Cyclocross Nationals: The First Day

We took our officials crew picture before we left the hotel.
Verona, Wis. – Another quick entry, as the long days of officiating simply clash with my ability to get client work done.

So, in no particular order, here are the highlights (and lowlights) of the opening day of the USA Cycling national cyclocross championships:

- I broke the bell (the clapper flew off in mid-ring), which required an in-race fix-it job (photo at right.

- The venue is a park somewhere near our hotel. I'm not sure how far it is because (like all officiating crews do) we stopped for coffee on the way there.

- Parking is $5 or $15 for the duration of the event. No admission is charged. Team space is $200.

- It was cold in the morning when we first arrived, but warmed up nicely. But shortly after chief referee Carla Geyer shed one of her layers, the sun went behind the clouds, the wind picked up and the temperature dropped.

- The pizza parlor we drove to in Madison was nice. It made up for the lunch of a single bean burrito (with nothing to drink because the burrito was $6 - the entire value of our meal voucher).

- Simply sitting or standing outside for eight hours sure takes its toll. I felt like I had been through a 10-round prize fight when we got back to the hotel.

- There were tons of Post Grape-Nuts cereal boxes at the team hotel. And they were giving it out (with milk) in the food tent as part of the sponsorship deal. I wonder how long it'll be before we grow tired of hearing about it. It's really a natural sponsorship, as is UnitedHealthcare (though we're waiting to hear the extent of involvement on that one).

This photo was shot before we lifted the plastic windshield
on the judges tent. The lap counter and bell were my responsibility.

Ice had to chipped off the finishing straight.

Readying the finish line truss – which shows off the new
major sponsors of USA Cycling (unveiled this week).

Photo for Julia. That's ice melt in the portalet reservoir.

Distributing radios was our first task once on-site.

Tom Schuler (left), my former boss at Team Type 1, is the
event director. It's always great to work with him. I have him
to thank for introducing me to the BMC Racing Team.

Dave Fowkes and Carla Geyer at the rider staging.

And here's what staging looks like moments before the start.

This guy, in the last race of the day, and to run his bike
the last kilometer or so after something on it broke.

A look at my paltry scoring sheet for the women's singlespeed.

Pizza for dinner. This wasn't mine. (I had pepperoni.)

Meetings (and A Morning Workout)

The conference room where I spent much of Wednesday and Thursday.
Milwaukee - Plenty of discussion, lunch and a nice dinner filled my day on Wednesday. I was able to catch the final outs of the World Series at the dinner. I enjoyed a macaroni-and-cheese-and-chicken dish, plus a piece of pepperoni pizza off the sampler appetizer tray.

Wednesday morning began with a walk down 13 flights of stairs (I was staying on the 16th floor and the workout facility was on the third floor) and 30 minutes on a very cool workout machine with a TV built in. (Sorry, no pictures.)

Joe Eldridge and Phil Southerland each brought
little guns (that shot harmless rings) to the meeting.

It wasn't very exciting at times, as you can see,
but we did accomplish quite a bit.