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Tour de France 2009

There's no doubt that the folks over at Versus are absolutely thrilled that Lance Armstrong is back in the Tour de France. There no doubt Armstrong's presence should boost ratings for the cable TV channel, and it also helps there will be six other Americans in the race.

The question, of course, is how well will Armstrong do. Is he capable of winning after spending three years away from the world's most prestigious bicycle race. My hunch is that if anyone is capable of pulling it off after such a long absence, it's Armstrong. However, Astana teammate and 2007 Tour de France champion Alberto Contador is considered the favorite to win.

I guess we'll see what happens on the road. Versus' coverage of the Tour de France begins at 8:30 a.m. CDT with the Stage 1 time trial in Monaco. As been the case in recent years, Versus will air plenty of Tour de France coverage until the July 26 finale in Paris. Go to the full schedule for details; keep in mind that all times listed on the Versus schedule are Eastern Daylight Time.

Another Astana teammate, American Levi Leipheimer, has to be considered a contender for a podium spot, as could Illinois native Christian Vande Velde, who finished fourth last year then came back to the States to win the 2008 Tour of Missouri. George Hincapie back for another go, although it will be odd to see him not riding in support of Armstrong.

I probably won't write about the Tour in great detail, mainly because there's so many sources out there who can provide much more insightful coverage than I can, including Versus, VeloNews, Bicycling magazine and other news sources on the right column of my blog.

Have fun following the Tour!

Labels: Lance Armstrong, racing, Tour de France

Roger 0 comments links to this post 1:40 PM

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Wyss wins 2009 RAAM

Swiss cyclist Dani Wyss has won the 2009 Race Across America men's under-50 solo division. Wyss arrived in Annapolis, Md., at 9:25 p.m. today, completing 3,021.3 miles of cycling in 8 days, 5 hours and 45 minutes. His average speed was 15.29 mph.

Going into the final day, Wyss had been embroiled in a duel with defending champ Jure Robic. However, the 60 minutes of penalties Robic has accumulated over the course of the race were too much for Robic to overcome.

Gerhard Gulewicz of Austria appears to be on his was to third place in the under-50 division. he has made it as far as La Vale, Md.

Daniela Figueiredo Genovesi continues to maintain her lead in the women's under-50 division. She's made it as far as though Blanchester, Ohio, while Janet Christiansen has made it to Oxford, Ohio.

Labels: RAAM

Roger 0 comments links to this post 9:13 PM

Cross-country bicyclist killed in accident

The Belleville News-Democrat reports that a 65-year-old man who was riding his bicycle from California to Washington, D.C., to protest government bailouts was killed Sunday by a suspected drunken driver in a hit-and-run crash on U.S. 50 near Carlyle, Ill.

Jim Gafney left his home in Chula Vista, Calif., on April 27 for his "Mad As Hell Bike Ride Across U.S." with the goal of hand-delivering a petition opposing government bailouts to lawmakers sometime in July. Gafney had completed about two-thirds of his 3,000-mile ride, and collected about 500 signatures, before he was killed about 12:40 a.m. Sunday.

The newspaper reported Gafney spent Saturday near Lebanon, and most likely was riding at night to avoid the heat. He was on U.S. 50 at Diamond Springs Road -- about 60 miles east of St. Louis -- when he was struck by a 1997 Nissan Altima driven by Leon K. Marcum, 27, of Centralia, according to Illinois State Police.

Marcum told police he was driving over a hill and saw Gafney, but was not able to stop. He left the scene and later was arrested near Sandoval.Marcum was charged with aggravated DUI, leaving the scene of a fatal crash and failure to reduce speed. He was being held Wednesday at the Clinton County Jail on $100,000 bail.

The San Diego Union-Tribune account of the accident also quoted Illinois State Police Master Sgt. Chris Trame as saying U.S. 50 in that area is just two lanes with no shoulder, Trame said. He described it as “pretty isolated” and “not well lit.”

“We were so worried. We begged him not to go But he had a mission and he was determined to make that dream come true," Gafney's daughter, Colleen Uhden of Temecula, Calif., told the Union-Tribune about her father's decision to ride in the middle of the night instead of throu

The Southwest Free Press, a publication that was supporting Gafney's ride, hopes to complete Gafney's goal of getting 500 to 1,000 bicyclists to ride to Washington and hand-deliver the petition against the bailout to lawmakers.

Here's the last video Gafney posted on YouTube before he died:

Labels: advocacy, bicycling, fatal accidents, Illinois

Roger 0 comments links to this post 9:57 AM

RAAM: Robic's in trouble

Four-time Race Across America winner Jure Robic is looking rather vulnerable going into what likely is the final day of racing for the two leaders in the men's under-50 division.

Robic arrived in in Grafton, W.Va., at midnight EDT Wednesday, but Dani Wyss arrived in Grafton just five minutes later.

Given that Robic already has amassed an hour in penalties -- two 15-minute penalties and one 30-minute penalty -- while Wyss has no penalties, Robic is going to have to ride strong and hard today to defend his title.

Robic is projected to cross the finish line in Annapolis, Md., at 8:30 p.m. EDT today, with Wyss projected at finishing at 8:35. That, of course, means Wyss, a Swiss rider, would win the men's solo division because of Robic's time penalties.

Over on the women's side, Brazilian Daniela Figueiredo Genovesi and American Janet Christiansen are dueling out. Both made it through Illinois on Wednesday. Genovesi arrived in Sullivan, Ind., at 10:26 p.m. CDT Wednesday, while Christiansen arrived at 11:14 p.m. Genovesi has 30 minutes of penalties, compared with none for Christiansen.

There are plenty of competitors and teams still making their way through the St. Louis region. One solo male and one solo female competitor have yet to reach the Mississippi River near Alton, Ill., while there were 24 teams that still were either at or still approaching the river.

My hat's off to anyone who's able to ride for so long in such oppressive heat and humidity levels we've had the past few days in the St. Louis area. My hat's also off to the volunteers at the time stations and elsewhere who are putting in long hours for the cause.

Labels: RAAM

Roger 0 comments links to this post 12:27 AM

Monday, June 22, 2009

RAAM arrives in St. Louis area

Four-time Race Across America champion Jure Robic once again led the long, lonely parade of ultramarathon cyclists into the St. Louis metropolitan area.

Robic, a solider in the Slovenian army, arrived in Washington, Mo., at 5:59 p.m. CDT today and is making his way to the Mississippi River. He's expected to arrive at the river just across from Alton, Ill., about 10:30 p.m. and Greenville, Ill., about 1:20 a.m. Tuesday.

Dani Wyss will be the next one in. He arrived in Jefferson City, Mo., at 2:45 p.m.

Labels: RAAM

Roger 0 comments links to this post 6:40 PM

RAAM leaders expected in St. Louis area today

UPDATED: If you're in the St. Louis area and want to catch a glimpse of the two leaders of the men's division of the Race Across America, today's probably the day.

Four-time champion Jure Robic made it to Jefferson City, Mo., at 12:50 p.m. CDT today, and Dani Wyss arrived in Camdenton, Mo., at 11:15 a.m. today.

If they continue at their current pace, Robic will arrive in Washington, Mo., about 5:30 p.m. today, at the Mississippi River just across from Alton, Ill., about 10 p.m. and Greenville, Ill., shortly about 12:50 a.m. Tuesday. Wyss is expected to arrive in Washington about 7:40 p.m., the Mississippi River at 12:14 a.m. Tuesday and Greenville at 3:08 a.m. Tuesday.

Janet Christiansen continues to lead the women's solo race. She arrived in El Dorado, Kan., at 12:54 p.m. today. She's predicted to arrive in Washington about 9:43 p.m. Tuesday, the Mississippi River about 6:06 a.m. Wednesday and Greenville about 9:09 a.m Wednesday.

In between, many of the teams that started RAAM on Saturday will be catching up with the individual riders.

Keep in mind these times are based on estimates made by RAAM officials and are subject to change. The estimates on the RAAM site are in Eastern time, while I've changed them to Central time.

In case you're interested in seeing the racers, the Washington time station is on Missouri Route 100 just west of Missouri Route 47. They will proceed across the Missouri River through Dutzow, New Melle, Wentzville and O'Fallon before hitting the flatlands of St. Charles County to West Alton. The Mississippi River time station is at a service station just south of the Clark Bridge leading to Alton. Once in Illinois, they will take Illinois Route 140 through Alton, Bethalto, Hamel and Alhambra before getting to Greenville. The Greenville time station is at the intersection of Illinois Route 127 and U.S. 40.

Labels: RAAM, racing

Roger 0 comments links to this post 1:30 PM

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Don't forget about Tour de WingHaven

If you're looking for some hot Father's Day bicycle racing, come out tomorrow to the Tour de WingHaven in O'Fallon, Mo.

The Tour de WingHaven is sanctioned by USA Cycling as a National Racing Calendar event, meaning top teams such as Jelly Belly, Team Type 1, and Colavita-Sutter Home will be there. Also slated to be there is 2005 U.S. pro champion Chris Wherry.

Action begins at 8 a.m. with the Cat 4/5 race culiminates with the Pro/Cat 1 race at 2 p.m. The feature event is an 84-mile, 28-lap race.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch had a nice story about the event today.

You can find out more about the event at the race's Web site, including how to get to the parking area.

The competition should be hot, and so will the temperature. Tomorrow's high is expected to be in the mid-90s.

Labels: cycling, Missouri, racing

Roger 0 comments links to this post 7:50 PM

Thursday, June 18, 2009

RAAM is off and running

After nearly a day of competition in the men's under-50 solo division of the Race Across America, it should come as no surprise that Jure Robic is in the lead. Robic already has a 46-minute lead over Christoph Stoffer after 397.6 miles of the the 3,021.3-mile race from Oceanside, Calif., to Annapolis, Md.

Robic and Stoffer were the only two men's under-50 solo competitors to make it to Prescott, Ariz., at the time of this post. At the current pace, Robic should arrive at the Mississippi River near Alton, Ill., sometime Monday. I'll update with a more precise estimate later this weekend.

Robic, a member of the Slovenian Army, won RAAM in 2004, 2005, 2007 and 2008. Robic and the other under-50 solo men's competitors took off Wednesday from Oceanside.

The four female competitors started the race Tuesday. Janet Christiansen is leading the three-woman under-50 division, having completed 563 miles so far. Ann Wooldridge is the only competitor in the 50-59 division.

The sole 60-older solo competitor, Paul Danhaus, also started Tuesday. The team competition opens Saturday.

Labels: RAAM

Roger 0 comments links to this post 12:00 PM

Gutless wonder in Colorado

It never ceases to amaze me how easy it is to say stupid things when you're hiding behind the cloak on anonymity.

The latest example of this is in the Boulder, Colo., area. An anonymously written flier is calling upon residents of rural mountain communities in Boulder County to stage a blockade of the return leg of the Sunrise Century ride on July 25. Here's what the flier says, according to the Daily Camera newspaper in Boulder:

“On July 25, in celebration of driver’s rights, many cars will use the Left Hand Canyon Road, drive slowly and many may break down unexpectedly, blocking areas to the cyclists on the return leg of the ‘Sunrise Century.' Many cars and safe drivers all working together can send a message to the Statehouse to restrict cycling on our roads which are our only alternatives during family emergencies, commuting and required duties.”

The Daily Camera reported the the fliers started being distributed days after a Boulder driver was ticketed on suspicion of endangering a cyclist on Lee Hill Road.

Officials in Boulder County say conflicts between cyclists and motorists have been increasing in recent years, but have intensified this year. On Aug. 5, a new law goes in effect in Colorado that increases cyclists' rights. Based upon information from Bicycle Colorado, here's a summary of the law:

• Requires motorists to give at least 3 feet of clearance when passing a bicyclists. (A similar law went into effect last year in Illinois.)
• Allows cyclists to ride side by side as long as they don't impede the normal flow of traffic.
• Makes throwing items at cyclists and intentionally driving toward a cyclists offenses.
• Allows cyclists to ride as far to the right as safely possible.
  

Bikerpelli Sports, the organizer of the Sunrise Century, has this response to the controversy:

"A special thanks to all our supporters during this interesting time. ... And remember we will do whatever it takes to create a safe, fun & enjoyable ride for all our dedicated athletes regardless of the obstacles that others may try to create. We don't shy away from a challenge any more than you would!"

I've always contended problems would be minimized if motorists -- and cyclists -- simply follow the rules of the road. In this case, I hope common sense prevails and that cyclists and motorists will share the road in Boulder County.

Labels: advocacy, Colorado, safety

Roger 0 comments links to this post 11:11 AM

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Columbia, Mo., passes bicycle harassment ordinance

Fresh off its designation as a Silver-level Bicycle Friendly Community by the League of American Bicyclists, Columbia, Mo., has adopted an ordinance that makes harassment of bicyclists — including throwing objects, verbal assault and other offenses — a misdemeanor offense punishable by a $1,000 fine or one year of jail time.

On Monday, the Columbia City Council approved the new ordinance unanimously.

The Columbia Missourian reported that residents cited a number of reasons for their support and shared horror stories from bike riding. The tales ranged from waking up face down in ditches to having ashtrays dumped on their heads. The consensus among supporters was that the ordinance would help protect them on the streets.

“Unfortunately, there are people in our community who believe that roads are for automobiles and bicyclists who dare ride on the road should be honked at, yelled at or even have something thrown at them,” PedNet Education Coordinator Robert Johnson was quoted as saying in the newspaper.

Columbia's ordinance is modeled on similar ordinances in South Carolina and Colorado. Next month, the City Council will decide whether to expand the ordinance to include pedestrians.

Labels: advocacy, Missouri, safety

Roger 0 comments links to this post 10:41 AM