SF Grand Prix live

What's up with R-Gag? He attacked right at the start and then promptly
got caught and went out the back, and that was all she wrote.

-Smurf

Gaggioli, in a Mardi Gras mood:

http://www.kenpapai.com/racing/sf2005/gaggioli2505.jpg
and
http://www.kenpapai.com/racing/sf2005/gaggioli2506.jpg

(Waiting for his teammate on Fillmore climb)

-Ken

http://www.kenpapai.com/racing/sf2005/mccartney2519.jpg

Jason McCartney and Chris Wherry (in stars and stripes).

-Ken

Man, Ken was on Fillmore, I was marshalling Fillmore, and I didn't even recognize him.
I'm completely clueless.....

Nice job getting those photos on line so quickly! How'd you manage that?

During the first or second finishing circuit, Fred Rodriguez got off his bike
on Columbus, an apparent puncture, when a police
motorbike CREAMED his bicycle, sending it flying. The Mavic neutral support
was right there, and they got him on a Mavic yellow special, which he rode to the
finish. Too bad, as Fred was looking strong. Two bad luck years in a row for him,
after getting stuck in a crash in '04.

Dan

"k.papai" wrote:
<snip>

Great pictures Ken! Thanks for sharing them.

"Man, Ken was on Fillmore, I was marshalling Fillmore, and I didn't
even recognize him.
I'm completely clueless.....

Nice job getting those photos on line so quickly! How'd you manage
that? "

My downtown SF office is only 2 blocks from the start/finish line.

Dan where were you on Fillmore? I was never at the top. I moved
between the two steepest blocks for the first 6 laps. Then I bailed to
up-load the photos. Damn It I missed you Dan! (Last year I was out of
town)

"During the first or second finishing circuit, Fred Rodriguez got off
his bike
on Columbus, an apparent puncture, when a police
motorbike CREAMED his bicycle, sending it flying.:

Fred Rod was doing handlebar self-repair on his bike. He had an allen
wrench and was tightening his own bars down at the back of the pack
while on-the-go!

My biggest amazement was the total lack of anything from Basso,
Leipheimer, Horner, or Hincapie.

-Ken

Quoted message said:

k.papai wrote:

My biggest amazement was the total lack of anything from Basso,
Leipheimer, Horner, or Hincapie.

Basso = Vacation, didn't care.
Leipheimer = Teammates up the road, hates this course.
Hincapie = Useless teammates up the road
Horner = Marking Leipheimer & Hincapie and didn't really care because
he already got a ride for next year.
DA74 = Hates this course too but liked the new start finish this year.

-DA74

PS...And yes, the crowds were a bit smaller this year on all parts of
the course (even Fillmore and Taylor), and agrees with CP that this
race is RIP.

DA74 said:

Quoted message said:

k.papai wrote:

My biggest amazement was the total lack of anything from Basso,
Leipheimer, Horner, or Hincapie.

Basso = Vacation, didn't care.
Leipheimer = Teammates up the road, hates this course.
Hincapie = Useless teammates up the road
Horner = Marking Leipheimer & Hincapie and didn't really care because
he already got a ride for next year.
DA74 = Hates this course too but liked the new start finish this year.

-DA74

PS...And yes, the crowds were a bit smaller this year on all parts of
the course (even Fillmore and Taylor), and agrees with CP that this
race is RIP.

The promotion of the race was clearly off this year, plus the crowd probably suffered from
the fact it was on a holiday weekend (Labor Day is Monday).

The number of volunteers was down by at least a factor of two. In previous years, promoters
worked with my club, Webcor/Alto Velo, to have it guarantee 50 volunteers. This year, that
didn't happen. Barclay Investors (the primary sponsor) employees did have preferential
placement, but there weren't many of them, and they didn't seem very engaged. Not working
through the local cycling community is an obvious major mistake -- it not only gets
volunteers, but it generates fans through publicity.

There were other snafus. The web site was not well known -- they lost their
old http://www.sfgrandprix.com/ , for example, when they wanted to become the "T-Mobile",
and dropped it. Big mistake.

It seems KPIX Television, which sponsors the race, publicized it, however. I don't
have TV, but did catch a promotional snippet from their news on the soundless TV in
the gym on Friday.

Dan

k.papai said:

"Man, Ken was on Fillmore, I was marshalling Fillmore, and I didn't
even recognize him.
I'm completely clueless.....

Nice job getting those photos on line so quickly! How'd you manage
that? "

My downtown SF office is only 2 blocks from the start/finish line.

Dan where were you on Fillmore? I was never at the top. I moved
between the two steepest blocks for the first 6 laps. Then I bailed to
up-load the photos. Damn It I missed you Dan! (Last year I was out of
town)

I was also on the upper two blocks of Filmore for 9 laps, then went
to Taylor, where I found a spot at the bottom of the uppermost block.

Quoted message said:

"During the first or second finishing circuit, Fred Rodriguez got off
his bike
on Columbus, an apparent puncture, when a police
motorbike CREAMED his bicycle, sending it flying.:

Fred Rod was doing handlebar self-repair on his bike. He had an allen
wrench and was tightening his own bars down at the back of the pack
while on-the-go!

Wow. I remember the time I almost tried to slam in my end-plug when I was
riding, until I realized what the consequences in momentum transfer would be....

Quoted message said:

My biggest amazement was the total lack of anything from Basso,
Leipheimer, Horner, or Hincapie.

I liked the DA74's response to this.

Dan

DA74 said:

PS...And yes, the crowds were a bit smaller this year on all parts of
the course (even Fillmore and Taylor), and agrees with CP that this
race is RIP.

When the announcer on Fillmore (Not Richard Fries; he was on Taylor)
asked a Barclay's representative if they'd be back next year, the response
was an unenthusiastic "we'll see".

Dan

On 9/4/05 8:35 PM, in article
[email hidden], "DA74"

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

k.papai wrote:

My biggest amazement was the total lack of anything from Basso,
Leipheimer, Horner, or Hincapie.

Basso = Vacation, didn't care.
Leipheimer = Teammates up the road, hates this course.
Hincapie = Useless teammates up the road
Horner = Marking Leipheimer & Hincapie and didn't really care because
he already got a ride for next year.
DA74 = Hates this course too but liked the new start finish this year.

-DA74

PS...And yes, the crowds were a bit smaller this year on all parts of
the course (even Fillmore and Taylor), and agrees with CP that this
race is RIP.

DA74 = DNF

k.papai said:

http://www.kenpapai.com/racing/sf2005

Thanks, Ken.

Dan,
"I was also on the upper two blocks of Filmore for 9 laps, then went
to Taylor, where I found a spot at the bottom of the uppermost block. "

There is one guy there, who works Fillmore every year I've been there,
2001-2005 skipping '04...
Just before the racers came up on lap one he told me to push my camera
bag under the fence (it was 100% safe already) and that the "straps
might catch a rider going up."

That wasn't you was it Dan? 😉

-Ken

k.papai said:

Gaggioli, in a Mardi Gras mood:

http://www.kenpapai.com/racing/sf2005/gaggioli2505.jpg
and
http://www.kenpapai.com/racing/sf2005/gaggioli2506.jpg

(Waiting for his teammate on Fillmore climb)

-Ken

Love the beads! You know you're in SF...

k.papai said:

John Lieswyn HAMMERING up Fillmore:

http://www.kenpapai.com/racing/sf2005/lieswyn2558.jpg
and
http://www.kenpapai.com/racing/sf2005/lieswyn2559.jpg

-Ken

I can't believe how steep it is... their noses are practically touching
the ground.

k.papai said:

Dan,
"I was also on the upper two blocks of Filmore for 9 laps, then went
to Taylor, where I found a spot at the bottom of the uppermost block. "

There is one guy there, who works Fillmore every year I've been there,
2001-2005 skipping '04...
Just before the racers came up on lap one he told me to push my camera
bag under the fence (it was 100% safe already) and that the "straps
might catch a rider going up."

That wasn't you was it Dan? 😉

-Ken

That was Barry. He's pretty fanatical, but he does a great job.
He's always thinking about the needs of the race, rather than simply
watching it.

Dan