I'm sure there are going to be two very different points of view regarding what happened in Wednesday's opening stage of the Sea Otter Classic.

Some will say that a bunch of whiney professional cyclists just ruined the sport, and alienated sponsors by protesting a so-called “dangerous” course. Others, meanwhile, will say that the riders finally put aside their differences and acted in a unified fashion by standing up to race promoters who have little regard to riders’ safety, and only want to impress sponsors. Well, as a whiney professional, here’s my take on the matter. The problem today was that, though beautiful and challenging, the Redwood City Circuit stage quite simply did not have adequate traffic control.

Look to your left, now look to your...
On wide roads limited traffic control might not be an issue, but on narrow little residential paths -- with houses and driveways -- it was quite an issue. The people who lived in this neighborhood, although well meaning, gladly waited to pull out of their driveways until they thought the race had passed.

But, like I said, the Redwood Circuit was beautiful and challenging -- as in hilly. And as is the case on a very hilly course such as this, the peloton would invariably fragment into small groups. So, when one group passes, out comes Bob in his brand-new SUV and WHAM! the chase group collides with 2 tons of black and chrome Chevy Subdivision.

No Parking
Add to that the very avoidable hazards of parked cars peppered throughout the course and a bad situation becomes even worse. Say, for example, a car was parked on the left side of the road, and a crash occurred on the right. Nearby riders would naturally swerve to the left to avoid the crash. Again on a wide boulevard that might not be a major issue, but 130+ guys going at race speed down a narrow road and you can easily see a rider going straight into the parked car.

Certainly, accidents like this can happen no matter what, but it was the opinion of the majority of the riders today, that the police protection was inadequate in a densely populated neighborhood, and that the many, many parked cars on narrow roads needed to have been removed.

The race organizer felt he had done a good job of creating an interesting course, and the women's event came off okay. So, as a result, he felt we were doing a disservice to our sport by not racing. It was a great course, and I wish we could have raced on it, but 130 men of varying abilities speeding all over would have been very, very dangerous.

To be sure, over the last few years I've ridden on roads much worse than these in Europe, but they didn't have the added problem of racing through an area filled with a population completely unfamiliar with how bike racing works. Waiting, all of them waiting to pull out of their respective driveways every time we came around a blind corner. That was pretty much the case today. All power to the peloton!
I understand both points of view, and can see the logic in each, but when it comes right down to it, I'm proud that we riders stuck together for the first time in the whole of my career. Bike riders are quite often put in situations that no other sport would tolerate for a single day, let alone over and over again. I remember the day after 9/11 toeing the start line at some race in France, when every other sporting event was cancelled. This is only to demonstrate that race promoters very rarely take into account anything other than pleasing sponsors when putting a race on.

The sponsors are the very reason the race runs at all. That said, it's no reason to make cycling a trashy barbarian sport with no consideration for anything but the financials. I was truly amazed that we as a peloton stuck together and looked after the common good for once. If this behavior continues we might actually be respected by governing bodies, sponsors and race promoters rather than just a gaggle of colorful rolling billboards. I know safety is not cheap, especially in a race such as this, but really it should be the first concern. Shouldn't it?