QUESTION: I’ve been cycling for years, but I never paid any attention to bike racing. But recently, a friend invited me to watch a race called La Flèche Wallonne on TV with him. The weather at the race was terrible, and the riders rode in a cold, drenching downpour. I watched as some riders took their hands off their handlebars to put on rain jackets while continuing to race. One rider had a hard time getting his on and rode for several minutes with one arm in the sleeve while the rest of the jacket flapped in the wind. I held my breath, expecting him to crash, but he didn’t. Many couldn’t get their jackets zipped. Wouldn’t it be safer if the race just called a halt for a minute and let everyone get their jacket on before resuming? —Anne S.
RBR’S STAN PURDUM REPLIES: Yes, it would be safer, but don’t expect it to happen. A race is a race, and typically, the peloton (the main clump of riders) never stops until the race is over. It may stop momentarily if a crash occurs, causing enough riders to go down that the road is briefly blocked and no one can get by, or if an unforeseen incident causes a closure (in the 2019 Tour de France, a sudden mudslide closed the road and the stage that day had to be halted early) or when climate protestors or other demonstrators block the route.
But normally, the races roll on without stopping. Riders can choose to use the bad weather as an opportunity to try to sprint ahead while others are fumbling to add a layer of clothing.
And yes, the riders at La Flèche Wallonne were treated to a full Belgium springtime dose of weather this year.
Maybe there’s a parable in this. Life, like the peloton, continues to roll, without giving us a break to deal with sudden “bad weather.” Sometimes we get soaked. But those who keep riding win the day — if not in first place, at least among the finishers.
Stan Purdum has ridden several long-distance bike trips, including an across-America ride recounted in his book Roll Around Heaven All Day, and a trek on U.S. 62, from Niagara Falls, New York, to El Paso, Texas, the subject of his book Playing in Traffic. Stan, a freelance writer and editor, lives in Ohio. See more at www.StanPurdum.com.
I once watched the Tour de France come over the top of the Galibier, and was astonished to see lots of riders stop for 15 or 20 minutes at the top to have a snack, chat with the people in their team cars, wait for others in their team, and in one case even read the newspaper (handed to him in traditional style to shove down the front of his jersey on the descent).
Nice comments, Claire. Nice to see the humanity of the riders when the race allows..