It was an inauspicious start from Williamsburg at about 9:15am. The riders' faces had looks ranging from disbelief to horror. My friend Pat Ellison (from Tampa, FL!) and I were two of only a few dozen brave, or crazy, souls who ventured out to see the racers off. The temp was about 34 degrees, not the 18 degrees that Al Trautwig was touting on the the NBC Sports coverage...but with the wind-chill it felt like 2 deg! We walked a few hundred meters from the roll-out to see the race come through downtown Williamsburg and were told that the race had already taken a wrong turn. A small group had rolled off the front already, and I suspect that it was simply to get warm, as it was gruppo compatto shortly there after. The race stayed together for the majority of the gently rolling route between Williamsburg and Richmond, but was just starting to get animated when Pat and I got to the "JUMBOTRON" at the finish line downtown. We watched the action for just a short while before making the trek to Libby Hill Park and the much anticipated cobblstone climb the racers would struggle up on each of their 8 circuits through Richmond. Libby Hill didn't disappoint, with bursting tires and racers scrambling all over the road, and grass, to find the smoothest line. We hung out on the slopes of the climb for about 4 laps and were later able to spot ourselves on the nationally televised NBC Sports coverage. If you happened to tape it, Pat was wearing a bright yellow raincoat and I had on my JRVS red, white and black vest. We made our way back to the jumbotron just in time to catch Svein Tuft make his decisive move on Pat McCarty the last time over Libby Hill and solo in for the victory. It was a beautiful day in Richmond for a bike race and I hope the organizers can make it happen again next year.
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