Reflections on the USGP

I think I am still too tired for a truly coherent post about the USGP so here are my random thoughts -

Wisconsin volunteers rock. All day Tuesday and Sunday post-race were rainy and miserable but the volunteers kept working. We also had enough people to fill a zillion different jobs over the weekend. And everyone was really great even if someone was not very nice to them. I like that about our cross scene! The head UCI Official wrote in her race evaluation that gets sent to the UCI that our volunteers were top notch.

Here's a pic of John and I - tired but still happy with the great event. This truly was a huge event to organize. We agreed to give our race over to the USGP last December and by January we were meeting and the planning just kept on rolling through the year. It was a hard year for sponsorship dollars but I'm hoping all of our good publicity will pay off for next year (and hopefully the economy will improve). We also have a ton of little things we can do better and some ideas for bigger things. Plan to be back!!

Erwin Vervecken is super nice and funny too. I had the good fortune to have dinner with a group that included him and sat next to him (after elbowing John, leaping over tables and generally pushing down elderly folks). We had a nice chat about random topics - his kids, the difference in the economy of Belgium and the US, American slang (up your alley, wicked good, and many more) and I taught him to say "dig in" instead of Bon Appetite when food was served. He is super personable and seemed to really enjoy his stay here. He also said very good things about the course (and that was on Saturday when he didn't win).

An interesting fact about our race is that the head of the UCI Cyclocross, Peter van den Abeele, was in Sun Prairie. He hasn't been to many US cross races so it was an honor (and a stress) to have him in attendance. We wanted to make sure we were following the rules so he didn't think US cross was not ready to one day host a World Cup or that we shouldn't have C1 races. He definitely made some favorable comments which was good. He also like that in the US there were lots of racers not just the elites and juniors.

What happens behind the podium curtain (also known as plastic tent sides)? My job was to make sure the riders didn't wander off, that they got water, a moist towelette and towel, and that they knew when to step out to the podium. I also was in charge of making sure the media and fans weren't back there intruding when we were doing the elite racer podiums.

Another question I get a lot is how the Most Aggressive Rider is chosen. The USGP has staff that are positioned at various points on the course and they watch the race unfold and then confer with each other to make a decision. On Saturday John and I stayed out of it but on Sunday we did offer our opinion over the race radios. I think Alison and Tristan were excellent choices.

I guess the biggest question I get is about next year . . . . and yes the USGP plans to return to Sun Prairie. We definitely have some improvements to make for next year and we will start planning immediately so we can do that. Putting on an event like the USGP requires year round work but I think it is a good thing for our local cyclocross scene.

Right now I'm looking forward to getting back to my life . . . and maybe I'll get my cross bike together in time to race Lapham Peak.