With area temperatures in single-digits this morning and wind chill making it feel like 15 below, I will be forcing myself into the gym, taking a spin class and pining for warmer weather today.
Local race organizer Red Rose Races has provided a visual to help racers keep their focus on these cold days. Red Rose has posted a YouTube video of last summer’s Great Grandview Heights Criterium, above. The race action film was shot during the Pro 1, 2 & 3 race from a helmet cam worn by Rite Aid pro Mike Beers. Beers, of West Chester, placed sixth in the race, which was won by fellow pro Kyle Wamsley, of the Navigators team.
Farther afield, there are also YouTube videos of a bicyclist descending L’Alpe d’Huez, shot from a handlebar-mounted camera, and Lance Armstrong’s climb of the legendary mountain in the Tour in 2001, including “the look” to German cyclist Jan Ullrich.
The Lancaster Bike Club is also looking forward to summer, and urging its members to do the same. The club recently announced on its website that it will hold le Tour de Red Rose in July, timed with the le Tour de France.
Unlike the most famous of professional races, the club event is not a race, but a series of rides for all levels of cyclists. Beginning Saturday, July 5, and ending with the podium finish in Paris,on Sunday July 27, the club will offer 20 days of riding, including evening rides throughout the week.
The club site promises prizes, excitement and interaction with fellow riders. Details of the Red Rose Tour will be published on the website and in The Peddler, the club’s newsletter, in April.
Dream Ride Projects will also be sponsoring a series of youth races during July, called the Tour de Lancaster, although no details have yet been posted for the 2008 edition.
