Bicycle Race at Laoshan Bike Park

1.5.2008 von Ines.

On the topic of the GREEN event organized by Beijing Radio: I did not know what the next step after the Games would be. But already on Tuesday April 29th late afternoon I was informed that I have to come to some kind of bike race on May 1st. That was almost 2 days in advance. And it was not so easy to find out what kind of race it would be or how many races or what we would be doing starting at 7:30am. I was told to meet at the Velodrome stadium so I asked if we were going to cycle in the Velodrome on the track and the answer was yes. As I was not really convinced that the answer was correct I sent an email to an English speaking person got some answers to my questions:

Can you please send me a schedule of what is planned on May 1st?
A:just like physical ability test,rides the line in the specialized cycle track.There should be have mountain road and ordinary racecourse.The test from exactly 7:30am in the morning and until around 11am.
How many competitions will there be?
only one.:)
How long will the race that you mentioned be? How many meters/kilometers?
How is it determined who wins this competition?
These two questions I can answer together.we have specialized trainer to make decision. may be he/she think your power and skill enough to join trip he/she will stop the competition.
What will we do at 7:30 am?
Starting competition.Observes the time arrangement also is to decision that you win or not.
What time will the whole event be finished?
28 of May

The race turned out to be on a street with a minor and a major uphill section, 5km each lap and we had to race 6 laps. So a 30km street race. I had asked them to give me a bike (as I was not clear what kind of race it would be and I only brought my commuter track bike as a backup). They gave me and about 8 others heavy mountain bikes. I was happy to find some road race bicyclists that I could pursue and that could help me fight against the slight wind on the long straights. It was exhausting but fun - here are some pictures. I came in as one of the first (maybe third) but that was not the goal. The goal was to be selected to ride from one of the Olympic cities to Beijing. And I was selected.

Actually I had already planned to go camping and climbing with friends over this May 1st public holiday. So I had to change that and arrange that we join the others later today.

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