Tales from the peloton, May 30, 2005
A special diary from the Wachovia week
There's more to professional racing than meets the eye. The closest the majority of spectators get to the action is at the start and finish of the races, or maybe even just watching it all on television and reading the race reports on the 'net and in the written press.
Cyclingnews' Sabine Sunderland was offered the unique opportunity to spend 11 days with the CSC team as the personnel and riders headed to America, where they will be at work in the CSC Invitational and the Wachovia race series. Join us this week for a look behind the scenes of what goes on before, during and after professional bike races.
The first task on the team's program consisted of a two hour long stint in the departure hall, during which ten bike bags, seven suitcases, six toolboxes, six members of the CSC team and yours truly got checked in by helpful airport staff.
While we were waiting patiently for the finger print and photo identification, Andy had trouble with digesting the airplane food and he had to hop out off the long line a couple of times for a visit to the men's room. His colour improved as we got closer to the end of the waiting game. And two and a half hours after touch-down we all got through the passport check. Scott expressed some sighs of relief: all of his riders, the bikes, equipment and suitcases showed up in pretty good shape!
Only little time after our arrival there, Scott had a meeting with the CSC people to discuss the program for the next day. Our CSC hosts invited us to a lovely dinner in one of the hotel's function rooms, the boys were hungry and the food was great.
Right after dinner the riders retired for the night and I crashed on my bed, totally zoinked. In the background I could hear Scott responding to and making some late telephone calls about wheels and stuff. In the mean time, somewhere in another function room on the third floor, mechanics Magnus and Frank were still unpacking bikes and checking all the equipment which had to be in working order for the training ride the next day. It's hard to believe that they still had the energy to do all that after such a long day. With the 6 hour time difference, these guys were active for almost 24 hours straight!
At 8 o'clock we left the hotel. Allan Johansen, Thomas Bruun and Lars Michaelsen volunteered to sign autographs at the start village of the Arlington Community Bike Ride. It's a one day, non-competitive cycling event which has the purpose to show Arlington residents and visitors the diversity of bicycle facilities in the county, build awareness of bicycle transportation options, and educate cyclists on safe riding techniques. It was a great event, with participants of all ages.
Having finished the autograph session, the riders went on to collect their bikes from the mechanics' quarters and gathered for their training ride. None of the guys knew the roads of Arlington but Greg, a helpful fan, offered to be their guide. The boys said it was great to have him showing them the bike trails and paths, they saw a great deal of the Washington area, and most importantly they trained on a safe parcours.
In the evening, CSC's Lynn took us all out for dinner at an Italian restaurant in the city. The jet-lag bug still bothered a few and a couple of glasses of wine added to this, so it was good that we had an early booking. We appreciated the cuisine and some great laughs in a very relaxed atmosphere. Everyone retired to their rooms by 10.20 pm. The next day, the first race was on the schedule.
We had to bring out all of our charm to persuade some of the police officers that we needed to be on the race circuit for the pro men's race; very different to Europe where they open all barriers when they spot a team car coming!
This next morning some serious packing and a three hour transfer, training and settling into our hotel in Philadelphia are on the schedule. I'll catch back up to you in a few days!
- The bikes arrived safely, and that's the main thing
- Scott Sunderland in the team hotel
- CSC wrench Frank sets up the bikes
- Magnus hard at work
- CSC wrench Magnus glues the tyres on
- Matti Breschel stretches
- The boys at dinner
- To go training you must first be at one with the world
- Getting directions from a local: If you ride to here, you'll end up in Manhattan
- Lars and the boyz
- It's a family affair
- Starting young
- Allan Johansen with Thomas Bruun and Lars Michaelsen
- Signing autographs for the kiddies
- Allan, Thomas, and Lars enjoying their job
- Allan Johansen with his youngest fan
- Scott with Allan Johansen and John Axel
- Hey Lars…
- Scott Sunderland relaxes before the race
- Scott with his serious face on
- Bobby Julich (CSC) is a popular boy
- The young CSC lads get ready for the race
- Theresa McDermot, one of the helpful CSC execs
- Lynn Jeunette, with John Axel and Scott, discussing the race
- Looking out for the boys from the sidelines
- Bobby Julich (CSC) in action during the CSC Invitational
- Bobby Julich (CSC) is awarded on race day
- The podium of the CSC Invitational: Bobby Julich (4th), Kirk O'Bee (2nd), Ivan Dominguez (1st), Ivan Stevic (3rd), and Rahsaan Bahati (5th)
