Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Disappointment in Springfield and Hannibal

As you might imagine, the Tour of Missouri's decision not to route the 2009 through Springfield and Branson came as a disappointment to civic leaders in those communities. Springfield and Branson had been host cities the first two years of the race.

Also disappointed were the folks up in Hannibal, who were hoping to get to race to visit northeast Missouri for the first time.

Tour organizers are striving to take the race to other parts of the state. St. Louis and Kansas City, the state's two largest metropolitan areas, not surprising got to keep their stages. Springfield is Missouri's third-largest metropolitan area.

"To my knowledge, there wasn't anything in their guidelines we couldn't accommodate," Springfieled organizing committee chairman Randy Worley told the Springfield News-Leader. "We had met their requirements the last two years and continuously had been praised for the organization and facilities we offered. I think the new schedule indicates they were trying to give other cities a turn."

A civic leader in Hannibal told the Hannibal Courier-Post that politics might have played a role in choosing southeast Missouri over northeast Missouri.

“I would lie if I didn’t say that I think politics doesn’t play into it a bit,” said Beau Hicks, executive director of the Hannibal Convention and Visitors Bureau. “The southeast corner of the state has definitely wanted it and I think politically seeing that the lieutenant governor (Peter Kinder) is from there probably gives them a little better chance at getting that corner of the state involved than perhaps our corner to be real honest.”

Kinder, who has spearheaded the state's promotion of the Tour of Missouri, lives in Cape Girardeau, the finishing city for Stage 2 of this year's race. I'm sure that helped.

But other factors that probably helped Cape Girardeau's bid include the challenging terrain near that community and an active cycling community that strongly supports events such as the Tour de Corn and the Tour de Cape.

The Hannibal folks hope the Tour de Missouri will reconsider their community in 2010 during Hannibal's commemoration of the 100th anniversary of Mark Twain's death. The legendary author was born in Florida, Mo., and spent most of his childhood in Hannibal.

Labels: Tour of Missouri

Roger 1 comments 8:47 AM

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

2009 Tour of Missouri host cities named

Tour of Missouri organizers today announced the host cities for the 2009 race, and there are some dramatic changes.

The most notable changes are the routing of the even from east to west rather than west to east and the exclusion of the Springfield-Branson area from this year's route. The communities of St. Charles and Hermann also aren't on this year's route.

In the first two years of the Tour of Missouri, the race began in the western part of the state -- Kansas City in 2007 and St. Joseph in 2008 -- and ended in St. Louis. This year's ride begins on Labor Day (Sept. 7) with a circuit race in St. Louis and ends Sept. 13 with a circuit race in Kansas City. Here's a full list of the route:

• Stage 1: Circuit race in St. Louis, Sept. 7.
• Stage 2: Ste. Genevieve to Cape Girardeau, Sept. 8
• Stage 3: Farmington to Rolla, Sept. 9
• Stage 4: St. James to Jefferson City, Sept. 10
• Stage 5: Time trial in Sedalia, Sept. 11
• Stage 6: Chillicothe to St. Joseph, Sept. 12
• Stage 7: Circuit race in Kansas City, Sept. 13

"In keeping with tradition, we will change the course from year to year to keep it fresh," said Chris Aronhalt, the managing partner of event organizers Medalist Sports of the Tour of Missouri Web site. "There will be new drama on the race route and we expect a few more hills. Overall, we have some great and very excited host cities."

Based upon my knowledge of Missouri geography, the Farmington-Rolla stage should be the hilliest of the race, while the Ste. Genevieve-Cape Girardeau, St. James-Jefferson City and the Chillicothe-St. Joseph stages will provide plenty of the undulating rolling hills the Tour of Missouri is known for.

"I like what they've done," said 2008 Tour of Missouri champion Christian Vande Velde, an Illinois native who also finished fourth overall at last year's Tour de France. "It's a totally different race course and it looks like they've added some challenging terrain. Last year's race was very fast and tougher than it looked on paper. I look forward to coming back"

With the Stage 2 start in Ste. Genevieve, the Tour of Missouri will be going through one of Missouri's most historic towns. Ste. Genevieve has the greatest concentration of French Colonial buildings in the United States, some dating as far back as the 1770s. Shown at left is the The Bolduc-LeMeilleur House, which was built in 1820.

The Tour of Missouri has formed a partnership with the Gateway Cup in St. Louis, the largest amateur cycling event for road cycling in the country. The Gateway Cup will feature four days of racing by more than 1,100 competitive amateur cyclists over the Labor Day weekend. These four days of racing will lead into Stage 1 pf Tour of Missouri .

Gateway Cup organizers say the final day of racing (Labor Day) in that event will use the same start-finish line as the Stage 1 of the Tour of Missouri, St. Louis' new City Garden in the Gateway Mall in downtown St. Louis. In recent years, the Labor Day race had been run in the University City Loop. Back in the 1990s, the final race was held in the Signal Hill neighborhood near Belleville, Ill.

On Labor Day, the Gateway Cup races will begin at 7 a.m., the Tour of Missouri Women's Criterium will begin at 11:45 a.m., and Stage One of the Tour of Missouri will begin at 2 p.m.

Tour of Missouri Women's Criterium races also will take place Sept. 4-6 during the Tour de Lafatette, the Downtown St. Louis Criterium and the Giro Della Montagna.

Labels: Tour of Missouri

Roger 0 comments 1:05 PM

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Around the horn ... again

Midwest Bicycle Expo and Swap Meet: I spent most of the morning and afternoon at the St. Louis Regional Bicycle Federation's Midwest Bicycle Expo and Swap meet in Collinsville, Ill., pushing the Tour de Stooges and selling raffle tickets for a benefit for cyclist Gerry Frierdich. I'm happy to report that we sold nearly $400 worth of tickets for a Bacchetta recumbent bike that will be awarded Feb. 7!

I want to especially thank Mark Cockson, executive director of the Gateway Council of Hostelling International, who helped me sell tickets today. More importantly, I want to thank all of you who bought tickets or donated money for this most worthy cause!

I had my annual conversation with Brent Hugh, executive director of the Missouri Bicycle Federation. He talked about wanting to ride the Tour de Stooges as many of his cycling friends from the Kansas City area have done. I pointed out that it's only about an additional half-hour drive on U.S. 40 to get from Collinsville to Highland.

My longtime friend Doug Kaufman helped man the MoBikeFed booth, and I got to chat with some of my best friends from the Belleville Area Bicycling and Eating Society, including Arlene Willmann, Thomas Carter, Tracy Hall, Charles Beil and David Weidler.

If that wasn't enough, I had nice chats with Karen Karabell and Carrie Zukoski of the St. Louis BikeFed and Amy Schmidt of Trailnet. All in all, a pleasant way to spend a Sunday!

Lance Down Under: Saturday night, I got done with my work at the Belleville News-Democrat early enough to watch the final two laps of the final stage of the Tour Down Under. Lance Armstrong finished 29th overall in the Tour Down Under, 49 seconds behind winner Allan Davis of Australia, but was satisfied with his ability to keep up with top riders after 3 1/2 years out of professional cycling.

“It’s given me a reassurance that I can still race because I’ve got to say, man, you never know. You’re out 3 1/2 years, you don’t know how the body deteriorates or gets older," Armstrong told The Associated Press. "It reassures me that I can work hard and do the right work and I think I can still race at the highest level.”

Next up for Armstrong is the Amgen Tour of California. Armstrong says he will riding in support of defending champion Levi Leipheimer, but it wouldn't surprise me at all if Armstrong provides some exicitng moments of his own.

Even in the Tour Down Under, Armstrong had his moment in the sun. On the next to last lap of the race, Armstrong found a burst of power and briefly took the lead. His move even had Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwin all a-flutter, predicting that he could pull away and take the stage. Liggett and Sherwin often are wrong with their in-race predictions, including this one, but it was fun to hear them get excited about Armstrong again.

Social Networking Addiction: I'm not teaching this semester at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, but my addiction to social networking sites is keeping me away from this blog.

My primary addiction is Facebook. Not only do I have a page for me, but this blog has an application there. If that wasn't enough, I am the primary administrator for the Belleville News-Democrat's page there.

I have a MySpace page as well, but I rarely look at it. In my humble opinion, Facebook is so such much better and mature than MySpace. In the past few weeks, many of my old friends from Southwestern High School have made their way to Facebook and have managed to find me!

I'm also on Twitter, although most my posts there are headlines from this blog and from my Blip.fm page. As with Facebook, I'm also the primary administrator of the News-Democrat's Twitter page.

Blip.fm is my newest addiction. It's basically Twitter with music! You can find a wide range of song there, write a brief note about the song and creat your own playlist. Fun stuff. I'm trying to get a few other people addicted to it as well so I'm not alone!

Labels: Gerry Frierdich, Internet, Lance Armstrong, St. Louis Regional Bicycle Federation

Roger 0 comments 11:20 PM

Friday, January 23, 2009

Go to the Swap Meet and help Gerry Frierdich

If you're a cyclist and if you're in the St. Louis area this weekend, I definitely encourage you to attend the St. Louis Regional Bicycle Federation's Midwest Bicycle Expo & Swap Meet at the Gateway Center, 1 Gateway Drive in Collinsville, Ill.

I'll be there in two roles. I will be at the Gateway Council of Hostelling International's booth pushing the Tour de Stooges (May 2 in Highland, Ill.) and other rides the Gateway Council will be putting on this year.

Secondly, I will be selling raffle tickets for the second of two Bacchetta recumbent bicycles being given away to benefit Belleville, Ill., cyclist Gerry "Chief" Frierdich, who was seriously injured in an August 2007 accident when his recumbent bike was struck by a pickup truck on South Green Mount Road in Belleville.

I will be selling tickets at the Gateway Council's booth. Tickets are $5 each or three for $10. I hope you'll look me up and buy some raffle tickets for a worthy cause. This will be one of the last chances to buy a ticket before Feb. 7, when the second recumbent will be awarded.

(NOTE: I'm grateful to Mark Cockson, executive director of the Gateway Council, for allowing me to sell tickets at the group's booth during the Swap Meet!)

Gerry himself is expected to draw the winning ticket during The Gerry Frierdich Benefit Mouse Races on Feb. 7 at Panorama Bowl, 200 South Belt West in Belleville. Tickets for the benefit at $15 in advance and $20 at the door and includes draft beer, soda, chips and pretzels. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., and racing begins at 7 p.m.

I hope to see you in Collinsville on Sunday!

Labels: Gateway Council of Hostelling International, Gerry Frierdich, St. Louis Regional Bicycle Federation

Roger 0 comments 2:29 PM

Landis to ride in Tour of Missouri

Floyd Landis, coming off a two-year ban because of a doping violation at the 2006 Tour de France, says he's planning to ride this year's Tour of Missouri with his new domestic cycling team, OUCH. The team plans to ride the major U.S. races, starting with the Amgen Tour of California in February.

"Starting with the Tour of California, every race we enter we’ll be entering to win," Landis told Outside magazine. "Not that it will be easy. The Tour of California is huge, so it’s kind of a stressful first race back. And there are some very strong domestic teams we’ll be up against this season: BMC, Bissel. Guys come along each year who you’ve never heard of and surprise you. There’s real talent in the U.S. And great races. After the Tour of California there’s the Tour of Utah, the Tour of Missouri. I’m looking forward to it."

Landis' entry in the Tour of Missouri isn't official yet. The Kansas City Star reports that the only team that has received an invitation to compete in this year’s race is the Garmin-Slipstream team led by Christian Vande Velde, the 2008 individual champion. The September race still is in its planning stages.

Landis also had an extended interview with USA Today in which he not only confirmed plans to ride in the Tour of Missouri, but said he has no more faith in anti-doping controls.

"Those are half-(hearted) tests and they know it, but I have no choice if I want to race. You have to agree to those terms. But I trust those guys less than just about anyone I've ever met," Landis said.

After a long legal battle with the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency over a test that showed he had an illegally high testosterone-epitestosterone ratio after his dramatic win in the 17th stage of the 2006 Tour de France. Landis ultimately was stripped of his overall Tour title because of the test.

One cyclist who's welcoming Landis' return is one-time teammate Lance Armstrong. The 7-time Tour de France champion, racing this week in the Tour Down Under in Australia, told Australian media the people should "forgive and forget" and welcome Landis and other cyclists who have done their time for doping violations.

"It's good that the strongest people in the world are in the strongest races in the world," Armstrong said in the Herald Sun. "You've got to remember that Floyd might have been found guilty but at the end of the trial, if you polled people more than 50 per cent thought he was innocent."

Speaking of Armstrong, he's is 38th place in the Tour Down Under after today's stage, in which he finished 47th. He's 39 seconds behind Australian Allan Davis after four stages with two more stages left.

Labels: cycling, Lance Armstrong, racing, Tour of Missouri

Roger 0 comments 9:59 AM

Sunday, January 18, 2009

The comeback begins

In case you're wondering -- and I'm sure you are -- Lance Armstrong began his comeback today in the Tour Down Under. The seven-time Tour de France champion finished 64th, safely within the peloton in the Cancer Council Criterium in Adelaide, Australia, 24 seconds back of winner Robbie McEwen.

The criterium does not count, however, in the overall standings of the Tour Down Under. Racing begins in earnest Tuesday. Here's a short excerpt from the VeloNews account:

Those who doubted Armstrong’s ability to find his racing legs again should not have. For much of the hour-long criterium, he rode at the front, at ease, and as if he never left the sport, his legs still a willing slave to the rhythm of professional bike racing.

Toward the end, Armstrong slipped toward the back of the field.

"I'm glad it's over," said the American, who is far more suited to stage racing than hectic criteriums where the threat of crashes is ever present.

If you're hoping to see Armstrong's exploits in Australia, Versus is probably your best bet. Versus will be airing half-hour highlight shows at 3 p.m. Central Time today, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, and 2:30 p.m. Central Time on Saturday. Versus will air a full-hour show at 4 p.m. Central Time next Sunday (Jan. 25).

In addition, you can watch the final stage of the Tour Down Under live at 9 p.m. Central Time Saturday (Sunday afternoon in Australia) at Versus.com.

Labels: cycling, Lance Armstrong, racing

Roger 0 comments 10:26 AM

Thursday, January 15, 2009

What happened to the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation?

I first noticed the changes at the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation while visiting my Facebook page. No longer is the group called the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation. Instead, it's now called the Active Transportation Alliance.

As the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation, the organization has successfully pushed for safer and better bicycling in Chicagoland for nearly 25 years. But the organization's leaders determined they needed to push for better conditions for walkers and people who use mass transit.

"From this work, we have learned that active and sustainable forms of transportation rely on each other. With an expanded mission that includes pedestrian and transit advocacy, we look forward to even greater success improving the region’s overall transportation culture," organization leaders said on the Active Transportation Alliance Web site. "It continues to strive to reach its two primary goals — seeing a region with 50 percent fewer crashes and where 50 percent of all trips are made by bike, foot or transit."

Labels: Chicago

Roger 0 comments 12:02 AM

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

National Bicycle Month plates

For those of you who live in the Land of Lincoln, Reagan, Obama and Blagojevich, the League of Illinois Bicyclists is offering "Share the Road" plates to Illinois motorists who want to show their support for bicycling. The plates can be displayed during the months of April and May (the actual National Bicycle Months).

The cost of the plates is $28, and you can download a PDF registration form to order the plates. Proceeds will go to LIB and its efforts to promote cycling in Illinois.

Speaking of LIB, the organization is offering a poster and a brochure promoting trail etiquette. It offers the normal tips, which include yielding to slower-speed users and not taking up the entire trail. To get copies of the poster and brochure, go to LIB's Web site and find the details there.

Labels: League of Illinois Bicyclists

Roger 0 comments 11:48 PM

Wednesday, January 07, 2009

More on MetroLink Bike Trail

After attending the public meeting Tuesday night about the extension of the MetroLink Bike Trail between the Belleville MetroLink station and the Memorial station, I'm persuaded that the $9 million project will be an asset for the communities of Belleville and Swansea.

Frankly, I was concerned about the project because of some serious design flaws on the existing MetroLink Trail between the Belleville station and Southwestern Illinois College and the Richland Creek Bikeway between the Belleville station and Third Street in Belleville. Those flaws include the lack of a safe way to cross Green Mount Road, excessively sharp turns in North End Park in Belleville and the use of square-off curbs on Second Street in Belleville.

The plans that I saw showed me that Thoovenot, Wade & Moerchen Inc., the engineering firm designing the project, had done its homework. Included in the project is an overpass at Illinois 159 (Illinois Street) , a busy four-lane highway. The trail also will go under existing overpasses at Illinois 161 and Sullivan Drive in Swansea and Frank Scott Parkway West in Belleville.

Trail users would be forced to cross Fullerton Road and Old Caseyville Road in Swansea. Fullerton can be busy at times, although not as bad as Green Mount Road, but there are some long stretches on the trail without stop signs, and that's a good thing for cyclists!

For the most part, the St. Clair County Transit District already owns the land because its part of the existing MetroLink right-of-way. Some land will need to be purchased at Illinois 159 to build the overpass.

In today's story about the meeting in the Belleville News-Democrat, some people expressed concerns about crime. "We love the bike path, but we're worried about what type of people can come through here," said Clarence Schaefer, 84.

Mike Barton, manager of Dutch Hollow Village, told the News-Democrat he doesn't want people trespassing through village property and has asked project managers to consider placing the path on the other side of the MetroLink tracks.

"Instead of crossing at Memorial station, it can cross at the Swansea station," Barton said. "You can see how close the homes are on this side compared to the other side."

I would recommend that people who have concerns about crime or property values check out some the resources available, including a fact sheet from Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority (PDF) and the Web site for the Freinds of the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail. Closer to home, many developers in the Edwardsville area have found that being near one of the Madison County Transit trails can be a major asset and have sought to make sure people in their subdivsions have easy assess to the trails.

Labels: Belleville, trails

Roger 0 comments 11:11 AM

Monday, January 05, 2009

MetroLink Bike Trail extension hearing set for Tuesday

The St. Clair County Transit District will hold an informational meeting Tuesday about the proposed extension of the walking and biking trail along the MetroLink light-rail tracks, the Belleville News-Democrat reports.

The meeting will be from 4:30 to 7 p.m. in the community room at High Mount School at 1721 Boul Ave. in Swansea, Ill. All people who are interested in the project are encouraged to attend the meeting to talk to representatives of the district and the engineers of the project.

The proposal includes a trail that will follow MetroLink from North End Park in Belleville through the Swansea MetroLink Station in Swansea and to the Memorial Hospital MetroLink Station in Belleville.

I suggest that if you care about bicycle trails in St. Clair County -- we're miles and miles behind neighboring Madison County -- you attend the meeting and give the district and engineers some input. Let's hope some of the design flaws in the current trails that serve Belleville can be avoided this time around.

Labels: Belleville, trails

Roger 0 comments 5:17 PM

Sunday, January 04, 2009

Midwest Bicycle Expo and Swap Meet

The St. Louis Regional Bicycle Federation will host the Midwest Bicycle Expo and Swap Meet on Sunday, Jan. 25, at the Gateway Center, 1 Gateway Drive in Collinsville, Ill. This is the third straight year the meet has taken place at the Gateway Center.

The show will take place from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Admission is $8 for adults and free for children 15 and under. Coupons offers a $2 discount are available at some St. Louis-area bike shops.

Individuals, bike shops, non-profits, and bike-related businesses will have booths with all sorts of bike-related goods. Display your vintage bike, or vote for the best of the classicStingrays, balloon tire, middleweight, and special interest models.

New this year is a silent auction featuring items and gift certificates from some of our finest local businesses. Don’t miss your chance to bid and win. Proceeds go to creating a better bicycling environment in our region!

I hope to see you there! I will be at the Gateway Council of Hostelling International's booth pushing the Tour de Stooges and selling raffle tickets for the second of two Bachetta recumbent bicycle being raffled off to raise money for Gerry "Chief" Frierdich, the Belleville, Ill., bicyclist who was critically injured when he was struck by a pickup truck on Aug. 19. 2007.

I'll have a bit more to say about Gerry in a post later this week.

Labels: St. Louis Regional Bicycle Federation

Roger 0 comments 12:19 AM

Friday, January 02, 2009

Tour de Stooges registration open!

Four months from today, cyclists will be touring the roads of Madison, Clinton and St. Clair counties on the 12th edition of the Tour de Stooges bicycle ride.

The ride takes place Saturday, May 2, at Lindendale Park in Highland, Ill., the second year Highland has been the host of the event. Other than stiff winds of 15-20 mph that slowed people down a bit, the new location got lots of rave reviews. We're pleased to announce Cygan-Delaney Catering of Highland, which provided the great lunch last year, will be back to serve lunch again.

Once again, the Tour de Stooges features five routes ranging from 15 to 64 miles. And, of course, after the ride, you can enjoy all the slapstick comedy you can stand.

Registration for the ride opened today. You can sign up for the ride online or download a form and register by mail. The cost of the ride is $30 for adults and $20 for children 5-12. The first 500 pre-registered riders will receive T-shirts. You also can sign up the day of the ride, but T-shirts will have to be purchased separately for $25 each.

We hope to see you May 2 in Highland!

Labels: Tour de Stooges

Roger 0 comments 12:06 PM