Your daily bike race: September 25th

It’s all coming together. The road races begin TODAY!

September 25, 2015; 6:00 AM • by Susan Howson

Photo by: Trevor Dickerson

Results

The results are in! People practiced on the course yesterday–professional people! And some amateur people that were curtly removed by security, but listen…maybe it was for your own good, amateurs. Those pros move super dang fast, and you need to get the heck out of the way!

But yeah, nobody won or lost yesterday except spectators, who got to see a lot of relaxed and smiley cyclists from various countries zoom by them in an impressive way. That’s a win, by the way. Not a loss. 

Today’s Big Bike Action™

Women Juniors Road Race

• 10:00 – 11:50 AM
• The Road Circuit Course, 4 laps (64.9 km or 40.3 mi total).
• Team USA: Chloe Dygert (Junior Time Trial gold medalist!), Skylar Schneider, Emma White (Junior Time Trial silver medalist!), Ashlyn Woods. Bonus: all of their first names work well with chanting. “Chlo-E, Sky-LAR, Em-MA, Ash-LYN. USA! USA! USA! <eagle screech>”…too much?

Men Under 23 Road Race

• 12:45 – 4:50 PM
• The Road Circuit Course, 10 laps (162.2 km or 100.8 mi total).
• Team USA: Gregory Daniel, Daniel Eaton, Colin Joyce, Logan Owen, and Tyler Williams. Does this seem like an abnormally high percentage of men whose last names sound like first names? I just almost screwed that list up really badly.

This is where things start to get pretty fun–cycling fans from all over will start to arrive in earnest, the exciting road race style (aka pelotons and breakaways) will be fun to watch, and that Libby Hill situation is going to be intense. The Women Juniors Road Race and the Men’s Under 23 Road Race will be the ones hitting the cobblestones today (see Women’s Junior start list and Men’s Under 23 start list.

In order to understand all the ins and outs and nooks and crannies of a road circuit race’s strategies and scenarios, we asked former pro cyclist Matt Crane to break it down for us. The conversation was so exciting that we are a little afraid of how emotionally invested we will be when we are faced with the real thing. 

Where to watch

• FanFest (Broad and 5th Street) — It’s free, it’s the finish line (and the start line), and you can see the rest of the race from a Jumbotron
• Fan Zones — Libby Hill, 23rd Street (that is, that crazy steep cobblestone hill at 23rd and E. Grace Streets). There are Beer Gardens there. BEER GARDENS. I HEAR YOU GUYS LIKE BEER, WAS I MISINFORMED?
• VIP & Hospitality Tents — There’s one at Libby Hill and one at the Broad Street Pavilion between 3rd and 5th. Each VIP person gets a new bike and a mink stole. No, not really. But it’s a good vantage point and it’s fully catered. If you’ve got access to one of these VIP tents, you should make good use of it (and also befriend me realllll quick).
• Broad Street between Belvidere and 2nd Streets
• Monroe Park
• Monument Avenue
• Lombardy and Main Streets (and hey! That’s exactly where our office is located! Please come on up and say hi and buy yourself a commemorative koozie and/or pint glass–or find us in the crowd. We’ll be the tired-looking ones who like to loudly call each other names and fight over cowbells. Also, there’s a frigging sweet festival-type thing happening on our couple of blocks, which we are very excited about. Sure hope no news happens tomorrow, because that would be rude of it!
• Virginia Capital Trail on Dock Street
• Governor Street
• The Live Stream if you’re stuck inside. For a small fee, we will personally call you and shout updates to you. The fee is pastries.

Roads and reminders

This is the map you want to keep on hand today. Basically, Broad Street, Monument Avenue, Lombardy, Main, Dock, and the southernly part of Church Hill are the places you want to avoid if you have to be somewhere in a hurry. They’re where you want to go TOWARDS if the place you want to go in a hurry is the Big Bike Race™. I know, confusing.

Getting off I-95 onto Franklin or Broad will not be permitted from either direction. You can easily, however, get off at exit 75 from I-95 N and get through to Church Hill from the northern side. I recommend cruising up Jefferson and then M Street, finding parking somewhere to your right between 18th and 30th streets, and then walking south to the fun. Every time you pass a bakery, you get to buy yourself a treat! I give you full permission!

Don’t forget to read up on road races so you are in the know.

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https://instagram.com/p/8B4fgRo34k/?tagged=rvanews

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Survival guide

• How and where to watch this dang thing in person.
• How to watch the races on TV or on a digital TV equivalent of your choosing.
• How to ride the bus to the race.
• So, what all is closed?
• How to best enjoy the Big Bike Race™ as a family.
• Don’t forget to send us all of your amazing pictures!
• Attend one of the millions of supporting events all around town.
• And, always, always remember that there will not be 450,000 human beings downtown over the next week.

September 25, 2015 6:00 AM · in Bon Air, East End Daily, and more 0