Men in Tights
[Ed. Note: Special guest contributor Michael David Murphy brings this report from the San Francisco Grand Prix.]
For the last seven years, bike racing has relied on Lance Armstrong's star power to draw new fans to the sport. And gauging by the size of the crowd yesterday at the Barclay's San Francisco Grand Prix, the Lance factor is huge. Now that Lance has left the sport, many of his fans, too, are "Leaving Las Vegas." And that may be a good thing, because the sport has never looked livelier.
On the Barclay's course Sunday, crowds were thick where the action was hot; on Fillmore, Taylor, and the Embarcadero. (Remember, the riders did nine ascents of the hill that Johnny Mosely wanted to shred. Whose the wussy now?) And in the end, a German rider for Gerolsteiner, Fabian Wegmann played the tactical game to perfection and came away with a win.
Photo of former SF Grand Prix winner George Hincapie's varicose veins by Michael David Murphy.
While American cycling fans have had Lance's dramatic backstory to hang their helmets on, nothing beats being out there on the course and seeing George Hincapie lean into the turn from Polk onto Bay at 40mph. It parts your hair and blows you back a bit. And ultimately, that's what bike racing's all about. Speed, pain, and the occassional pump thrown into your front wheel.
Sunday, bike racing was about Healthnet's John Lieswyn, an old-timer with a heart of gold who came up short in the last big race of his career, and how he was so overwhelmed by coming so close, he collapsed into tears in his teammate's arms. It was about the look on Discovery rider Michael Creed's face when he dismounted his bike on the top of the Fillmore hill (while leading the race) and shook it above his head, saluting the fans.
Drama all around Sunday, but you still have to know where to look. Two questions we heard on the course; "Who's Fabian Wegmann?" and "Is he the one dating Sheryl Crow?"