I am still a bit in shock at what happened at the USA Cycling road race National Championships...
Here is the brief story of what happened; We began what was to be the worst 115 mile road circuit most of the riders had ever ridden, I don't mean challenging terrain, but suburbia hell. That became the least of our worries when we came through after our 4th of 6 laps. We had already raced 79 miles, and there was a group of 5 guys off the front, with about 12-15 chasing them. My self and 50 other riders made up the remaining peloton, by now almost 30 riders had dropped out of the race voluntarily. We were sitting 3:25 (three minutes 25 seconds) behind the leaders and when we come through with 35 miles remaining in the race, we are all asked to pull off and retire from the race. We all look at each other in shock and disbelief. Without warning, the California Highway Patrol who made up our rolling enclosure said they would no longer enclose our race, because we were more than three minutes behind the leaders. They have no clue how a bike race works but were somehow able to control and ultimately rob the majority of the riders of a national caliber race.
My dad has written the below letter to USA Cycling, Velo News and CyclingNews.com. I'm sure many more letters like have already been sent out.
What the heck happened to the officiating in the men's U-23 Championship road race in Irvine, California? Why was the entire main peloton of approximately 60 riders pulled for being just 3:08 minutes behind the leader at the 70 mile mark of a116 mile race-- one that still had over an hour and 45 minutes to go?
The response of USA Cycling officials on-the-scene was that it was the police that made this"3-minute-behind rule." When did the police start making race rules? Did anyone explain to them this is not how a road race progresses? But even if this absurd rule WAS going to be in effect, why wasn't it made clear to everyone before the race? And why wasn't it applied during the women's race?
Here's the worst part. The riders, who were prematurely told to stop racing had trained a whole year for this event and who spent their money to travel and stay in California, were completely robbed of their fair chance to compete. For many, their future contracts were at stake. These riders are owed more than an apology-- they are owed an explanation.
How does USACycling, who is supposed to control their races and represent their riders, explain this fiasco? And more importantly, what are they going to do about it?
Leslie Singer
Little Rock, Arkansas
