Saturday, June 26, 1999
Cycling delays, organization criticized
Time jam cuts one race in half
BY DAVID UCHIYAMA
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Cyclists, parents and coaches are calling this year's U.S. Elite and Junior National Road Cycling Championship the most poorly organized race they have ever attended.
U.S. Cycling Federation officials postponed Thursday's time trials; Friday's events started late; and the final race Friday was cut eight laps short.
“Its cheats the riders, parents and the sport,” said John Wordin, coach of team Mercury Richey.
The final race was cut short because local officials said the roads around Northern Kentucky University had to be opened before rush hour. They were scheduled to be reopened at 3:30 p.m., but Loveland Mayor Lee Skierkiewicz, who helped bring the event to Greater Cincinnati, persuaded authorities to keep the roads closed for an extra 45 minutes.
Many participants said they couldn't understand why the championships have had so many problems this year, when things ran smoothly last year when the races debuted in Cincinnati.
This year, an extra day was added for the junior road race, and juniors are allowed to compete in the time trials and the criterium race, where cyclists compete on a shorter, circular course. . Essentially, both local and national event organizers are dealing with a competition twice the size of last year's.
Mr. Wordin's team was directly affected by the shortened 17-18 year-old boys race that was scheduled for 16 laps. Brad Buccambuso sprinted out to a one-minute lead early in the race. After
six laps an announcement was made that only two laps remained, giving the cyclists who had been pacing themselves for a 16-lap race little chance to catch the leader.
Mr. Wordin's cyclist Devon Hoff-Weeks finished a distant second, and two other team members placed in the top 10.
“My guys couldn't win,” Mr. Wordin said. “If we would have gone two more laps we would have caught (Mr. Buccambuso).”
To avoid cutting eight laps off one race, one lap should have been cut from each of the previous races when organizers realized the event was behind schedule, Mr. Wordin said.
“All it takes is a watch and some common sense,” he said.
Problems started Friday morning when the first race, 10- to 12-year-old girls, started 20 minutes late. A later race was also delayed. These delays, combined with slower times than expected, led to the shortened final race. It was scheduled to finish at 3:15 p.m. but started shortly before 3 p.m.
“This whole thing has been very unorganized,” said Martha Christensen, a mother of one of the coaches from Long Beach Calif.
Mr. Buccambuso said winning the national championship was a little tarnished because of the short race.
Riders were given some consolation when race officials announced they have rescheduled the time trial championships for 8:30 a.m. Monday in Anderson Township. Thursday's scheduled races were postponed because of safety concerns about wet roads.
“Given the challenges we face in putting on this event, we're certainly concerned and careful about conducting the remaining competitions correctly,” said U.S. Cycling Federation managing director Evan Call.
The fact that officials rescheduled the competition didn't repair the relationship between the U.S. Cycling Federation and cyclists.
One female cyclist became visibly angry when she learned the time trials were rescheduled for Monday.
“I don't have the (expletive) money to stay another day,” she screamed loud enough for everyone near the start/finish line to hear.
“We're on a shoestring budget,” said Portia Fiedler mother of four girls on team Girl Scouts of Long Beach. “But we really want the girls to do the time trials.”
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