Redlands is a fucking crit
Magilla Gorilla
GoneBeforeMyTime
> http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/26th-redlands-bicycle-classic-ne/stage-3/results
>
> Thanks,
>
> Magilla
The TT has a pretty decent grade up Wabush Hill, more then I think a climber
like Tut could sprint up. I've walked that section and its pretty long and
extremely steep. The Bogart Park circuit has some nice little climbs in it
and sorts out the field pretty quickly, but it's not as selective as the old
days, Oak Glen. The Crit has numerous corners, not a square, so its pretty
tedious. The Sunset loop has a gentle grade, but its very long and very
gentle. Anyway who says that should give the climbers an advantage is an
idiot cause its not very hard at all, I've walked that whole section before.
9 laps of that is pretty boring after a while though for the riders. The
courses themselves are pretty nice. Both Bogart Park and Sunset loop are set
in both scenic mountain wilderness and where the super rich live.
I've been to Carmel, Hope Ranch, Montecito, even Beverly Hills and I never
saw mansions as big as I saw on the Sunset loop. Those rich people don't
come out to play however. I only saw one family come out of their mansion to
watch the race, only one. The rest of that loop was completely deserted
except teams, staff, riders and press. The problem is with cycling itself as
such a minor spectacle. Greater LA has 19 million people and the crowds for
the downtown weekend crit are pretty thin compared to what you might expect
out of 19 million people for a weekend event. I'd say most of those were
locals and college kids since it's a university town. Not great prospects
for cycling, since Redlands is close enough to where a huge number of folks
could drive over to watch such an event. While you don't want Redlands
swamped with thousands of people, there was plenty of extra space when I
went last year. I would count the fans in the hundreds when I was there, not
the thousands.
Fans for women's racing will also continue to decline if the current trend
away from the glamorous types in favor of the mud cakes and Tattoo culture
takes over the peloton. More then likely, those higher class good looking
chicks will gravitate towards other sports like Tennis, Ice Skating or even
Volleyball. Another thing is probably less of those types are entering
cycling since its not a secret anymore about how little there is to be
gained in cycling at the pro level for women. As dangerous as it is with
little rewards both from earnings and the lottery of the Worlds or the
Olympics, it has little meaning to them nowadays. The endorsements from it
for women are pretty meager, so it's probably not something to aspire to.
Instead, it's likely headed back to the days of a social club where they
come to race for themselves and that's it, especially since they don't have
radios to play with anymore. If I was a rich team owner and had a Yacht, I
would want a team full of pretty women for my image, not a bunch of Tattooed
Butch Boys. Teams like Leontien, and at least those with Feminin kits got it
right for starters, but the ranks need to be filled with Feminin women, IMO,
not gender benders. I think the USAC and UCI should test all the Butch Boys
at the very top to make sure they are women according to the science of gene
testing like what happened with Caster. That would also help to insure that
certain riders are not giving an unfair advantage. If there is going to be a
separate category for women, then they must all be women by gene
certification, IMO.
No one cares if a man with cross genes enters the men's pro races cause they
probably can't win anything, but if they enter the women's ranks, they could
have an unfair advantage. The sport should insure that integrity aspect of
it, so all women could have a fair and honest playing field, and that goes
especially for the most feminin and glamorous women in the sport. They are
the ones, which are key to giving the sport a good feminin image, which I
think it desperately needs.