The Cycliste Moderne, February 21, 2006

Amgen Tour of California Kick Off

The Amgen Tour of California has kicked off the domestic cycling season in a big way. I have to admit I was skeptical of the ability of Anschutz Entertainment Group to pull of a world class event. The early coverage shows that they have been able to do it. Anschutz Entertainment Group is affiliated with such disparate entertainment enterprises as Walden Media, Edwards Theaters, Major League Soccer and the ADT Velodrome in Carson, California.

I questioned the ability to put on a world class event so early in the season. The weather was likely to be poor, the course too easy and February was too early for a significant stage race in North America. When they signed on Amgen, the pharmaceutical company that manufactures doping favorite EPO, as their title sponsor you had to wonder who was giving them advice.

Well, the weather has been good, the European based teams very competitive and the crowds huge. The early results have also showed that the early predictions that the European teams would send weak teams and that the North American teams would be the only ones taking the event seriously were proven wrong when the top riders in the Prologue were all Europe based and the difficult finish to Stage 2 where the peleton was shattered on the final climb resulted in the top 10 riders on the stage were all Europe based. The domestic teams have not been equal to the European teams. With just two stages completed and a week of racing left to go, I can certainly predict that the winner will be a European based American. The domestic professionals are just not good enough to compete with the stronger ProTour teams.

There have been some things that make you scratch your head, like the organizers’ failure to have a clock at the finish of the opening prologue and the fact that the television coverage on ESPN2 is on after midnight in much of the United States. Having reportedly purchased the time for race coverage from ESPN you would have thought that AEG would have obtained earlier time slots as 1AM on the East Coast is too early for coverage. I watched Sunday’s coverage on ESPN2 in Seattle where it was broadcast at 10PM locally. Since getting back to Boise, I have been recording the race coverage and watching it the following day.

The coolest thing about the Tour of California is the Specialized Angel. What a great marketing idea by Specialized as she is almost as cool as Luk’s Devil Didi.

Seattle International Bike Expo

Mrs. Cycliste Moderne and I spent Presidents’ Day weekend in Seattle at the Seattle International Bike Expo selling bike art and movies. It was again a well attended event and I had major bike envy as I was sorely tempted by a Redline Cyclocross Bike priced at $800 and a Raleigh frame and fork at $300. In the end, Mrs. Cycliste Moderne bought herself a couple of jerseys including an incredibly cool wool retro French national jersey. I got a new pair of clear glasses for those early morning rides and the kids got new jerseys.

Really cool to see some of the new equipment out including the new Francaise de Jeux team issue bikes from LaPierre. One of the most surprising displays was a company selling shaft drive bikes. Shaft driven bikes were actually raced with some success during the early 1900’s on the track. However the sprocket and chain drive ultimately proved too successful and shaft drive bikes disappeared. Now a manufacturer has returned with the bike and although their booth was just down and across from the Cyclista.com booth, I have to say that I just am not convinced that I want to be riding what amounts to a giant egg beater.

I also got to meet United States cyclocross legend, Dale Knapp, who is now the cyclocross coach for Rad Racing Northwest, one of the largest and most successfully junior development programs in the United States. Jim Brown of Rad Racing Northwest wowed us with his cyclocross knowledge when he walked into the Cyclista.com booth and said “wow you have a lot of pictures of Adri Van Der Poel” to which I responded “and Stammsnijder and Simunek as well.”

However, the next person to spend 45 minutes looking at our art who then says “you really have some cool stuff here” and then proceeds to walk away without buying anything will find themselves beaten about their head and shoulders with a matted photograph of Radomir Simunek and the framed photograph of the winning six man break during the 1981 Paris-Roubaix, arguably the greatest collection of one day riders in modern history together so late in the race. If you think our stuff is cool then please give me your credit card and I will make sure you own it.

Finally, I am convinced that thermostats and thermometers do not work in Seattle as thirty five degrees in Seattle feels like twenty Boise degrees, even when the sun is out.