Das Tour de Frankenmuth

So I went up on Friday night to Birch Run and shared a room at the Holiday Inn with Doug, Derek, Colin and Elisa. We had dinner at Applebees, checked in to our room, unloaded the bags and bikes then sat in the hottub for about a half hour.

6am the alarms (3 of them) went off and it was up and time to race. We loaded up the room and the bikes then made our way to the lobby for breakfast. I brought Nutella from home to put on our bread....delicious.

Once we got to Zehnders for race prep, we realized that there was no wheel support. The Cat 1/2s had a wheel car, and there was one other wheel car that serviced the other 200 riders. Great idea.

It started raining before the start and Joe and I just chilled out in my car away from the water. Luckily it let up and the temperature picked up before the start. Our race started prety slow. I was expecting some attacks from the gun, but our MCG guys and the Priority guys went to the front and set tempo for the first few miles. The corners were still wet, so we were being carfull not to crash.

Despite our best efforts there was a crash. But it was not because of a wet road. At like mile 2 someone overlapped wheels with me then ran into my wheel and went down. I thought I had caused it, but I talked to a few guys and they all said I had held my line and it was not my fault. However, I was sitting in the top 10 of the peloton at the time, so the crash took down 60% of the feild. We all sat up and waited for the group to get back together and the team capitans to take the toll on their teams. We lost Adam York and Colin Snyder to the crash. So we were down to 7 guys. About a mile later, Joe Lekovish flatted and because there was no wheel support, he was out so we were down to 6.

The rest of the frist lap was really easy and pretty laxed. A few guys tried to get away, but we all said no to most of them and pulled them back. Around mile 8 or 9 a break of two riders including Priority's Mac Brennan got away. We let it go because we had plenty of time to pull it back with 51 miles left in the race.

When we came around to the feed zone the first time, I thought I hit a stick, I heard and felt something in my rear wheel. But it stopped and looked fine, so I stayed with the peloton. As we came through the start area, we were strung out in one big line and upon the first corner of the course, I discovered that it was not a stuck. I had broken a spoke. Around the corner, It came loose and got caught in my cassette, so I could't pedal. And with no wheel support, I was out of the race and my team was down to 5 riders after starting with 9 after just one lap.

I went and hung out in the Feed Zone to help my team. Lucky I was there, because on the Cat 4s last lap, a guy in all black dove left in the middle of the peloton causing a HUGE crash. Bike in the air, people down left and right, riders in the ditch...it was bad. Darrell and I went running across the street ro help. Almost everyone was fine. There were 2 riders that were hurt bad, one guy with a broken collarbone. I called 911 to get the ambulance, then stood in the road directing traffic and racers around the rider and the ambulance once it showed up.

After the rider was taken car of, I went to the start line to watch the end of my race. Brennan and his breakaway companion never got pulled in and made it to the line with Mac taking the big W. As the peloton came through, Scott got 9th in the feild sprint and ended in 11th, Mark Bush in 14th.

From talking with other riders, it appeared that just finishing this race was an accomplishment. It is flat, there was no wind. Finishing this course should not have been a feat. But it was. There were also a LOT of mechanicals at the race, and some odd ones at that. I saw a bike missing a saddle, but the rails were still there, just missing the saddle. Alan Antonuk said his cassette fell off when riding. How does that happen? Another rider got out of the saddle while riding and his rear wheel fell out. Odd day.

After all was said and done, I went and had a word with the race organizer. Having no wheel support is not a very wise idea. He said it was becuase they had a lack of personell. Well here are my arguments:

-every feild had a lead vehicle, we dont need lead vehicles. We have course marshalls that can direct us...just like every other race in the state. Take those lead vehicles and put them BEHIND the race, you had enough drivers.

-Every feild should have a car behind the race for safety reasons. Say there is a crach in.....lets say the Cat 4 feild. Say some rider goes off into the ditch and breaks their collarbone. How is a LEAD car going to see that? A FOLLOW car would and moreso, they would have a cell phone to call 911. The rider Darrell and I helped out was lucky that he crashed in the feed zone where there were actually people around. What if he had been knocked unconcious and fell into a ditch in the middle of the course? Who would have seen him?

-"we didnt have enough volunteers" is complete BS. Tri-City cyclists were out racing yesterday. They are instant volunteers. Clubs do not put on races for themselves, they put them on for the STATE. Riders have to make sacrafices, if you are putting on a race, get your friends to volunteer or you should untill every corner is covered and every feild has a follow car.

-I think it should be a rule that every road race requires a follow vehicle for every feild. It annoys me that I paid $35 for registration, $25 for a room, gas money, work off, months of training to get a broken spoke 1 lap into a race, and the organizers are too lazy to have wheel support, so I have to drop out of the race an dont even get a chance to get back in the race.

I know I am being mean to the organizers, I know they did what they could. And I am thankful. I love this race, it is a great course. I will be back next year. But only if they have neutral support for every feild (like last year). It is not a convienience issue I am complaining about, it is a safety issue.