Just surfin’ around, and I found this:
Damn, this Greg Descantes is good…
Khai,
That’s a nice pic. I like this one better:
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Ah man, I miss that race. You have to love a race where the course is a block and a half from your front door.
clm
That pic is great!
Gibo Simoni ran a TRIPLE for that race the year he won the Giro.
I can’t even imagine.
I wonder what cogset they use at this race? We were discussing that when we did Alcatraz earlier this year. The climbs in this thing are 10X harder than anything on the Alcatraz bike course and I was suffering on the minor climbs at Alcatraz!
If I found out these guys had 11-23’s I’d be demoralized. I used a 12-25 for Alcatraz. -Seems like you’d need a 12-27 for this thing.
Very cool photo Kai - thanks!
Were you running a compact crank?
Seems like if I were wanting to do well in that race I would run a compact. What is the finish like? Does it come down to a bunch sprint? DO a few usually get away? What would you need to run as a big ring to finish well enough?
Actually, neither Tom or myself used a compact and we wished we would’ve. We discussed it, but then decided that we would probably be alright with just the 12-25. Oooppssss!
We ended up being okay, but it definitly wasn’t a PR!
I believe most were using a 27. Some guys used triples. That climb (Fillmore Street) is “only” 3 blocks long, but steep, though with a bit of recovery between each block on the cross-street. In 2005 that young Discovery dude (who is no longer with them) took a flyer out early and got a good gap on the field and each time at the top of that hill, he’d raise his arms and wave at the crowd. The last time up the hill (they went up like 5 times then continued on the short loop for another 10 or so loops), he got to the top, got off his bike, bowed to the crowd and got back on his bike. I think he dropped out soon after. I started watching from my neighborhood, walked down to Fillmore at the top of the climb, then walked backwards on the course to the other climb, then finally to North Beach and sat outside and drank beer as the race zipped by a few feet away. Damn, I miss this race!!!
This guy:
The other climb (Taylor Street) has a block that is even steeper. It’s about 4 blocks from my house. Depending on when he shot this, I may be in the crowd in the background.
Ha - that second picture looks like an earthquake hit and scattered the riders!
I guess for SF it is entirely possible.
Michael Creed, I think.
I sat next to him at lunch the day before the race, and had no clue who he was or that it was him leading the race until someone pointed it out.
Michael Creed, I think.
I sat next to him at lunch the day before the race, and had no clue who he was or that it was him leading the race until someone pointed it out.
That’s the guy.
I miss the race too, it was a great event.
At Interbike a couple of years ago I asked Magnus Backstedt what he thought of the SF GP. He said that the climb was steep but short, more of a “power climb” for him. I can’t remember if he finished or not.
There’s a picture somewhere of Gord Fraser using a triple and what looks like a 12-25.
I thought you meant the US Club Cross COuntry championships in SF…Mike Pigg raced.
Why was this race eliminated?
Yep - that is Mike Creed. It was announced a couple of weeks before the race that Discovery wasn’t going to resign him for the next year, so he took a flyer off the front to hopefully pick up a team/sponsor for the next year. I think he signed with the TIAA-CREF team, but not 100% positive. He’s actually an extremely funny guy - check out his web site.
I think that the race got eliminated due to money between the city and the race organizers. Typical things like who pays for police, permits, etc. In 2005 some businesses complained since the race was held on Labor Day weekend too and they thought they lost out on normal 3 day weekend business. One can debate that the number of people who came into SF to watch the race added to the city’s tax base.
Too bad, it was really cool to see a ton of cycling fans and just those casually interested watch a race. It was also exciting to watch some of the local guys I used to race/train with do well against some of the best in the world.
Cyclingnews article on the demise
Why was this race eliminated?
Politics, money, usual crap.
Its pretty funny that Mike signed with Tiaa Creff after he went on and on in “PRO” about how if he signed for a D3 team he would be doing them a diservice because he had been racing at that level since he was 18… oops.