racer, so yes- they made the right decision:
https://twitter.com/MyetteX/status/298067466133848065/photo/1 -
Watermoc - yup under water today; here's some images.
http://www.sporza.be/cm/sporza/matchcenter/mc_wielrennen/1.1531286
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I just left Eva Bandman Park and it looks like at least a third of the course is underwater. Good call USA Cycling.
@watermoccasin That probably was me pounding stakes Saturday morning. The course changes necessitated moving a couple of crossings.
The jersey Sven Nys was wearing in the race will be hanging at Parkside Bikes, the local Colnago dealer. Pretty cool.
Three days of teardown left.
Life is good
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I just left Eva Bandman Park and it looks like at least a third of the course is underwater. Good call USA Cycling.
@watermoccasin That probably was me pounding stakes Saturday morning. The course changes necessitated moving a couple of crossings.
The jersey Sven Nys was wearing in the race will be hanging at Parkside Bikes, the local Colnago dealer. Pretty cool.
Three days of teardown left.
Life is good
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Murph, thanks for helping what I thought was a great event. Had a spectacular, fun time Saturday.
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Murph, Thanks! My wife and l had a great time and all the volunteers where nice. The course was killer. Pictures and video do not show how steep and technical it was. Great job! On a different note, I was impressed with what a sportsman Sven was unlike some of his teamates.
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I gotta say, I was a skeptic. Didn't think the race would turn out well considering what appeared to be lackluster monetary resources by Louisville for the race. But, wow, the race ended up looking great on TV and the crowds were large. I actually am rather glad the podium and top 10 looked pretty much like all the European world cups, and that there weren't surprise Americans in the top 5 (which would have meant the course or travel were affecting the results).
Originally I felt that this would be the last time America got a cross worlds for a long long time. Now, I'm not so sure. I can see it coming back again as the event this year went well. Even more amazing considering the flooding issue.
And Nys is awesome, so I had to cheer when he pulled off the win.
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Several of the Euros commented on the crowd- much smaller than they are used to (10,000 vs 60,000) but the crowd in Louisville cheered everyone, not just their favorite guy, so the overall noise was more.
Only saw one person (other than McQuaid) get booed. A guy threw a beer can onto the course in the mens race and was loudly booed by everyone in the area. After a couple of minutes someone jumped the fence and retrieved the can. Not sure of it was the culprit who was shamed into it or if it was a good Samaritan helping out.
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