2008 Suzhou Look-Shimano Road Race

Today was the 2008 Look Shimano Road Race. It was held near Green Lake in Weiting. The starting line was less than a half a mile away from my house. The race would be 110 km road race around a 5 km loop. I would consider it like a crit that would be run in the US.

My cycling buddy Zhang Zhong Ming would participate. He works for the local Trek store in SIP and represents Trek in many of the races. He rides an Aluminum Discovery Channel Trek Road Bike. He is a really strong rider and can keep up with the peloton very well. He might not be fighting for the win, but he will be in the main group when it comes to the line. He invited me to participate and I probably would have participated if it wasn't so close to the Hangzhou Half Marathon. So, I decided not to race.

Above are a few pictures of the peloton. Some of the usual big racers from the Chinese Trek Racing Team and the Chinese Specialized Racing Team were present. This race would also be a really fast race. They were doing laps in about 8 minutes per lap, an estimated 38 km/h. I probably would have been able to keep up for about 6-7 laps before I would be dropped from the peloton.

This race was very well organized. All streets were completely closed of from motor traffic. In front of the peloton was a police car and then a police bike. Behind the last cyclist was also a police motor bike.

Zhong Ming in the peloton. He is besides one of the few foreigners I saw riding this race. I can tell by their faces that they are moving really fast. There is alot of concentration.

Another picture of Zhong Ming in the peloton on one of the corners of the race circuit. After a few laps, I no longer would see him in the peloton. He was unlucky and suffered a flat tire. In these races there are no neutral service help vehicles or team cars ready to pass out wheels. A flat usually means game over.

Well, I did not get to see all of the race. I don't know who won or how the final sprint turned out. I was off to a lunch wedding to celebrate a new beginning in the life of one of our engineers! It would be my first wedding in China.