RMRC has been hard at work on the race this year. We've had a bunch of feedback on races past and based on that we thought it was time to change things up just a bit. I'm sure some people liked things the way they were, but others didn't. We hope this pleases as many people as possible.
For 2013 we are re-introducing the long course for as many races as possible (all races before noon). As many know, this race is one of the oldest bike races in Colorado, and we've run the long course many times in the past. It changes the character of the race from fast, tight, and technical to laps that are twice as long and possibly more tactical.
The city only let us run this course until noon because of Jazz In The Park, so for races after noon we've gone to the shorter course, but we've changed all of the roundabouts to go around the inside of the roundabout instead of the outside. This will hopefully mellow out the turns and keep things safer for those races after noon.
In order to help make these changes possible, we've teamed up with Team Cycleton to add enough manpower to course marshal the longer course. Cycleton has also added significantly to the prize list, which is growing by the day.
We look forward to a fast and fun day of racing on June 2nd.
Because the city put pressure on us to shorten the race day (due to Jazz In The Park) we are running 35+ 3s and SM3s at the same time but they will be scored separately for awards and BAT.
Merged with 1-2. Again, this was due to schedule constraints. We COULD have run it on the short course later in the day, but many felt that the 35+1-2s would rather race the long course with the 1-2s than they would want to race on the short course later in the day.
Again, apologies that we can't somehow do better with the schedule that we had to work with. Maybe jumping in with the 1-2 field on the long course will be a cool way to test the legs.
It was a difficult decision to make and we hope we made the right one. We know there are a bunch of racers that love the fast and punchy short course. Thanks for coming out and racing anyway, we hope you'll like the long course and even be surprised by it. It's actually got a nice variation of tight/technical and wide open so it should provide opportunities to riders of all styles. Cheers!
Time will tell if the long course is a hit with the racers. I'd bet you it will not be a hit with spectators. Lap times will be too long, taking what was an exciting race to watch into a snore-fest for the spectators.
True, spectators will see fewer laps on the long course but if they go to the 2nd median they can see racers go by twice per lap, and that could make for some interesting spectating in itself depending on breaks and race dynamics.
Fed Center had long(er?) laps like this, and the spectators got creative there too by going to places where the course passed the same location a few times per lap. Perhaps we can have the announcer let people know that they can see more from certain spots on the course.
But in the end, who to please? Spectators or racers? Hopefully we please the racers.
Good point about finding spots to see the race twice per lap. It's a balance as to who to please. More spectators, particularly non-racers, appeals to sponsors, which helps the racers in the long run.
What spectators?
This was done to hopefully having the long course will increase the number of racers. It's been a few years since I did this race. I stopped when it went back to the short course with 3 round abouts per 1K lap.
I love the short-course, but I understand not everyone does. I appreciate rmrc trying to listen to racers--most races just blindly trudge on year after year. I'm excited for the racing, I just hope more racers come out. I'll harass my teammates to join in.
14 Comments
Updated course.
Submitted by Stephen Fitzgerald (not verified) on
RMRC has been hard at work on the race this year. We've had a bunch of feedback on races past and based on that we thought it was time to change things up just a bit. I'm sure some people liked things the way they were, but others didn't. We hope this pleases as many people as possible.
For 2013 we are re-introducing the long course for as many races as possible (all races before noon). As many know, this race is one of the oldest bike races in Colorado, and we've run the long course many times in the past. It changes the character of the race from fast, tight, and technical to laps that are twice as long and possibly more tactical.
The city only let us run this course until noon because of Jazz In The Park, so for races after noon we've gone to the shorter course, but we've changed all of the roundabouts to go around the inside of the roundabout instead of the outside. This will hopefully mellow out the turns and keep things safer for those races after noon.
The best place to check out the courses is on the flyer, which is linked here: http://www.coloradocycling.org/sites/default/files/Site_Files/Race_Flyer...
In order to help make these changes possible, we've teamed up with Team Cycleton to add enough manpower to course marshal the longer course. Cycleton has also added significantly to the prize list, which is growing by the day.
We look forward to a fast and fun day of racing on June 2nd.
Cheers.
Team RMRC
Points: 4
Am I blind? I'm not seeing
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on
Am I blind? I'm not seeing the 35+ on the flyer...
Points: 0
Because the city put pressure
Submitted by Stephen Fitzgerald (not verified) on
Because the city put pressure on us to shorten the race day (due to Jazz In The Park) we are running 35+ 3s and SM3s at the same time but they will be scored separately for awards and BAT.
Points: 0
And 35+ 1/2 ???
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on
And 35+ 1/2 ???
Points: 0
Seniors.
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on
Seniors.
Points: 1
Merged with 1-2. Again, this
Submitted by Stephen Fitzgerald (not verified) on
Merged with 1-2. Again, this was due to schedule constraints. We COULD have run it on the short course later in the day, but many felt that the 35+1-2s would rather race the long course with the 1-2s than they would want to race on the short course later in the day.
Again, apologies that we can't somehow do better with the schedule that we had to work with. Maybe jumping in with the 1-2 field on the long course will be a cool way to test the legs.
Points: 1
Same start/finish and direction?
Submitted by bmoore (not verified) on
I'm in the minority that likes the short course, but I'll be there regardless.
Points: 0
It was a difficult decision
Submitted by Stephen Fitzgerald (not verified) on
It was a difficult decision to make and we hope we made the right one. We know there are a bunch of racers that love the fast and punchy short course. Thanks for coming out and racing anyway, we hope you'll like the long course and even be surprised by it. It's actually got a nice variation of tight/technical and wide open so it should provide opportunities to riders of all styles. Cheers!
Points: 1
Time will tell if the long
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on
Time will tell if the long course is a hit with the racers. I'd bet you it will not be a hit with spectators. Lap times will be too long, taking what was an exciting race to watch into a snore-fest for the spectators.
Points: 0
True, spectators will see
Submitted by Stephen Fitzgerald (not verified) on
True, spectators will see fewer laps on the long course but if they go to the 2nd median they can see racers go by twice per lap, and that could make for some interesting spectating in itself depending on breaks and race dynamics.
Fed Center had long(er?) laps like this, and the spectators got creative there too by going to places where the course passed the same location a few times per lap. Perhaps we can have the announcer let people know that they can see more from certain spots on the course.
But in the end, who to please? Spectators or racers? Hopefully we please the racers.
Points: 0
Good point about finding
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on
Good point about finding spots to see the race twice per lap. It's a balance as to who to please. More spectators, particularly non-racers, appeals to sponsors, which helps the racers in the long run.
Points: 0
Spectators?
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on
What spectators?
This was done to hopefully having the long course will increase the number of racers. It's been a few years since I did this race. I stopped when it went back to the short course with 3 round abouts per 1K lap.
Points: 2
Yes
Submitted by Stephen Fitzgerald (not verified) on
Same start/finish and direction.
Points: 0
I love the short-course, but
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on
I love the short-course, but I understand not everyone does. I appreciate rmrc trying to listen to racers--most races just blindly trudge on year after year. I'm excited for the racing, I just hope more racers come out. I'll harass my teammates to join in.
thanks
Points: 0
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