A Great Day in Richmond!

The crowds of Libby Hill.

The riders of this year's men's UCI Road World Championship Race in Richmond must have been super tired after 161 miles of racing but nothing compared to the fatigue of these two spectators! Sunday was the greatest day of bike racing in which I have ever experienced, period.

The start at University of Richmond

Our Sunday in Richmond began with a quick ride to the start of the race at the campus of the University of Richmond. Our initial crew, with five bikes and three trail-a-bikes, fit right in with the hundreds of riders heading to spectate the start. You could feel the buzz of the day beginning as the scores of motorcycles, cars and support vehicles started their engines for what was about to becoming a long and  beautiful day in our Commonwealth capital.

Ethan..about to get buzzed by the peloton.

After sending off the best riders in the world to the loud cheers and cowbells our crew rode back to our host house to prepare for the rest of day. After a packing some sandwiches and filling up on last minute snacks Ethan & I jumped on our bike rig (my commuter with his Burley Trail-a-Bike) and began our 6 mile journey to get to the circuit race course.  With us we had an overflowing saddle bag of rain gear which would never have to come out on what become a gorgeous Sunday.

The brutal 23rd street hill!

Ethan and I entered the circuit from the west side allowing us to catch several high speed sections of the course. We were able to enjoy being close to the riders since the crowds were not as deep on these flatter sections of the course.   We then  decided to make our way for the far east end of the circuit and head to cobbles of Libby Hill.  As we got closer we decided to ditch the bike and lock it to one of the few remaining free structures, a gas meter outside someone house. The excitement from here continued for the remaining 150K and 4 hours of racing.  These four hours seemed like a blur as we  walked, ran and road our way to all the exciting sections of the course.  It seems there was not a block that did not include rowdy spectators and the constant bumping into of old friends.

After catching the last minutes of the award ceremony in the convention center Ethan & I made our way back to the race course, but this time inside the barriers as we began our return trip to the County. After several miles into our ride back towards the University of Richmond our stomachs reminded us that the excitement of the day allowed us not to eat. So with only a few miles in our ride left, not wanting the day to end, we dropped into the closest bar, and in complete silence we refueled with glass after glass of water and two big plates of food.

Peter Sagan..1K from the rainbow jersey!

We finally arrived at our car some 10 hours later and quickly packed up so we could pick up Stephen and make the drive back to the burg. Ethan was asleep before we took the ramp to I64 while Stephen and I reflected on how we both enjoyed the day in Richmond. We both knew we just enjoyed a day in the Virginia Capital that will probably never happen again, even the six year old in the back seat knew it was a special day.

Thank you RICHMOND!