The USPRO Road Race: A Victory

I ran two blocks to catch up with race winner Tyler Hamilton.
Greenville, S.C. - The pictures will have to tell the story for this post because I am absolutely crazy busy. Tyler Hamilton of Rock Racing won the national road race championship - by two-thousandths of a second (that's 0.002). And you thought Michael Phelps's race was close.

Here's the front-on view of the sprint. Tyler is on the right.

The photo finish camera confirms Tyler has won.

There I am on the right (red shirt), collecting quotes.

Afterwards, fans were asking him to sign all kinds of things.

The woman in the blue shirt in the VIP tent just sneezed.
The photo above is the VIP tent where I spent most of my day. That's because the press tent had no power and no TV. It turned out that the TV wasn't an issue because the Internet/TV service shooting the race for broadcast had all kinds of technical troubles. We didn't see video of the race until only 35 miles were left to go (of 115 total).

My laptop was on my lap for six hours.

The podium hostesses, Rachel and Ashley, were ready backstage.

My friend, Tom Vinson, was on hand to congratulate Tyler...

...who was all smiles at the press conference afterwards.

Saturday: Has It Only Been Two Days?

Rock Racing sponsored the USPRO time trial.
Greenville, S.C. - Yes, it is only Saturday and it seems like I have been in Greenville, S.C., forever. But that's a good thing. The city is clean and getting around is easy, as we are just off I-385.

It was nice to ease into things today. Rock Racing only had two entries in the USPRO Championship time trial and Team Type 1 only had one. So I was able to Twitter updates about both teams, coordinate media and follow the race results. Phil Southerland of Team Type 1 was a part of the online broadcast for about 10 minutes and the Greenville News asked to ride in the Rock Racing team car behind Michael Creed.

Speaking of Creed, he was part of one of the more unusual sights on the day. I saw him get off his bicycle and walk away from the starthouse about two minutes before he was scheduled to go. He walked down the sidewalk and behind a bridge culvert. I quickly figured out that he was heeding "nature's call." But I didn't expect what happened when he was finished. One of the team staff put an entire bag of ice down the back of his skinsuit. Yikes! That had to be cold.

But it was also a good precautionary measure. It was HOT out there. And humid. One photographer who was in Beijing, Casey Gibson of VeloNews, said it was more humid and warmer in Greenville than at the Olympics.

Neither squad did anything in Saturday's race, which was fine and not unexpected. It still made for a long day, though, and I never did get out on a bike ride. Tracking down a bike seemed to be the first obstacle, time was the second obstacle and third, I would have been even more exhausted than I was already. (Need proof? Check out the stories I wrote for Team Type 1 here, here and here).

Saturday night was the "Greenville Rocks" concert and hospitality dinner sponsored by Rock Racing. I accompanied team photographers Paul and Bill to the event and we enjoyed the live music and a tremendously nice spread of food. Despite it being billed as an "athlete reception," not a single rider was there. They would have enjoyed the food - but missed the desserts. (There were none.)

Three things that were nice...

I was able to pick the girls up some very nice souvenirs without spending a bundle. So girls, if you are reading this, you need to stay good for Mom. She'll give me the final OK or nay on whether you actually deserve to receive the gifts I bring back to Omaha. So please continue to be good for her.

Having been here last year (and having stayed at the downtown Hampton Inn), I was very familiar with the area where the Greenville Rocks event was taking place. I even knew how to save $5 on parking.

Back in Omaha, Bridget was feeding me updates on the Nebraska football game. I ordered the pay-per-view broadcast and they threw a watching party at my apartment. (Supposedly they cleaned up afterwards.)

Now to the photos:
I thought this sign was funny at a bike event.

In case you didn't believe me that the food spread was impressive.

The band played Journey, Rush, AC/DC and Rolling Stones music.

Paul from Vero Image caught me in action Saturday night.

Here's the view of the event from across the stream.

First Day In Greenville

The winner of this weekend's races gets to wear a special
stars-and-stripes jersey for the next year.
Greenville, S.C. - My Friday began at 3:45 a.m. and is still going at 2:50 a.m. Saturday. In between, I've flown from Omaha to Memphis, Tenn., to Greenville, S.C., eaten one meal (at Indigo Joe's), written three blog posts for Team Type 1, Twittered one report for Rock Racing, managed a press conference and a pair of crisis and represented the team at a manager's meeting.

Yes, it is back to work-on-the-road for me this Labor Day Weekend 2008. When I stepped off the plane this morning, it was almost as if I had been here a few weeks ago. But it was exactly a year ago that I was in Greenville to manage press for Toyota-United.

This is a fountain in the atrium of the Greenville airport.
Sergey Davidenko picked me up in one of the Cadillac Escalades.
I had about two hours between touchdown and my first assignment: getting two of the team's riders to a pre-race press conference. I spent about 45 minutes just getting the staff and riders assigned to rooms (I was upgraded to a "deluxe king" in a corner room for my trouble) and then another 20 or so trying to track down the two riders. Unfortunately, one of them (Tyler Hamilton) was out riding his bike (with his phone turned off). So it was just Fred Rodriguez and me who drove over to the Greenville Hospital in one of the team's Cadillac CTS vehicles (thank goodness for navigation systems).

The other crisis I managed during that time was the lack of licenses and rider releases. I expected them to be waiting for me at the Hilton. Instead, they were sent to my apartment. Thank goodness my "assistant" (Bridget) was able to assist in Omaha and get me the information. I also used my connection with the chief commissaire, Randy Shafer (whom I have officiated races with over the years), to troubleshoot the situation.

The tiny guy on the left in the white hat is Fred Rodriguez.
I readied the rider's race numbers after the manager's meeting.
Saturday's schedule should be much less hectic. Only two riders from Rock Racing - and one from Team Type 1 - are competing in the time trial. That means I should be able to get a ride in - provided I can round up a bicycle. I have my pedals (thanks for the tools, Dad!), helmet and Rock Racing kit. And a journalist has invited me to participate in an afternoon ride of the course.

This is also one of those trips that Danielle would have certainly enjoyed. As I checked into the hotel, I imagined how much fun I would have had showing her around Greenville. It's a very clean city with plenty of hospitality. Instead, I will be on the lookout for some souvenirs for our girls - who promised me Thursday night they would be good for their mom. (I'll be checking up on them, of course.)

Next Up: USPRO Championships

The professional cycling season is winding down - but it gets busier before the racing stops at the end of September.

On tap for this weekend are the USPRO Championships in Greenville, S.C. I attended this event last year (see photo at right) while managing press for Toyota-United, a team that is going away after this season.

Last year at this race, I ventured out on one of the team bikes to check out the road race course. It was a 16-mile(?) loop that included the climb of Paris Mountain. Initially, I was tagging along with one of the riders, Justin England, but heading out of town toward the mountain, I told him not to wait for me.

Once onto the climb (which is denoted by the words "climb starts here!" painted on the road), I knew I was in trouble right from the get-go. I had hardly begun going up and I was already down to two gears. I also didn't know the climb, so as I rounded every bend I could only hope it was the one that led me over the top.

Unfortunately, the climb that takes the professionals about 20 minutes took me about 45 (including three stops and a phone call home). But once over the top, I enjoyed a fast (45-50 mph) descent back into Greenville.

I doubt I will get a chance to ride the course this year, but it is good to have experienced it at least once.