From: seales@stilton.cs.wisc.edu (Brent Seales)
Newsgroups: rec.bicycles
Subject: Race results:  Amateur race in France
Date: 14 Apr 92 16:10:53 GMT
Organization: University of Wisconsin, Madison -- Computer Sciences Dept.


			   Tour de la Region
		        75 km Amateur Road Race
			  The French Riviera
			Sunday, April 12, 1992


The road race last Sunday afternoon began at the "piste cyclable" near La 
Bocca, close to western Cannes near the sea.  The piste is not a true track; 
it is not banked much at all and is about 1 kilometer in length, roughly 
circular.  The start/finish was at the southern end, with the exit to the 
course being on the west.  Since we were riding counter-clockwise (from above, 
of course), we did 3/4 of a lap before the tight right-hand turn that took 
the pack out of the piste and onto the road, headed north away from the sea.
The good thing:  the wind, which that afternoon had kicked up quite nicely, 
calms down as you move away from the shores of the Mediterranean.  The bad 
thing:  the hills rise up and conspire against you!

My pack, 80 riders strong, was intended for riders just above the introductory 
level.  A category 4 of the Riviera, if you will.  The course for us was the 
same as for the peloton behind us full of stronger riders, barring the added 
30 km detour reserved especially for them in the hills.  Actually the course 
was nicely organized, for we began 15 minutes *before* the faster riders, 
contrary to one's first intuition.  But at the 40 km mark, before the faster 
pack could catch us, we took the cutoff, gaining back time lost to them.  Thus 
when we arrived at the point where the two routes again merged, we were again 
15-20 minutes ahead of the fast pack, and would share that final part of the 
course in common back to the piste in La Bocca.  This seemed to minimize the 
time the organizers had to keep the intersections on the course clear, and 
allowed both packs to share mostly the same roads except for the single, more 
remote detour.

As we left the piste, we climbed immediately for 10-15 minutes.  I soon
realized that Roger, my Club Vice President and "trainer," had understated
the amount of climbing on the course.  He told me that the climbing would be 
the same as the race two weeks ago in Mougins.  Not true, and I was beginning 
to realize his capacity for understatement.

The climb was not extremely severe, 5% maximum, and with the lazy pack just
getting warm we didn't push too hard.  This was the story for most of the 
first 40 kilometers.  There were ups and downs but the pace wasn't unbearable.
We meandered through some of the most amazing parts of the area that I've seen
yet.  And *every* intersection was blocked for us by police as we came 
through.  Of course there was oncoming traffic, but most of the oncoming cars
were halted by the lead cars/motorcycles until after we passed.  Horns honked
constantly, people shouted encouragement from their cars, and in general it
was a lot of fun.  At several points along the way there were spectators who
cheered and shouted gap times for those not in the main group.

We pushed through Valbonne, the town where I saw the pros come through a
month ago during the final day of the Paris-Nice stage race.  At this point,
30 km into the race, the pace picked up and we started revving up for the most 
incredible ride I've had in a pack yet.  After Valbonne, we began following 
the major highway toward Nice.  This road is smooth and gently curving, and 
for about 6-8 km we descended very quickly (60-70 kph) as we rolled east toward
Nice and the sea.

At Villeneuve-Loubet, the party ended and the selection began.  Immediately
after turning into the town, we began climbing, north again, and then turning
west.  The Loup valley, one of the most beautiful parts of this region,
parallels in a mostly east-west orientation the valley we descended on the 
highway.  The two valleys meet in Villeneuve-Loubet.

Halfway up the 10-minute climb out of Villeneuve-Loubet there was a crash,
the first and only one I saw during the race.  Only one rider fell, apparently
the victim of wheel-overlap.  He was not injured, although I think he took a 
nasty blow to the back of his helmeted head.  It is obligatory here in France 
to wear a "helmet":  but the helmet can actually be one of those leather 
hairnets.  Fortunately this rider had a conventional helmet on his head.

We descended briefly and then came to the bottom of the 15-20 minute 
gut-wrenching climb from the Loup river to Le Rouret.  Perhaps 7-8% at the 
bottom, this thing seemed to never end, and the stronger riders smartly 
accelerated after the first 4 minutes, leaving me and a bunch of other
unfortunates choking on their fumes.

As whipped remnants, we gathered together to pursue.  I found myself and one of
my teammates the most willing (although certainly not the strongest) and so 
we began the chase of the 20-25 riders who were within sight in front.  Hey,
if you've already lost the lead group, why not hammer your eyes out trying
at least to catch them again?

But alas we could not catch them.  As fate would have it, we were only allowed
the crumbs that fell from the group in front.  First one here, then there,
then another laboring up a small hill - we absorbed them all and grew in size
as we soaked up the toasted.

The final 20 km are a blur, mostly because my legs hurt terribly and I couldn't
breath.  Funny how that happens.  But I remember the final acceleration as we 
neared the 10% climb that would put us up and over the top of the ridge within 
view of the sea, the piste, and the finish line.  We caught sight of a group 
of 5-7 riders who were again dropped by the fastest in front, and this 
instilled renewed effort in our 25-strong mini-peloton.  Thankfully there were 
others who would work, and I was spared.  The riders hopped onto our wagon 
and we all braced for the final effort.

We turned the corner to begin the 500 meter 10% grade with less than 2 km to 
go, and I wondered if I would fall over halfway up.  But Roger had warned me 
of this - he said, "ignore what the other riders do and just spin your 42/21 
right from the beginning.  After the first 200 meters (the steepest), then 
attack."  Roger is pretty familiar with the silly tendencies of part-time 
racers like me, and sure enough, people overestimated their gearing and 
bogged down after 200 meters.  I spun past using my momentum and was the third 
to hump over the top.  The descent was frightening.  We came down a different 
way than we went up, and I wasn't sure where the entrance to the piste was.  
At 60-70 kph it's not worth making a mistake, so I lost a few places on the 
descent.  We entered the piste through the same west gate we had exited at 
the start, and then sprinted (really just accelerated a bit!) for 1/4 of a lap 
to the finish line at the south end.  My teammate crossed in 18th place, and 
me in 24th.  It turns out that two riders escaped from the lead group and won 
with a 1-2 minute gap.  The other places arrived one by one, spread out by 
the climb before the finish.

We stayed to see the faster pack finish, and watched the awards (cups and 
flowers) get distributed.  The cost of the race was 15 Francs, with 3 Francs 
returned if you give back your number.  They reuse them.  So the race cost 
me 12 Francs, a little more than $2 (American).  We were escorted the entire 
race by two support cars, a sag wagon, police motorcycles, and a lead car.
The course was well-organized and truly beautiful, although it's hard to
take in the beauty when competing in a race.  But there were no repeated
roads, just a single large circuit.

All in all a wonderful, low-cost, high-intensity Sunday afternoon.  Can't 
wait until next weekend.

Brent

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Brent SEALES                   INRIA Sophia-Antipolis - Project Robotvis
Tel: (33) 93.65.78.XX      Office: XX=37   Fax: XX=45   Secretary: XX=30
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