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My Impressions of the Sanya City Circuit Race [long]



 
 
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  #1  
Old October 29th 07, 05:54 PM posted to rec.bicycles.racing,rec.bicycles.misc
Marian
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Posts: 332
Default My Impressions of the Sanya City Circuit Race [long]

The Tour is about to start and everyone is down in Sanya now. I had
the misfortune to run into a member of the Sanya City Circuit Race
Organizing Committee this morning. He walked into the race office
with some task and was somehow under the misconception that although
our department freely offers services above and beyond our actually
duties to everyone else that we'd actually help him out with
something.

Rather than realize that he was coming to us and asking us for a favor
he decided to argue from the position that, under normal
circumstances, he's higher rank than everyone else who was in the room
at the time. By default we must be wrong and we must do what he
says. These aren't normal circumstances. And my coworkers tend to
support the theory that if you publish prize money you ought to award
it.

This rather long message is the English working draft of something
that is currently in the process of being
translated into Chinese to be posted on a very popular Chinese blog.
The Chinese version is a collaborative effort deliberately intended to
embarrass them as much as possible.

I didn't originally intend to post this anywhere in English outside of
my private mailing list but I found out today at lunch that the Sanya
City Cycling Association is going to try to have an International Race
next year. Apparently they've been inspired by the Tour of Hainan's
fabulous success.

I don't really think they're going to be able to manage it. But It is
my hope that if they do manage to do so perhaps some team that they
invite will do a google search on "Sanya" and "Bike Race," find this
post and decide not to attend.

....

This year I attended my second Sanya City Circuit Race as a
competitor. I have lived in Hainan for nearly four years at this
point and although I now live in Sanya I had not originally planned to
go. The previous year's organization had been so poor with a number
of athletes from the men's category becoming lost on the road, the
women's advanced category recieving prize money and trophies for the
common category, and all of the athletes recieving less than the
published amount of money and awards that I was somewhat leery of
entering a second time. I was even less inclined to enter when I
discovered that the one person who had entered from Changjiang was
represented on the Sanya City Cycling Association's webpage as being
part of a group of seven representing Wenchang or that I had
apparently claimed that I was not only coming back but planned to take
first place at the 2007 edition.

Notwithstanding the fact that my Chinese simply wasn't good enough to
have said that at that time in that way I have never had first place
as my goal and I would never claim to have first place as my goal.
Even though I now routinely place highly at races my goal remains the
same as it was the very first time I was convinced to enter a race.
To have fun and to beat my personal best.

To this day I still consider my very best race results to be the 2006
Jianfengling Mountain Challenge where I was the last rider to cross
the finish before the close of the race. I've had my fair share of
first places but nothing can begin to compare to that.

Despite my reservations however, many people from Sanya insisted to me
that the mistakes of last year's event were only the mistakes of a
first year event and that this year would be better. I hoped that it
was so and despite my work with the Tour keeping me sufficiently busy
that I had not trained in more than six weeks I eventually made the
decision to enter.

When I signed in and recieved the rules as well as my frame and body
numbers Friday night I was pleased to see the list of names included
not only Mr.Qiu and Coach Li but also Frederick Chan and Mr.Xiu from
Hong Kong. As of Friday morning there had still been a chance that
Mr. Qiu might be able to go and I had waited around long past my
originally scheduled departure time in the hopes that he would be
going and that I would be able to go to Sanya with him. But if it
Coach Li and Frederick Chan and Mr.Xiu were also participating then it
was guaranteed that this year's race would be very very well run.

I haven't seen Coach Li since about two months before he went to
France with the Women's National Track Team. So much the better to
hear that he was not only back in Hainan but would be at a race that I
was participating in. I really wanted to show him my new race bike
and let him see how much better I'd gotten since the last time we'd
met face to face.

Saturday morning I did not get to show Coach Li my bike because Coach
Li was not there. Coach Li was still in France with the Women's
National Track Team. Coach Li will be in France with the Women's
National Track Team until the Olympics.

I did not get to talk to Mr.Chan (who will be Chief Commissaire at
this year's Tour) because he too was not there. He was in Hong Kong.

Because I haven't previously met him, I would not know until later
that Mr. Xiu also was not there. Out of the five Chinese Cycling
Association people mentioned in the printed rules, only one was there
and I wouldn't find out until later that he was only a guest and not
an official.

Although I was originally in the Women's Common Category I changed
categories the morning of the road race. Two of the other three
riders in Common were Hainan's Xing Chunlei and Long Ling. I always
race against them. If the course is flat I usually win. That would
be much too boring.

Women's Advanced lined up at the same time as Men's Advanced. Despite
five names being on the sheet at sign-on there were only four of us.
62.4 kilometers. This was not going to be easy and I was going to get
my butt kicked. But I was going to have fun. And that was the whole
point. To have fun.

Men's Advanced included a New Zealander named Nathan Dahlberg in his
late 40s. It's been over twenty years since he participated in the
Tour de France but I was thrilled to be in a line-up with someone like
that. Later I would learn that Jan Kole from Holland, who was also at
the start with us, had participated in the Giro and Vuelta as well as
all varities of large and small races in Europe in the 1960s.

They and their much younger friends from Shenzhen started us fast and
kept us going fast. Nothing in the world compares with riding a bike
in a fast pack. It cannot be properly described to anyone who has
never done it before. I've ridden fast. I've ridden in a fast
paceline. I've ridden in a pack. This was the first time riding fast
in a group of more than five. And we weren't merely going fast, we
were going very fast. Very very fast.

All I needed to do was stick with the pack, hang on to the very tail
end until the women broke off at the fourth lap and maybe I could
sprint for a decent finish. That's what happened at last year's
race. Even with weeks of not training and a punishing 62.4 kilometers
of riding maybe I could do it.

Maybe not.

On the homestretch of the first lap, Sanya Bay road just past the old
airport coming back in to the city the pack was going 45 kilometers
per hour and I couldn't keep up. I was dropped.

Later on I would find out that a competitor of mine from Yunnan
dropped off the pack shortly after I did and waited up for me. With
as few amateur women bike racers as there are in China there are even
less really fast women and we all know each other. She already knew
that she was going to be dropped soon enough so why not ride with me?
However, I never caught her, and only learned this at the finish line.

Into the second lap I was passing Yanglan when the combined Men's and
Women's Common Race caught up to me. I rode with them for a while and
got a good rest. Because of wind a large group allows you to put
forth less effort for more speed. In my case their group was going
the same speed as a group that I had been doing all on my own. But at
least it meant I could have a rest.

On the beach road again and heading into the third lap some of the
riders attacked and broke the pack into a number of smaller groups. As
Xing Chunlei and Long Ling headed for their finish line I continued
into the third lap with a man I'd never met before.

We alternated. He'd take the lead and let me rest for a while then we
would switch and I would sprint as fast as I could to try to pull him
up to the next man. But I was running out of energy fast and
eventually he went ahead without me.

From the end of the third lap all the way through the fourth lap I

rode alone. By this time I was not feeling especially good. I was
glad that the race was almost over. According to my odometer I
crossed the finish line at 2 hours and 5 minutes for an average speed
of 30.2 kilometers per hour. I've never before gone so far so fast.

It felt really good.

I handed my bike to a friend and watched the Men's Advanced cross the
finish line.

My mouth was dry and I was thirsty but the water didn't taste right.
Another friend of mine helped me walk over to the wall and sit down in
the shade. A third handed me a bottle of coca cola and I sent him to
look for salt. I was sitting there in the shade drinking the coke
when I started shivering. I wasn't cold but I couldn't stop
shivering. A spectator sitting near me loudly announced that
something was wrong. "She's cold! Get her back into the sunlight!"

The wife of one of the men from the common race took my gloves off and
started massaging my hands as the friend from Changjiang pushed back
through the crowd with the doctor from the ambulance.

He gave me a liter bottle of saline solution for injection. I drank a
third of it in one mouthful. And it tasted good.

Long Ling got into the ambulance with me and alternated between
handing me coca cola, water, and more saline to drink. Over an hour
passed between my crossing the finish line and the final plans being
made for lunch which included how I was going to get there and what
was going to be done with my bike.

At no time did anyone officially involved with the race check to see
how I was doing. Nor was I officially given my results. Although the
officials apparently didn't care enough to find out why one of the
racers was sitting in the ambulance, my competitors as well as many of
the other cyclists and their friends all came by to see me. It was in
this way that I found out that two of them did not finish so, by
default, I was in second place.

The next day, after the mountain bike competition, I went to the hotel
to collect my prize money and trophy. Things were busy in the Race
Office for the Tour and I needed to get back to Haikou early. I was
accompanied by fourteen members of the Shenzhen bike team. They too
could not stay for the Closing Ceremonies because they had a flight to
catch.

W hen Ms Yang Ze showed up (forty minutes late) she said that only
four women had entered on Saturday so, according to the rules, only
first place was due to get a prize. But that wasn't what the rules
said. The rules said "if less than five register" and there had been
five even if one of them did not show up. I showed her where it said
that in the rules and she left to go upstairs to talk with Mr. Wang
Hongsen.

Ten minutes later she came back and said that indeed I was correct.
Five women had signed up therefore the first three finishers would be
awarded prizes as in accordance with the printed rules. However, she
continued, I was not second place and had in fact been short a lap.

Certainly I remembered riding four laps. And I had an odometer that
confirmed that I had ridden four laps. And I had friends who had seen
that I had ridden four laps. But those could not be trusted. I must
trust the word of their judges. These were the same judges who, last
year, needed the word of first, second, third, and fourth place to
confirm that Long Ling was fifth and not eighth.

The judges weren't available. And when I pressed for information I
was eventually told that because they somehow knew I was short a lap
no one had taken my time at the finish line. They had absolutely no
proof that I had not ridden a full race and refused to accept my
proof.

As the day went on and I reached more and more cyclists who had seen
me finish at about the right time for a 60 kilometer race Mr. Wang
Hongsen now changed his mind and decided that even if I had been
second place it didn't matter because only four of the five women who
registered had participated and therefore only the first place would
receive prize money or a trophy.

Eventually I went back to Haikou with a nebulous promise that if they
ever did reach a decision regarding my second place results, trophy or
prize money they would call me but Wang Hongsen refused to give me his
own telephone number.

Such sloppy organization and unprofessional behavior gives both a race
and the city that hosts it a bad name. The head of the Shenzhen bike
team is a former professional racer and he was more disgusted with the
way I had been treated than I was. Before leaving he promised that
not only will his team never come back he'll make sure that his
friends also don't come.

As someone who lives in Sanya and who truly enjoys cycling as a sport
I can only hope that the Sanya City Cycling Association gets their act
together with regards to following their own published specific
regulations, handing out prize money, and adhering to the standard
practices of bike races or, in the event of a third edition, no one
will come. And that would just be embarrassing.

....

-M

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  #2  
Old October 29th 07, 07:07 PM posted to rec.bicycles.racing,rec.bicycles.misc
Ewoud Dronkert
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Posts: 721
Default My Impressions of the Sanya City Circuit Race [long]

Marian schreef:
As someone who lives in Sanya and who truly enjoys cycling as a sport


If you really do races because they're fun and to improve yourself, and
30.2 kph for 60 km was the fastest you ever went for the distance, and
you did not win, why did you get knickers in a twist over some prize
money and a 2nd place (loser's) trophy?!

BTW, I checked the ultra comprehensive "100 Years of road cyclists -
Dutch professional riders and their results" and no mention of a Jan
Kole, or Koole, Coole, Koelen or similar. Did he never leave the amateur
ranks despite his Giro and Vuelta exploits?

I did stumble upon the impressive palmares of Richard (Dick) Bukacki,
born 1946, professional 1968-1982, 4 full pages of results, 1 win each
for the 1st 2 years, several wins every year after that. A real sharp
shooter.


--
E. Dronkert
  #3  
Old October 29th 07, 08:14 PM posted to rec.bicycles.racing,rec.bicycles.misc
[email protected]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 631
Default My Impressions of the Sanya City Circuit Race [long]

On Oct 29, 11:07 am, Ewoud Dronkert
wrote:

If you really do races because they're fun and to improve yourself, and
30.2 kph for 60 km was the fastest you ever went for the distance, and
you did not win, why did you get knickers in a twist over some prize
money and a 2nd place (loser's) trophy?!


Just cuz people do things for fun doesn't mean they don't take it
seriously. This is particularly true if you work in a particular field
and you see other people doing a ****ty job and not making good on
promises. It's irksome. You worry that others will think the entire
field behaves that way.

I did stumble upon the impressive palmares of Richard (Dick) Bukacki,
born 1946, professional 1968-1982, 4 full pages of results, 1 win each
for the 1st 2 years, several wins every year after that. A real sharp
shooter.


I remember that guy. I think Ronde Champ used to talk about him.

  #4  
Old October 29th 07, 09:01 PM posted to rec.bicycles.racing,rec.bicycles.misc
[email protected]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 524
Default My Impressions of the Sanya City Circuit Race [long]

On Oct 29, 2:07 pm, Ewoud Dronkert
wrote:

I did stumble upon the impressive palmares of Richard (Dick) Bukacki,
born 1946, professional 1968-1982, 4 full pages of results, 1 win each
for the 1st 2 years, several wins every year after that. A real sharp
shooter.


A Google search doesn't show his palmares. Am I looking in the wrong
place?




  #6  
Old October 30th 07, 12:40 AM posted to rec.bicycles.racing,rec.bicycles.misc
SLAVE of THE STATE
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,774
Default My Impressions of the Sanya City Circuit Race [long]

On Oct 29, 12:14 pm, wrote:
On Oct 29, 11:07 am, Ewoud Dronkert
wrote:

If you really do races because they're fun and to improve yourself, and
30.2 kph for 60 km was the fastest you ever went for the distance, and
you did not win, why did you get knickers in a twist over some prize
money and a 2nd place (loser's) trophy?!


Just cuz people do things for fun doesn't mean they don't take it
seriously. This is particularly true if you work in a particular field
and you see other people doing a ****ty job and not making good on
promises. It's irksome. You worry that others will think the entire
field behaves that way.


You're neither a preacher, lawyer/judge, or a politician, so what are
you talking about and how would you know?

I did stumble upon the impressive palmares of Richard (Dick) Bukacki,
born 1946, professional 1968-1982, 4 full pages of results, 1 win each
for the 1st 2 years, several wins every year after that. A real sharp
shooter.


I remember that guy. I think Ronde Champ used to talk about him.


It was Ronde's dad, aka Rumpe Cramp.


  #7  
Old October 30th 07, 02:02 AM posted to rec.bicycles.racing,rec.bicycles.misc
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default My Impressions of the Sanya City Circuit Race [long]

* " a écrit profondement:
|
| On Oct 29, 2:07 pm, Ewoud Dronkert
| wrote:
|
| I did stumble upon the impressive palmares of Richard (Dick) Bukacki,
| born 1946, professional 1968-1982, 4 full pages of results, 1 win each
| for the 1st 2 years, several wins every year after that. A real sharp
| shooter.
|
| A Google search doesn't show his palmares. Am I looking in the wrong
| place?
|
|
|
|


Rode for Belgian squads if I remember correctly

Flandria or that short lived OverPull (or something like)

--
RON PAUL
* He has never voted to raise taxes.
* He has never voted for an unbalanced budget.
* He has never voted for a federal restriction on gun ownership.
* He has never voted to raise congressional pay.
* He has never taken a government-paid junket.
* He has never voted to increase the power of the executive branch.
* He does not participate in the lucrative congressional pension program.
* He returns a portion of his annual congressional office budget to the U.S. treasury every year.
* He voted against the Patriot Act.
* He voted against the Iraq war.
  #8  
Old October 30th 07, 02:04 AM posted to rec.bicycles.racing,rec.bicycles.misc
Marian
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 332
Default My Impressions of the Sanya City Circuit Race [long]

On Oct 30, 2:07 am, Ewoud Dronkert
wrote:
Marian schreef:

As someone who lives in Sanya and who truly enjoys cycling as a sport


If you really do races because they're fun and to improve yourself, and
30.2 kph for 60 km was the fastest you ever went for the distance, and
you did not win, why did you get knickers in a twist over some prize
money and a 2nd place (loser's) trophy?!


BTW, I checked the ultra comprehensive "100 Years of road cyclists -
Dutch professional riders and their results" and no mention of a Jan
Kole, or Koole, Coole, Koelen or similar. Did he never leave the amateur
ranks despite his Giro and Vuelta exploits?


The other guy, who I'm very certain of having been in the Tour de
France (having heard of him from more than one different person and
having done a web search on him) is the one who told me that this guy
was in those races. Maybe I got the years wrong. I dunno. I'm
pretty darn sure that I heard the words Giro and Vuelta during those
conversations.

I did stumble upon the impressive palmares of Richard (Dick) Bukacki,
born 1946, professional 1968-1982, 4 full pages of results, 1 win each
for the 1st 2 years, several wins every year after that. A real sharp
shooter.

--
E. Dronkert



  #9  
Old October 30th 07, 09:06 AM posted to rec.bicycles.racing,rec.bicycles.misc
Marian
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 332
Default My Impressions of the Sanya City Circuit Race [long]

On Oct 30, 3:14 am, wrote:
On Oct 29, 11:07 am, Ewoud Dronkert
wrote:

If you really do races because they're fun and to improve yourself, and
30.2 kph for 60 km was the fastest you ever went for the distance, and
you did not win, why did you get knickers in a twist over some prize
money and a 2nd place (loser's) trophy?!


Just cuz people do things for fun doesn't mean they don't take it
seriously. This is particularly true if you work in a particular field
and you see other people doing a ****ty job and not making good on
promises. It's irksome. You worry that others will think the entire
field behaves that way.


Last year the Hainan Daily covered the Sanya race's not awarding prize
money and ended up with a bunch of people thinking that it was a
different first year event (ie the Tour) that had lots of angry racers
complaining about a poorly run event.

-M

  #10  
Old October 30th 07, 10:02 AM posted to rec.bicycles.racing
Ewoud Dronkert
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 721
Default My Impressions of the Sanya City Circuit Race [long]

wrote:
Ewoud Dronkert wrote:
If you really do races because they're fun and to improve yourself, and
30.2 kph for 60 km was the fastest you ever went for the distance, and
you did not win, why did you get knickers in a twist over some prize
money and a 2nd place (loser's) trophy?!


Just cuz people do things for fun doesn't mean they don't take it
seriously. This is particularly true if you work in a particular field
and you see other people doing a ****ty job and not making good on
promises. It's irksome. You worry that others will think the entire
field behaves that way.


You're probably hinting at misgivings about your fellow statisticians
but in Marian's case of recreational bike racing, I don't buy it. I
didn't need convincing by Chang: it don't mean a thing. Actually,
that's how I approached my own sporting career. I admit this much,
that could be the reason it never went anywhere... However, it is
still the way I teach my pupils: I am serious about my investments,
they should be serious about their commitment but only because we all
intrinsically love doing what we do. Don't expect, and make sure you
don't need, rewards other than your own enjoyment.

I know, I'm an amateur.


--
E. Dronkert
 




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