Question:
Was that course in Providence closer to a euro course than most of the US stuff?
Does the US need more like that to prep better riders for duking it out with the Fidea/Rabobank dudes?
Answer:
Nasty said...The euro races wold be as fast as nationals, but it would be greasy muddy, like 2 inches of slimey mud over hard clay. and we would be going faster. it is not possable to repicate the euro conditions in the US couse we are to slow, and the dirt is different.
oh and it would seem that Wicks thumb is messin with his spelling... that or there really is someone who spells worse than me out there!
4 comments:
I'm in Belgium and wearing ONLY a pair of Assos socks so I feel I can chime in...
You asking about the course because you imagine it is more like what they are racing over here?
I got the impression that a lot of people thought the Providence course was pretty Euro.
I have no idea yet but, one of the exciting things about doing some Euro racing is the experience with the course design and layout.
I've put on a handfull of cx races and would like to do more in the future and, I do think it is important to mimic the Euro courses as best as possible.
Barry is right, we (us cx in general) are too slow. But, cx is picking up speed and the next logical step is to advocate for and create courses that are as similar to the stuff we will be sending our fast riders to for World cup and World Championship level racing.
posting while only wearing assos socks...
Those crazy kids from Portland!
LOL
MC, would be very curious to get more impressions from the US crowd over there about course comparisons...
Slow... slow is me... maybe someday i won't get lapped by Shannon in the old folks race...
thanks for chimin in!
I've of course never been over there. But, as far as course design goes, if we ever had courses with the bridge fly-overs...oh man....that'd be totally sweet.
That's all I really want out of US CX - bridges.
Do they have 200 starters in the races over there? Promoters need huge amateur fields to survive over here, because otherwise they'd have no spectators. That's just the way it is. Cycling needs to go to a "good guys versus the bad guys" model like every popular spectator sport if it is to be sold to the masses. US Cycling tries to get by with all good guys and it just doesn't sell. The feds are too busy coddling a few select athletes to worry about race promoters who are actually growing the sport, so don't hold your breath waiting for leadership from them.
And hey, U.S. riders have dominated the Tour de France for the last two decades, and the Belgians have got nothing. You don't see them changing their road races to be more like ours, do you?
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